Thursday, June 21, 2007
Saturday 16 June 2007
I have almost finished reading the life of George Sand after several months, and have only now reached the part describing the voyage to Majorca with Chopin, the reading of which prompted me to read the whole life in the first place. I feel I would very much like to visit her house at Nohant, in the Berry region, which N says can be reached in a day from Paris - I was surprised as she mentions it taking four days by carriage; so I expect she would be surprised as well. After a little research I found a useful George Sand website, with pictures of the house, amongst other things. It is comparable with some of the Proust websites.
Last Sunday was the first round of the Législatives - government elections here in France. They are not as interesting or dramatic as the presidential elections, but we received lots of free literature in our mailbox, which included the name and address of our current député (MP) in Evreux. N drafted a letter signed by us both pointing out to him the volume, size and speed of traffic going along the narrow road in front of the house, and we also sent a copy to the local mayor. Imagine our excitement when we received a printed envelope from the Assemblée Nationale (parliament building) in Paris with a letter from our député saying he had taken note of our observations, was happy to intervene on our behalf and would keep us up to date with developments, and including a copy of his letter to our major, asking him to look into the situation. As N says, he probably thinks he will get a couple of votes out of us for this, and might he have been so prompt if it hadn’t been election time? But at least if nothing happens we can confidently enquire again.
Tuesday 19 June 2007
The weather continues very changeable, veering between storms, sunshine, wind and heat. On Sunday morning violent storms were forecast, but the morning began completely cloudless, we had breakfast in the garden and N was finally able to cut the lawns again; they had grown so quickly in the last couple of weeks.
This was just as well, as we were expecting guests in the afternoon - N’s friend Odile and her friend Thérèse after many false alarms and cancelled visits finally arrived for a couple of days; Sunday & Monday rather than the more traditional weekend, as Thérèse works in a library which is open on Saturdays. Apart from all the usual preparations, I kept remembering things which needed picking from the garden while it was still dry and fine - cherries for making clafoutis (a traditional French dessert with cherries and batter, a little like a cherry toad-in-the-hole) sage leaves, potatoes and lettuces. It felt a little like those TV pictures of areas where a tornado is expected. By five o’clock the rain was falling fast; everything was ready and we sat in the verandah with tea and cake watching the woodshed door for the arrival of our guests.
They phoned first as they had got lost, so N explained and eventually met them at the front gate. They drove round to the back and were amazed by size of the house and garden (even in the rain) as so many visitors are when they arrive via the garage or woodshed. They joined us for tea, and then were shown their rooms (Odile in the Italian room and Thérèse in the smaller attic) and the rest of the house, which Thérèse kept declaring « un petit paradis », and saying didn’t we feel as though we were living in a Jane Austen novel? I said I thought it was probably a couple of decades too late, but had thought recently that Life had become rather like a Jane Austen novel (without the proposals of marriage perhaps….) in that it mainly revolves round having people to stay and going to stay with other people.
Anyway, apart from the clafoutis and several cheeses, we ate chicken saltimbocca (fillet of chicken with Italian ham and sage leaves) and five home-grown vegetables: potatoes, peas, broccoli, cauliflower and turnips for dinner in the grande pièce. Afterwards they gave us presents - it was a little like Christmas - a bottle of champagne to drink on our own « en amoureux » Victorian books on the Medieval Mind (in English) for N, plus seeds and plant labels, and for me a candle, soap, and two books: a recipe book all about « peelings » and an amusing book of writings by the Duchess of Devonshire (translated into French).
We all watched the programmes and interviews surrounding the results of the final round of the election, the only surprise being that the expected landslide win by the Right turned out not as massive as originally predicted. Our two guests differed greatly; one blonde with leftish tendencies and the other dark with strong right-wing views. More than once N had to intervene with some totally unrelated innocuous comment or question to diffuse the tension!
The next morning we all went for a little walk to have a look at the village and the market; they were delighted by everything and kept saying it was all so much better than where they lived, which they described as suburbs but not real countryside, Thérèse bought postcards from the maison de la presse and flowers for me, and I kept desperately hoping it would stay dry enough for lunch in the garden; it did and there was even a little sunshine. The cider tasted so much better out of doors - as always - and N gave them each a bottle to take with them from the wine cellar, plus a few cherries. As we had coffee in the garden the first drops of rain fell, but they were due to set off and by the time they had left it was fine again.
All in all they were with us less than twenty-four hours, but as Odile said, a good break can often feel like lot longer. They told me I was an excellent hostess, which obviously pleased me, but they were excellent guests! And as always, we hope guests will regard it not as a unique occasion but as the first of many visits (now they have found the way!) N and I enjoyed much of the rest of the afternoon sitting in the garden; in the sunshine with the lawns mowed and the new flowerbed looking really pretty and colourful it was a real pleasure, not to mention having new books to read.
When N mentioned Bovril sandwiches in the evening I said I had been reading about them lately; he said was George Sand feeding them to Chopin? I said no, I had been reading the Duchess of Devonshire, who apparently lived on them as a child. (Two very interesting books to read concurrently; both formidable women with perhaps not much in common. N and I both agreed that if G Sand had fed Bovril sandwiches to F Chopin , he would have had a far stronger constitution, probably lived a lot longer and composed far more music. Interesting subject for an essay.)
Wednesday 20 June 2007
Yesterday morning N set off for Paris, to attend a Sorbonne ceremony in the afternoon, honouring one of his fellow Emeritus professors. I will go by train on Friday, in time for an appointment at 4.30 with the local notaire regarding our Wills, and am meanwhile enjoying peace and quiet here in the sunshine. Yesterday was the first day of real summer weather; still the same blend of sunshine, wind and heat, with a little rain at the end of the day, but real June weather, as we approach the longest day with the sun so high and the nights and mornings so light. Both yesterday and today I have spent a lot of time sitting in the garden, with the result that I have now finished reading both the Duchess of Devonshire (very small volume) and the Life of George Sand! (Two large volumes, started last autumn.) Have also got lots of washing done (ideal drying weather) and almost all the ironing, and most importantly have made a hand-written copy of my Will in French ready for Friday, as it appears that only then is it legal and able to be registered. (It also exists in computer-printed versions in French and English…)
Thursday 21 June 2007
N phoned this morning to say that he had heard from the Palmers, and that they were accepting our invitation to lunch in Saint-Denis next Sunday. Matt and Elke - who were here at LNL briefly for the music party last summer - are also coming. I feel totally devoid of ideas at the moment! And it is never as easy cooking there as it is here, but no doubt inspiration will come from somewhere. But I look forward to seeing them all again. On Tuesday we are going to Le Mans again to see Simone; I think N feels there is not much point if he isn’t playing quartets or trios, but Simone kindly said she wanted to show me more of « le vieux Mans », I think by way of a thank-you for looking after her when she last stayed here. We are only staying one night, going straight from Paris and then back to LNL in a sort of triangle, which will involve taking dressing gowns and toiletries from Saint-Denis which will end up back here, in the wrong place!
I have almost finished reading the life of George Sand after several months, and have only now reached the part describing the voyage to Majorca with Chopin, the reading of which prompted me to read the whole life in the first place. I feel I would very much like to visit her house at Nohant, in the Berry region, which N says can be reached in a day from Paris - I was surprised as she mentions it taking four days by carriage; so I expect she would be surprised as well. After a little research I found a useful George Sand website, with pictures of the house, amongst other things. It is comparable with some of the Proust websites.
Last Sunday was the first round of the Législatives - government elections here in France. They are not as interesting or dramatic as the presidential elections, but we received lots of free literature in our mailbox, which included the name and address of our current député (MP) in Evreux. N drafted a letter signed by us both pointing out to him the volume, size and speed of traffic going along the narrow road in front of the house, and we also sent a copy to the local mayor. Imagine our excitement when we received a printed envelope from the Assemblée Nationale (parliament building) in Paris with a letter from our député saying he had taken note of our observations, was happy to intervene on our behalf and would keep us up to date with developments, and including a copy of his letter to our major, asking him to look into the situation. As N says, he probably thinks he will get a couple of votes out of us for this, and might he have been so prompt if it hadn’t been election time? But at least if nothing happens we can confidently enquire again.
Tuesday 19 June 2007
The weather continues very changeable, veering between storms, sunshine, wind and heat. On Sunday morning violent storms were forecast, but the morning began completely cloudless, we had breakfast in the garden and N was finally able to cut the lawns again; they had grown so quickly in the last couple of weeks.
This was just as well, as we were expecting guests in the afternoon - N’s friend Odile and her friend Thérèse after many false alarms and cancelled visits finally arrived for a couple of days; Sunday & Monday rather than the more traditional weekend, as Thérèse works in a library which is open on Saturdays. Apart from all the usual preparations, I kept remembering things which needed picking from the garden while it was still dry and fine - cherries for making clafoutis (a traditional French dessert with cherries and batter, a little like a cherry toad-in-the-hole) sage leaves, potatoes and lettuces. It felt a little like those TV pictures of areas where a tornado is expected. By five o’clock the rain was falling fast; everything was ready and we sat in the verandah with tea and cake watching the woodshed door for the arrival of our guests.
They phoned first as they had got lost, so N explained and eventually met them at the front gate. They drove round to the back and were amazed by size of the house and garden (even in the rain) as so many visitors are when they arrive via the garage or woodshed. They joined us for tea, and then were shown their rooms (Odile in the Italian room and Thérèse in the smaller attic) and the rest of the house, which Thérèse kept declaring « un petit paradis », and saying didn’t we feel as though we were living in a Jane Austen novel? I said I thought it was probably a couple of decades too late, but had thought recently that Life had become rather like a Jane Austen novel (without the proposals of marriage perhaps….) in that it mainly revolves round having people to stay and going to stay with other people.
Anyway, apart from the clafoutis and several cheeses, we ate chicken saltimbocca (fillet of chicken with Italian ham and sage leaves) and five home-grown vegetables: potatoes, peas, broccoli, cauliflower and turnips for dinner in the grande pièce. Afterwards they gave us presents - it was a little like Christmas - a bottle of champagne to drink on our own « en amoureux » Victorian books on the Medieval Mind (in English) for N, plus seeds and plant labels, and for me a candle, soap, and two books: a recipe book all about « peelings » and an amusing book of writings by the Duchess of Devonshire (translated into French).
We all watched the programmes and interviews surrounding the results of the final round of the election, the only surprise being that the expected landslide win by the Right turned out not as massive as originally predicted. Our two guests differed greatly; one blonde with leftish tendencies and the other dark with strong right-wing views. More than once N had to intervene with some totally unrelated innocuous comment or question to diffuse the tension!
The next morning we all went for a little walk to have a look at the village and the market; they were delighted by everything and kept saying it was all so much better than where they lived, which they described as suburbs but not real countryside, Thérèse bought postcards from the maison de la presse and flowers for me, and I kept desperately hoping it would stay dry enough for lunch in the garden; it did and there was even a little sunshine. The cider tasted so much better out of doors - as always - and N gave them each a bottle to take with them from the wine cellar, plus a few cherries. As we had coffee in the garden the first drops of rain fell, but they were due to set off and by the time they had left it was fine again.
All in all they were with us less than twenty-four hours, but as Odile said, a good break can often feel like lot longer. They told me I was an excellent hostess, which obviously pleased me, but they were excellent guests! And as always, we hope guests will regard it not as a unique occasion but as the first of many visits (now they have found the way!) N and I enjoyed much of the rest of the afternoon sitting in the garden; in the sunshine with the lawns mowed and the new flowerbed looking really pretty and colourful it was a real pleasure, not to mention having new books to read.
When N mentioned Bovril sandwiches in the evening I said I had been reading about them lately; he said was George Sand feeding them to Chopin? I said no, I had been reading the Duchess of Devonshire, who apparently lived on them as a child. (Two very interesting books to read concurrently; both formidable women with perhaps not much in common. N and I both agreed that if G Sand had fed Bovril sandwiches to F Chopin , he would have had a far stronger constitution, probably lived a lot longer and composed far more music. Interesting subject for an essay.)
Wednesday 20 June 2007
Yesterday morning N set off for Paris, to attend a Sorbonne ceremony in the afternoon, honouring one of his fellow Emeritus professors. I will go by train on Friday, in time for an appointment at 4.30 with the local notaire regarding our Wills, and am meanwhile enjoying peace and quiet here in the sunshine. Yesterday was the first day of real summer weather; still the same blend of sunshine, wind and heat, with a little rain at the end of the day, but real June weather, as we approach the longest day with the sun so high and the nights and mornings so light. Both yesterday and today I have spent a lot of time sitting in the garden, with the result that I have now finished reading both the Duchess of Devonshire (very small volume) and the Life of George Sand! (Two large volumes, started last autumn.) Have also got lots of washing done (ideal drying weather) and almost all the ironing, and most importantly have made a hand-written copy of my Will in French ready for Friday, as it appears that only then is it legal and able to be registered. (It also exists in computer-printed versions in French and English…)
Thursday 21 June 2007
N phoned this morning to say that he had heard from the Palmers, and that they were accepting our invitation to lunch in Saint-Denis next Sunday. Matt and Elke - who were here at LNL briefly for the music party last summer - are also coming. I feel totally devoid of ideas at the moment! And it is never as easy cooking there as it is here, but no doubt inspiration will come from somewhere. But I look forward to seeing them all again. On Tuesday we are going to Le Mans again to see Simone; I think N feels there is not much point if he isn’t playing quartets or trios, but Simone kindly said she wanted to show me more of « le vieux Mans », I think by way of a thank-you for looking after her when she last stayed here. We are only staying one night, going straight from Paris and then back to LNL in a sort of triangle, which will involve taking dressing gowns and toiletries from Saint-Denis which will end up back here, in the wrong place!
# posted by Chez Katherine @ 6:04 AM 
