Saturday, October 22, 2005
Friday 14 October 2005
Since buying the house in Normandy, and settling in and getting used to living here, there hasn't seemed much else to do while waiting to be able to move in mid–December, apart from our next visit to view the house on Monday. However, there are a few dates to look forward to in the diary, and the first is next Saturday 22nd when I am going to meet daughter Madeleine and partner Richard in Lille, which they visit often. N and I are then going to Italy from Wednesday 26 October until Thursday 3 November; this is our belated "summer holiday" originally planned for August, when I thought moving here would be much sooner. The tickets for Italy were booked at the SNCF office at Châtelet last week, during one of our trips to Paris. This is a journey N has done often and I have only heard about, and am looking forward to: putting the car on the train in Paris in the morning, joining it in the evening, sleeping in a wagon lit, waking up in Nice, and then driving on to Italy. I am of course looking forward to being in Italy again, and seeing my favourite places, and the fact that we are expecting lunch guests on the Sunday; N's English contact Lindsay who keeps an eye on the apartment there, and another guest or two. We have already begun to consider what we might cook.
We also have some musical dates booked: Tristan & Isolde at Opera Bastille on 12 November, cello masterclasses at La Cité de la Musique on 20 November, the Nutcracker on 3 December and Boris Goudenov on 11 December.
Another first today – I have been to the local Yves Rocher Institut de Beauté round the corner and had my eyebrows shaped, much as happens in Cambridge. I am amazed, not for the first time, how alike all Yves Rocher salons are whatever country they are in. This was fairly easy to find as it is the next street; it will be a harder task to find a hairdresser in the few weeks; N recommends his (a unisex establishment) on the grounds that one doesn't have to wait long, and that they don't play awful music, though these are not my criteria for a good hairdresser. It has to be said though, that there are pictures of white men and women in the window, whereas the majority of Saint-Denis hairdressers feature afro hairstyles.
The local free Saint-Denis newspaper has a piece about the forthcoming concert to be given by the adult chorale tomorrow, in which I shall take part. It also has a small ad section full of people looking for work; I shall consider placing an advertisement for English conversation classes, and seeing what happens.
Sunday 16 October 2005
An exciting afternoon yesterday, my first concert with the Saint-Denis chorale. N drove me to the church as it was difficult to get to, but in the end not far. The rehearsal began at 4 and the concert at 6.30. I enjoyed it all; there were even more exercises to begin with, breathing and posture too, almost like my Pilates classes. We rehearsed processing in singing, and mounting and leaving the platform. There was a break from about 5.40, welcome as we had been on our feet since 4. A lot was sung from memory; I tried hard to remember the Latin anthem to be sung while processing, and just about remembered it. I don’t think I have learned music and words like this simply by hearing since I was about six. N arrived in time for the concert which only took about an hour, including an interval to take a collection on behalf of the church and the accompanist. There was a reasonable sized audience, who clapped between movements of the mass, like N's orchestra audience who applaud between symphony movements. I felt by the end that I was beginning to know some of the other members better, and look forward to seeing them next Thursday. All in all it was an extremely pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Our "chef" said that now the programme of singing would alter and that there would be more light-hearted repertoire, in preparation for a "Telethon" of singing on 3 December (which is when N & I are due to see The Nutcracker) but I shall enjoy the rehearsals. Also, I think I may ask one or two of the more bien coiffée ladies if they can recommend me a hairdresser. We were home by 7.30, and I was very glad I had cooked Tuscan Bean Stew for dinner in the afternoon before leaving, and that N had bought some patisseries for dessert.
Wednesday 19 October 2005
We spend a lot of time here listening to a radio station called Radio Classique, (in the bathroom and library/bedroom) a little less formal than France Musique, and one which tends to play symphonies and concertos one movement at a time, and a fair amount of publicity. The radio in the kitchen was at one time permanently tuned to BBC World Service, but N got increasingly fed up with news of the injury details of various African football teams, so we now listen to BBC Radio 4 in the kitchen, and hear Today and Yesterday in Parliament, and are keeping abreast of the Conservative Party leadership contest. We watch TV news at 7 and or 8 in the evening and not much else, (except last Saturday when there were excellent programmes on Michelangelo and Leonard Bernstein) but are working our way through a large pile of videos which N has been preparing since I was last here in March. Apart from some interesting programmes on French heritage and antiques, we have watched 6 different episodes of Morse (N especially saved for me two involving a choir and a foreign examination syndicate) and still have many hours of the late Pope's funeral and the new Pope's inauguration to sit through; the former recorded in France and the latter in Italy. We have also watched various operas and ballets, including "La Bohème" which reduced us both to tears, and required stiff drinks afterwards.
N says that the train we are taking to Nice next week is "Le Train Bleu", so called because it takes one to the blue skies and seas of Nice, which it makes it all even more exciting. He also says that the wagon lits are equipped with chamber pots, which when used and put way in a cupboard, empty themselves out onto the track! This sounds fascinating, can't wait to see.
Last Monday we returned to our White House at La Neuve-Lyre for the second visit to the inside of the house. We left Paris at 7.50 am before it was really light, the first time I have been up this early for a long time! We were due there at 11.00 but arrived a little late; there was a lot of traffic getting out of Paris and pockets of fog, and I kept thinking winter must really have arrived, but then we were out in the sunshine again, and Normandy looked so beautiful with gold and brown and red leaves on the trees, and such big sweeping blue skies, and the same white cows and timbered houses which are now beginning to look so familiar.
Mme V kindly let us wander around on our own; N took lots of photos and I made notes in a note book, mostly of the colours of walls and flooring, but also of positions of radiators. We sent a lot of time in the salon, some of it having coffee with Mme V before we left, and it really is a beautiful room, especially with sunlight coming through the front door into the hall. The salon has golden walls, a black and white tiled floor and lots of matt white woodwork and doors, some with small panes of glass. I spent time in the main bedroom, where there is a small private bathroom (old apricot/pink suite) and lovely window to the garden, a balcony, large white fireplace with mirror over, and big alcove where there is currently a bed, but which I don't think is wide enough to take N's large Italian bed. I took in all the other bedrooms and bathrooms, some of which I had no clear memory of, and decided the little room next to the main bedroom should be an ironing/sewing room. There will be a lot of curtains to be made!
There is a rather large and scruffy downstairs loo, + basin and bidet which I feel could and should be made into a ground floor bathroom. Apart from this and the private bathroom; there is another room with basin and shower but no loo, on the way up to the attics. There are two of these, up in the roof with lots of dark exposed beams, about which N is very excited, and the larger of which will be his study. It is a little difficult to visualise at present as it is full of teenage daughter paraphernalia. Both attics have good quality new light red carpets.
We have spent a lot of time discussing the best use of a very large square room at the far end of the house on the ground floor – bookshelves, a TV room, a bed settee for a guest room, a long table for a more formal dining room, or some combination of all or any of these. The current dining room (or coin repas as it was described) turned out to be larger than N had remembered, fortunately as I hope to have my dresser and current dining table in there, and possibly glass-fronted book case for more china. The kitchen I am less sure about, how much will need altering. At present there are white walls (a plus!) off-white floor, and small red tiles between the work surfaces and wall cupboards. It is about 35 years since I had a red kitchen, but think I could get used to the idea again. The wall cupboards have black slatted doors, which I definitely don't like, but perhaps they could be painted white. There is a nice shaped window looking onto the garden, and another window out on to what is described as a verandah, but which N refers to as the conservatoire, and doesn’t think much of. I feel that if it were tided, painted and given plants and wicker furniture it could be very attractive.
At present the verandah is home to a guinea pig in a cage, and to the mother cat and kittens we saw on our first visit. I saw that this time there were two kittens instead of three, and didn't like to think what had become of the third beautiful cream-coloured one, until I realised that they were now about two months old and big enough to leave home, and Mme V said that was so. This left a short-haired black one, like a young Albertine, and a lovely long-haired ginger one. While discussing the garden I mentioned that we were thinking of having a cat here, and Mme V said straight away would we like the third (ginger) kitten, as the second (black) one was already promised! She said that one (mother) cat would be quite enough in a Paris apartment. We said no, as we couldn't see how this would work if we were moving in around Christmas, but I kept thinking of him all the way home, and wonder if she will ask us again.
We eventually left at about 12.40 and after exploring a little in the next village – La Vieille Lyre – went on to Evreux to inspect the station and its parking facilities, and to see what we could find out about trains and buses. Mme V had already told us that it was very simple to park there and get the train into Paris (just over an hour to St Lazare) and we had passed it on our way, and noticed a large and pretty restaurant with lots of parking outside. The station itself was large and imposing, and reminded me of Ipswich station. We had an excellent lunch at the restaurant, and noted the possibility of bringing large or small parties of guests in the future, and then discovered a large car park, and times of buses to and fro from La Neuve-Lyre. Once back in Paris – by yet another exciting route! - we discovered that some of the trains between Evreux and St Lazare stop at Conches, even nearer to La Neuve-Lyre. N's reason for all this was to see how easy it would be to get back to Paris without having to use the car, and by leaving at a station. My reason was to know that I could be mobile in case I ever found myself living alone at La Neuve-Lyre, and to see whether visitors could get there under their own steam.
Thursday 20 October 2005
So far this week I have been to the cinema twice – a big 20 screen cinema at Châtelet where the RER train from Saint-Denis arrives in central Paris. I think it could become a very pleasant habit, especially as it gets colder and darker, and while in Paris before moving to Normandy. I must find out how one can get membership. Earlier in the week I saw Caché, a very puzzling thriller- so puzzling in fact that it was being discussed in the Ladies afterwards - and today N & I saw the latest Wallace & Gromit, (in its original northern English version) which made us laugh a lot. The other main reason for going to Châtelet is to take in and pick up photos at FNAC; we now have a large number of the inside of the house too, helping us to remember things and make plans. I shall take these when I see Madeleine in Lille at the weekend; on Sunday now rather than Saturday.
Since buying the house in Normandy, and settling in and getting used to living here, there hasn't seemed much else to do while waiting to be able to move in mid–December, apart from our next visit to view the house on Monday. However, there are a few dates to look forward to in the diary, and the first is next Saturday 22nd when I am going to meet daughter Madeleine and partner Richard in Lille, which they visit often. N and I are then going to Italy from Wednesday 26 October until Thursday 3 November; this is our belated "summer holiday" originally planned for August, when I thought moving here would be much sooner. The tickets for Italy were booked at the SNCF office at Châtelet last week, during one of our trips to Paris. This is a journey N has done often and I have only heard about, and am looking forward to: putting the car on the train in Paris in the morning, joining it in the evening, sleeping in a wagon lit, waking up in Nice, and then driving on to Italy. I am of course looking forward to being in Italy again, and seeing my favourite places, and the fact that we are expecting lunch guests on the Sunday; N's English contact Lindsay who keeps an eye on the apartment there, and another guest or two. We have already begun to consider what we might cook.
We also have some musical dates booked: Tristan & Isolde at Opera Bastille on 12 November, cello masterclasses at La Cité de la Musique on 20 November, the Nutcracker on 3 December and Boris Goudenov on 11 December.
Another first today – I have been to the local Yves Rocher Institut de Beauté round the corner and had my eyebrows shaped, much as happens in Cambridge. I am amazed, not for the first time, how alike all Yves Rocher salons are whatever country they are in. This was fairly easy to find as it is the next street; it will be a harder task to find a hairdresser in the few weeks; N recommends his (a unisex establishment) on the grounds that one doesn't have to wait long, and that they don't play awful music, though these are not my criteria for a good hairdresser. It has to be said though, that there are pictures of white men and women in the window, whereas the majority of Saint-Denis hairdressers feature afro hairstyles.
The local free Saint-Denis newspaper has a piece about the forthcoming concert to be given by the adult chorale tomorrow, in which I shall take part. It also has a small ad section full of people looking for work; I shall consider placing an advertisement for English conversation classes, and seeing what happens.
Sunday 16 October 2005
An exciting afternoon yesterday, my first concert with the Saint-Denis chorale. N drove me to the church as it was difficult to get to, but in the end not far. The rehearsal began at 4 and the concert at 6.30. I enjoyed it all; there were even more exercises to begin with, breathing and posture too, almost like my Pilates classes. We rehearsed processing in singing, and mounting and leaving the platform. There was a break from about 5.40, welcome as we had been on our feet since 4. A lot was sung from memory; I tried hard to remember the Latin anthem to be sung while processing, and just about remembered it. I don’t think I have learned music and words like this simply by hearing since I was about six. N arrived in time for the concert which only took about an hour, including an interval to take a collection on behalf of the church and the accompanist. There was a reasonable sized audience, who clapped between movements of the mass, like N's orchestra audience who applaud between symphony movements. I felt by the end that I was beginning to know some of the other members better, and look forward to seeing them next Thursday. All in all it was an extremely pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Our "chef" said that now the programme of singing would alter and that there would be more light-hearted repertoire, in preparation for a "Telethon" of singing on 3 December (which is when N & I are due to see The Nutcracker) but I shall enjoy the rehearsals. Also, I think I may ask one or two of the more bien coiffée ladies if they can recommend me a hairdresser. We were home by 7.30, and I was very glad I had cooked Tuscan Bean Stew for dinner in the afternoon before leaving, and that N had bought some patisseries for dessert.
Wednesday 19 October 2005
We spend a lot of time here listening to a radio station called Radio Classique, (in the bathroom and library/bedroom) a little less formal than France Musique, and one which tends to play symphonies and concertos one movement at a time, and a fair amount of publicity. The radio in the kitchen was at one time permanently tuned to BBC World Service, but N got increasingly fed up with news of the injury details of various African football teams, so we now listen to BBC Radio 4 in the kitchen, and hear Today and Yesterday in Parliament, and are keeping abreast of the Conservative Party leadership contest. We watch TV news at 7 and or 8 in the evening and not much else, (except last Saturday when there were excellent programmes on Michelangelo and Leonard Bernstein) but are working our way through a large pile of videos which N has been preparing since I was last here in March. Apart from some interesting programmes on French heritage and antiques, we have watched 6 different episodes of Morse (N especially saved for me two involving a choir and a foreign examination syndicate) and still have many hours of the late Pope's funeral and the new Pope's inauguration to sit through; the former recorded in France and the latter in Italy. We have also watched various operas and ballets, including "La Bohème" which reduced us both to tears, and required stiff drinks afterwards.
N says that the train we are taking to Nice next week is "Le Train Bleu", so called because it takes one to the blue skies and seas of Nice, which it makes it all even more exciting. He also says that the wagon lits are equipped with chamber pots, which when used and put way in a cupboard, empty themselves out onto the track! This sounds fascinating, can't wait to see.
Last Monday we returned to our White House at La Neuve-Lyre for the second visit to the inside of the house. We left Paris at 7.50 am before it was really light, the first time I have been up this early for a long time! We were due there at 11.00 but arrived a little late; there was a lot of traffic getting out of Paris and pockets of fog, and I kept thinking winter must really have arrived, but then we were out in the sunshine again, and Normandy looked so beautiful with gold and brown and red leaves on the trees, and such big sweeping blue skies, and the same white cows and timbered houses which are now beginning to look so familiar.
Mme V kindly let us wander around on our own; N took lots of photos and I made notes in a note book, mostly of the colours of walls and flooring, but also of positions of radiators. We sent a lot of time in the salon, some of it having coffee with Mme V before we left, and it really is a beautiful room, especially with sunlight coming through the front door into the hall. The salon has golden walls, a black and white tiled floor and lots of matt white woodwork and doors, some with small panes of glass. I spent time in the main bedroom, where there is a small private bathroom (old apricot/pink suite) and lovely window to the garden, a balcony, large white fireplace with mirror over, and big alcove where there is currently a bed, but which I don't think is wide enough to take N's large Italian bed. I took in all the other bedrooms and bathrooms, some of which I had no clear memory of, and decided the little room next to the main bedroom should be an ironing/sewing room. There will be a lot of curtains to be made!
There is a rather large and scruffy downstairs loo, + basin and bidet which I feel could and should be made into a ground floor bathroom. Apart from this and the private bathroom; there is another room with basin and shower but no loo, on the way up to the attics. There are two of these, up in the roof with lots of dark exposed beams, about which N is very excited, and the larger of which will be his study. It is a little difficult to visualise at present as it is full of teenage daughter paraphernalia. Both attics have good quality new light red carpets.
We have spent a lot of time discussing the best use of a very large square room at the far end of the house on the ground floor – bookshelves, a TV room, a bed settee for a guest room, a long table for a more formal dining room, or some combination of all or any of these. The current dining room (or coin repas as it was described) turned out to be larger than N had remembered, fortunately as I hope to have my dresser and current dining table in there, and possibly glass-fronted book case for more china. The kitchen I am less sure about, how much will need altering. At present there are white walls (a plus!) off-white floor, and small red tiles between the work surfaces and wall cupboards. It is about 35 years since I had a red kitchen, but think I could get used to the idea again. The wall cupboards have black slatted doors, which I definitely don't like, but perhaps they could be painted white. There is a nice shaped window looking onto the garden, and another window out on to what is described as a verandah, but which N refers to as the conservatoire, and doesn’t think much of. I feel that if it were tided, painted and given plants and wicker furniture it could be very attractive.
At present the verandah is home to a guinea pig in a cage, and to the mother cat and kittens we saw on our first visit. I saw that this time there were two kittens instead of three, and didn't like to think what had become of the third beautiful cream-coloured one, until I realised that they were now about two months old and big enough to leave home, and Mme V said that was so. This left a short-haired black one, like a young Albertine, and a lovely long-haired ginger one. While discussing the garden I mentioned that we were thinking of having a cat here, and Mme V said straight away would we like the third (ginger) kitten, as the second (black) one was already promised! She said that one (mother) cat would be quite enough in a Paris apartment. We said no, as we couldn't see how this would work if we were moving in around Christmas, but I kept thinking of him all the way home, and wonder if she will ask us again.
We eventually left at about 12.40 and after exploring a little in the next village – La Vieille Lyre – went on to Evreux to inspect the station and its parking facilities, and to see what we could find out about trains and buses. Mme V had already told us that it was very simple to park there and get the train into Paris (just over an hour to St Lazare) and we had passed it on our way, and noticed a large and pretty restaurant with lots of parking outside. The station itself was large and imposing, and reminded me of Ipswich station. We had an excellent lunch at the restaurant, and noted the possibility of bringing large or small parties of guests in the future, and then discovered a large car park, and times of buses to and fro from La Neuve-Lyre. Once back in Paris – by yet another exciting route! - we discovered that some of the trains between Evreux and St Lazare stop at Conches, even nearer to La Neuve-Lyre. N's reason for all this was to see how easy it would be to get back to Paris without having to use the car, and by leaving at a station. My reason was to know that I could be mobile in case I ever found myself living alone at La Neuve-Lyre, and to see whether visitors could get there under their own steam.
Thursday 20 October 2005
So far this week I have been to the cinema twice – a big 20 screen cinema at Châtelet where the RER train from Saint-Denis arrives in central Paris. I think it could become a very pleasant habit, especially as it gets colder and darker, and while in Paris before moving to Normandy. I must find out how one can get membership. Earlier in the week I saw Caché, a very puzzling thriller- so puzzling in fact that it was being discussed in the Ladies afterwards - and today N & I saw the latest Wallace & Gromit, (in its original northern English version) which made us laugh a lot. The other main reason for going to Châtelet is to take in and pick up photos at FNAC; we now have a large number of the inside of the house too, helping us to remember things and make plans. I shall take these when I see Madeleine in Lille at the weekend; on Sunday now rather than Saturday.
# posted by Chez Katherine @ 2:55 PM 
