Monday, September 10, 2007
Tuesday 4 September 2007
When we drove back to Saint-Denis on August 24 we had not been there for a long time, about two and a half months; not since the day we had left for Simone’s at Le Mans in a such a hurry in the middle of June. In Saint-Denis itself we found preparations going on for the Rugby World Cup - posters, marquees, new shops etc; and in the apartment various forgotten things - dead flowers, mouldy leftovers, potatoes growing in the vegetable bin, and a huge cobweb in kitchen stretching from the side of the kitchen table right the way up to the ceiling!
Because I’d had no shopping opportunities for so long I had several long shopping lists for various places in both Paris and the UK. I did local shopping in Saint-Denis on Friday afternoon, and went into Paris on Saturday. N refused my invitation to come with me, as he was anxious to consult his stamp albums at Saint-Denis together with the new additions he had bought at fairs in Normandy. I started off at Le Forum des Halles, at FNAC to buy printer cartridges for the computer, cosmetics at Sephora, and lunch at Tarte Julie. As I came out to the metro to go on to the Grands Magasins, I saw the sun was shining! An amazing event as the weather had been so grey and wintery lately; unbelievably, sun had been forecast for the weekend and here it was. After shopping at C & A, Bouchara and Lafayette Maison I got the metro back to Saint-Denis in time to have my eyebrows done. The only thing I hadn’t managed to get was a little metal sign to put by our bell at LNL which is hard to see through the gate, but BHV basement - the only likely place - was too far from everywhere else I was going.
On Sunday morning I went early to the Gare du Nord for the 9.10 Eurostar, met daughter Madeleine at Waterloo and went back to her flat at Clapham Junction for lunch. In the afternoon I caught the train to Ipswich (actually it was a bus as far as Colchester) and stayed with family until Wednesday, enjoying more shopping, visiting, catching up with everybody and eating out.
Another train on Wednesday morning and on to Cambridge to stay with my friend Gill, who met me at the station. It was over a year since I had been back to Cambridge, and this time I was staying close to where I had lived before, between 1981 and 1998. As I walked around over the few days I was there I kept coming across different layers of different lives, all stretching over the 35 years I had lived in Cambridge. Yet more shopping; I had been in enough chain stores so it was mostly small unusual shops, and an interesting trip into N’s college to photograph his portrait. When it had been completed by the Vietnamese artist last year, N had explained to him that it would hang in a large college room with lots of others, and promised to send him a photo so that he could see what it looked like. Armed with a letter of introduction to the Head Porter I was accompanied to the Senior Common Room, took half a dozen photos with my new digital camera, complimented him on the lawns and flowers, and walked out again into Kings Parade, which I very much enjoyed, especially the National Trust Shop.
I spent the rest of the time catching up with colleagues, friends Zoë and Samin & children and cat Albertine, and watching DVDs with Gill; and on the Saturday afternoon going back to my ex-neighbour Jo in Ainsworth Street, and seeing my old house again from next door for first time since I left. I then walked to station - a journey I had done countless times before - and took the train back to London where I had a brief meeting and cup of tea with daughter Caroline at Waterloo. This was my last visit to Waterloo for some time - perhaps ever! - as from November Eurostar will leave from Saint Pancras. The journey back to Paris was quick and quiet; few other passengers, and direct to the Gare du Nord where N was waiting for me with the car. He had spent much of week sorting and valuing his stamp collections, plus a quick trip to FNAC and inviting Odile to tea; also making an appointment for next week with an eye doctor in Bernay, as he kept seeing little black spots before his eyes.
We spent Sunday quietly in the apartment in Saint-Denis, catching up with washing, sorting, and ironing things left from last time. I especially enjoyed Sunday lunch (at the dining table) and supper, both cooked by N. On Monday morning, N had a meeting planned with the resident architect at Les Ursulines regarding an ongoing discussion with a neighbour about a leak in her apartment below. Fortunately when the architect arrived the kitchen was clean, tidy and empty with all the washing-up done, but then he also needed to inspect the bathroom, just as I was about to wash and dress! It reminded me of when I was first living there two years ago, when there were frequent visits from plumbers.
Once the architect’s visit was over, we could leave for Normandy, and as always there was a lot to pack. Apart from all my shopping, there were N‘s stamp albums, all the leftover food as usual, a spare steam iron which had originally come from Italy, (the iron at LNL had never been very good, and has recently started leaking water) and both our raincoats, although there had been no rain since we had left Normandy. There were also several pieces of an old Amstrad computer from N‘s loft, as a result of a rash promise to Prof J to recover a thesis he had written on an Amstrad many years ago. We also left the apartment far tidier than last time! N left a message with the gardienne (concierge) asking her to let him know when the chimney sweep would be visiting, as last year he missed it, and was anxious not to let it go another year.
At about 1.00 pm we stopped for lunch at Hotel de l’Ouest opposite Evreux station; it seemed to me a deliciously French lunch after all my recent English pub meals, but rather too large - the herring and potato first course, although wonderful, would have been a lunch in itself. But it’s always a better idea to stop and eat on the way than to try and get lunch as soon we’ve arrived. We found the lawns very overgrown, N’s new doorstep fine, and lots of post in the post box. There were even a few apples on tree, the roses and dahlias were doing well, and there were the beginnings of a few Michaelmas daisies.
Wednesday 5 September 2007
Yesterday N went to see the doctor in Bernay, and was relieved to find that his eye problem was treatable and due only to wear & tear and old age. He also called in at Monsieur Bricolage for more cement, to continue repairing the walls and ceilings of the Box Office (second outhouse.)
In the village everything is much the same as usual; except that the boulangerie is still closed for its annual holiday. I have done lots of sorting, putting away and washing, and made a start on cleaning the house. N has mowed the lawns, touched up his step and stained the new threshold plank (this meant walking the long way round to the garden all day, as the verandah door was out of bounds.) He has also clipped the hedge around the potager, and tidied the virginia creeper along the front garden. (He said under French law, no doubt if anyone walked out into road because of our dangling creeper and got run over, we would be held responsible!) I did my exercise DVD for the first time for ages, wearing new gear bought last week in the UK. During the day we have spent a long time waiting for a parcel to be delivered for N; a slip of paper had been left while we were away, and both of us had tried with difficulty to phone for more information. When it eventually arrived it was a very heavy pack of three Stanley Gibbons stamp catalogues. (In order to complete the valuing process!)
It has been very warm today, and we have had the first lunch in the garden for as long as I can remember; the garden table and chairs needed a good clean. I hope this is the beginning of a fine, warm autumn! N has finally finished off the cement round verandah step and the edge of the path, and done more cementing in the second outhouse.
Thursday 6 September 2007
Today I have done lots of cooking; in the morning a bread pudding to use up some leftover baguette, and after lunch I began mint & apple jelly using the apples bought at a fair a couple of weeks ago. I hung the jelly bag up in the verandah this time; N said there wasn’t really room for it in the potting shed now, and it did seem rather dirty in there. As he has recently put hooks for drying herbs along the ceiling joist of the verandah, I was able to hang the bag from a piece of cord on one of those and balance the bowl on a stool. N said it sounded as though I was preparing for a hanging; was I then going to kick the stool away? This evening I have made leek and cream risotto for the first time using a giant leek N brought in from the garden. (« One giant leek for mankind… » he said. ) I like to think my risotto (from an Italian recipe) was all the better for stirring it while listening on the radio to tributes to Luciano Pavarotti, whose death was announced this morning. We were able to look at Italian TV to see all the news in detail; views and reporting from Pavarotti’s native town Modena, through which I once remember going by train. I also thought of my visit to Florence in 1994, and my landlady who was a big Pavarotti fan and always invited me into the kitchen when he was on television, which was often.
I have phoned to order a delivery of heating fuel; the evenings are drawing in, and for the last two nights we have gone to bed with a hot water bottle! In the garage N found what he thought was a leak of oil from the tank, and worried about how we would get it repaired. We decided to ask the delivery man what he thought. The weather has been strange during the day, cloudy but warm, and we had lunch in the garden again.
Sunday 9 September 2007
On Friday morning I went to the hairdresser (N having been on Wednesday, so we are all tidy now) and the heating fuel was delivered. The driver said oil is often spilled when the tank is filled, and, he thought that‘s all it was. We then switched the heating on, just for the mornings and evenings, so now we have a nice warm bedroom, and bathroom. I also finished off my mint jelly; there was far more of it than I had expected, and it used up my entire supply of small jars; I had thought there would be plenty to pick and choose from. It took a long time to write all the labels, stick them all on, and arrange them in a basket in the jam store in the first outhouse.
Yesterday we had a lovely day out at a town called Les Andelys, we had a long journey there using the car’s satellite navigation; N thought it seemed a very long way round. The morning mist cleared at about 10.30 and then there was beautiful warm sunshine all the rest of the day; about 23 degrees, and it was difficult to believe we had needed (and would need again) heating in the evening and morning. The main reason for going to Les Andelys was a very large foire à tout (1500 stallholders, it said in the paper.) By the time we had got there and found somewhere to park it was time for lunch, so we stopped at a pretty hotel garden with roses by the side of the Seine, and ate under the shade of the trees; duck with cherries, café liegeois, and cider to drink, which always tastes better out of doors. I started with smoked salmon salad and N with boudin in pastry, and I was especially pleased that I managed not to spill any of the lovely cherry red duck sauce down my brand new white T-shirt……..
We then made our way to the fair which took place along the whole length of a long main street. N bought two prints and looked at various violins and postcards, and said he thought that the prices were higher than in our part of Normandy. There was lots of interesting furniture to look at, some of which might even have done for the dining room at Saint-Denis - for which we are still trying to find a small cupboard - but it would have been impossible to carry back to the car. It was such a large fair that at one point we lost each other completely for about twenty minutes, but just as I was hurrying (or trying to) to where we had agreed to meet, I caught sight of N again.
I bought a small cheese dish with a round marble base and a transparent cover, and was very pleased to find a little « Sonnez SVP » notice for our front gate, on a stall selling all kinds of new metal signs. After some tea to fortify ourselves, we took a much shorter route back, having consulted the map. Once home, we found Prof J’s Amstrad disc in the post, so before (a very light) supper N began researching in the far studio with the Amstrad computer, which he had assembled next to the other two old computers on the very large table. He continued in the evening while I watched a very good play on BBC Prime, then we listened to The Last Night of Proms on the radio, in bed.
Monday 10 September 2007
Yesterday was very busy; N continued putting up ceilings and re-plastering walls in the Box Office, and I painted the remaining door on the side of the house, having thought in the sunshine the day before that this might be the last fine weekend for some time. (This is the glass-panelled door at the end of the side corridor, in between the windows of the grande pièce, kitchen and dining room which I painted a few weeks ago when it was so hot. No window sills or flower pots to worry about with a door.) At the same time, in an amazing display of time management, I cooked what N called a « real » Sunday lunch: roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast home-grown potatoes and carrots; steamed marrow and gravy, then rhubarb crumble and custard. Afterwards we continued our reading of Beowulf, having had a few Sundays off, and reached the end. I then went back and finished painting the door. Today I am very pleased with it; like the window frames it really could have done with two coats, but I think second coats will have to wait till next spring.
I have phoned Monsieur A to ask when someone (Guillaume?) can come to give an annual check on our new heating installation, and N has left a message for the TV man who seems to have completely forgotten that he has lent us a spare set while he repairs ours. I think our TV screen is going to look very small when we eventually get it back………
This morning we had a phone call from the gardienne at Saint-Denis telling us that the chimney sweep will be coming to Les Ursulines on Thursday 20 September - N’s birthday! We agreed that we would have to go back to Saint-Denis, and so could celebrate his birthday in Paris rather than Normandy, and about half an hour later the post brought the autumn opera schedule with a choice of two operas on that night: Strauss’ Capriccio, N’s favourite but unfortunately all booked up, and Elixir d’Amore, by Donizetti, at Opera Bastille, which wasn’t, so N has reserved two seats. It has been on the radio a lot this week, in recordings by Pavarotti. So, all of a sudden, we are going back to Paris next week, and to the Opera! Must decide what to wear.
When we drove back to Saint-Denis on August 24 we had not been there for a long time, about two and a half months; not since the day we had left for Simone’s at Le Mans in a such a hurry in the middle of June. In Saint-Denis itself we found preparations going on for the Rugby World Cup - posters, marquees, new shops etc; and in the apartment various forgotten things - dead flowers, mouldy leftovers, potatoes growing in the vegetable bin, and a huge cobweb in kitchen stretching from the side of the kitchen table right the way up to the ceiling!
Because I’d had no shopping opportunities for so long I had several long shopping lists for various places in both Paris and the UK. I did local shopping in Saint-Denis on Friday afternoon, and went into Paris on Saturday. N refused my invitation to come with me, as he was anxious to consult his stamp albums at Saint-Denis together with the new additions he had bought at fairs in Normandy. I started off at Le Forum des Halles, at FNAC to buy printer cartridges for the computer, cosmetics at Sephora, and lunch at Tarte Julie. As I came out to the metro to go on to the Grands Magasins, I saw the sun was shining! An amazing event as the weather had been so grey and wintery lately; unbelievably, sun had been forecast for the weekend and here it was. After shopping at C & A, Bouchara and Lafayette Maison I got the metro back to Saint-Denis in time to have my eyebrows done. The only thing I hadn’t managed to get was a little metal sign to put by our bell at LNL which is hard to see through the gate, but BHV basement - the only likely place - was too far from everywhere else I was going.
On Sunday morning I went early to the Gare du Nord for the 9.10 Eurostar, met daughter Madeleine at Waterloo and went back to her flat at Clapham Junction for lunch. In the afternoon I caught the train to Ipswich (actually it was a bus as far as Colchester) and stayed with family until Wednesday, enjoying more shopping, visiting, catching up with everybody and eating out.
Another train on Wednesday morning and on to Cambridge to stay with my friend Gill, who met me at the station. It was over a year since I had been back to Cambridge, and this time I was staying close to where I had lived before, between 1981 and 1998. As I walked around over the few days I was there I kept coming across different layers of different lives, all stretching over the 35 years I had lived in Cambridge. Yet more shopping; I had been in enough chain stores so it was mostly small unusual shops, and an interesting trip into N’s college to photograph his portrait. When it had been completed by the Vietnamese artist last year, N had explained to him that it would hang in a large college room with lots of others, and promised to send him a photo so that he could see what it looked like. Armed with a letter of introduction to the Head Porter I was accompanied to the Senior Common Room, took half a dozen photos with my new digital camera, complimented him on the lawns and flowers, and walked out again into Kings Parade, which I very much enjoyed, especially the National Trust Shop.
I spent the rest of the time catching up with colleagues, friends Zoë and Samin & children and cat Albertine, and watching DVDs with Gill; and on the Saturday afternoon going back to my ex-neighbour Jo in Ainsworth Street, and seeing my old house again from next door for first time since I left. I then walked to station - a journey I had done countless times before - and took the train back to London where I had a brief meeting and cup of tea with daughter Caroline at Waterloo. This was my last visit to Waterloo for some time - perhaps ever! - as from November Eurostar will leave from Saint Pancras. The journey back to Paris was quick and quiet; few other passengers, and direct to the Gare du Nord where N was waiting for me with the car. He had spent much of week sorting and valuing his stamp collections, plus a quick trip to FNAC and inviting Odile to tea; also making an appointment for next week with an eye doctor in Bernay, as he kept seeing little black spots before his eyes.
We spent Sunday quietly in the apartment in Saint-Denis, catching up with washing, sorting, and ironing things left from last time. I especially enjoyed Sunday lunch (at the dining table) and supper, both cooked by N. On Monday morning, N had a meeting planned with the resident architect at Les Ursulines regarding an ongoing discussion with a neighbour about a leak in her apartment below. Fortunately when the architect arrived the kitchen was clean, tidy and empty with all the washing-up done, but then he also needed to inspect the bathroom, just as I was about to wash and dress! It reminded me of when I was first living there two years ago, when there were frequent visits from plumbers.
Once the architect’s visit was over, we could leave for Normandy, and as always there was a lot to pack. Apart from all my shopping, there were N‘s stamp albums, all the leftover food as usual, a spare steam iron which had originally come from Italy, (the iron at LNL had never been very good, and has recently started leaking water) and both our raincoats, although there had been no rain since we had left Normandy. There were also several pieces of an old Amstrad computer from N‘s loft, as a result of a rash promise to Prof J to recover a thesis he had written on an Amstrad many years ago. We also left the apartment far tidier than last time! N left a message with the gardienne (concierge) asking her to let him know when the chimney sweep would be visiting, as last year he missed it, and was anxious not to let it go another year.
At about 1.00 pm we stopped for lunch at Hotel de l’Ouest opposite Evreux station; it seemed to me a deliciously French lunch after all my recent English pub meals, but rather too large - the herring and potato first course, although wonderful, would have been a lunch in itself. But it’s always a better idea to stop and eat on the way than to try and get lunch as soon we’ve arrived. We found the lawns very overgrown, N’s new doorstep fine, and lots of post in the post box. There were even a few apples on tree, the roses and dahlias were doing well, and there were the beginnings of a few Michaelmas daisies.
Wednesday 5 September 2007
Yesterday N went to see the doctor in Bernay, and was relieved to find that his eye problem was treatable and due only to wear & tear and old age. He also called in at Monsieur Bricolage for more cement, to continue repairing the walls and ceilings of the Box Office (second outhouse.)
In the village everything is much the same as usual; except that the boulangerie is still closed for its annual holiday. I have done lots of sorting, putting away and washing, and made a start on cleaning the house. N has mowed the lawns, touched up his step and stained the new threshold plank (this meant walking the long way round to the garden all day, as the verandah door was out of bounds.) He has also clipped the hedge around the potager, and tidied the virginia creeper along the front garden. (He said under French law, no doubt if anyone walked out into road because of our dangling creeper and got run over, we would be held responsible!) I did my exercise DVD for the first time for ages, wearing new gear bought last week in the UK. During the day we have spent a long time waiting for a parcel to be delivered for N; a slip of paper had been left while we were away, and both of us had tried with difficulty to phone for more information. When it eventually arrived it was a very heavy pack of three Stanley Gibbons stamp catalogues. (In order to complete the valuing process!)
It has been very warm today, and we have had the first lunch in the garden for as long as I can remember; the garden table and chairs needed a good clean. I hope this is the beginning of a fine, warm autumn! N has finally finished off the cement round verandah step and the edge of the path, and done more cementing in the second outhouse.
Thursday 6 September 2007
Today I have done lots of cooking; in the morning a bread pudding to use up some leftover baguette, and after lunch I began mint & apple jelly using the apples bought at a fair a couple of weeks ago. I hung the jelly bag up in the verandah this time; N said there wasn’t really room for it in the potting shed now, and it did seem rather dirty in there. As he has recently put hooks for drying herbs along the ceiling joist of the verandah, I was able to hang the bag from a piece of cord on one of those and balance the bowl on a stool. N said it sounded as though I was preparing for a hanging; was I then going to kick the stool away? This evening I have made leek and cream risotto for the first time using a giant leek N brought in from the garden. (« One giant leek for mankind… » he said. ) I like to think my risotto (from an Italian recipe) was all the better for stirring it while listening on the radio to tributes to Luciano Pavarotti, whose death was announced this morning. We were able to look at Italian TV to see all the news in detail; views and reporting from Pavarotti’s native town Modena, through which I once remember going by train. I also thought of my visit to Florence in 1994, and my landlady who was a big Pavarotti fan and always invited me into the kitchen when he was on television, which was often.
I have phoned to order a delivery of heating fuel; the evenings are drawing in, and for the last two nights we have gone to bed with a hot water bottle! In the garage N found what he thought was a leak of oil from the tank, and worried about how we would get it repaired. We decided to ask the delivery man what he thought. The weather has been strange during the day, cloudy but warm, and we had lunch in the garden again.
Sunday 9 September 2007
On Friday morning I went to the hairdresser (N having been on Wednesday, so we are all tidy now) and the heating fuel was delivered. The driver said oil is often spilled when the tank is filled, and, he thought that‘s all it was. We then switched the heating on, just for the mornings and evenings, so now we have a nice warm bedroom, and bathroom. I also finished off my mint jelly; there was far more of it than I had expected, and it used up my entire supply of small jars; I had thought there would be plenty to pick and choose from. It took a long time to write all the labels, stick them all on, and arrange them in a basket in the jam store in the first outhouse.
Yesterday we had a lovely day out at a town called Les Andelys, we had a long journey there using the car’s satellite navigation; N thought it seemed a very long way round. The morning mist cleared at about 10.30 and then there was beautiful warm sunshine all the rest of the day; about 23 degrees, and it was difficult to believe we had needed (and would need again) heating in the evening and morning. The main reason for going to Les Andelys was a very large foire à tout (1500 stallholders, it said in the paper.) By the time we had got there and found somewhere to park it was time for lunch, so we stopped at a pretty hotel garden with roses by the side of the Seine, and ate under the shade of the trees; duck with cherries, café liegeois, and cider to drink, which always tastes better out of doors. I started with smoked salmon salad and N with boudin in pastry, and I was especially pleased that I managed not to spill any of the lovely cherry red duck sauce down my brand new white T-shirt……..
We then made our way to the fair which took place along the whole length of a long main street. N bought two prints and looked at various violins and postcards, and said he thought that the prices were higher than in our part of Normandy. There was lots of interesting furniture to look at, some of which might even have done for the dining room at Saint-Denis - for which we are still trying to find a small cupboard - but it would have been impossible to carry back to the car. It was such a large fair that at one point we lost each other completely for about twenty minutes, but just as I was hurrying (or trying to) to where we had agreed to meet, I caught sight of N again.
I bought a small cheese dish with a round marble base and a transparent cover, and was very pleased to find a little « Sonnez SVP » notice for our front gate, on a stall selling all kinds of new metal signs. After some tea to fortify ourselves, we took a much shorter route back, having consulted the map. Once home, we found Prof J’s Amstrad disc in the post, so before (a very light) supper N began researching in the far studio with the Amstrad computer, which he had assembled next to the other two old computers on the very large table. He continued in the evening while I watched a very good play on BBC Prime, then we listened to The Last Night of Proms on the radio, in bed.
Monday 10 September 2007
Yesterday was very busy; N continued putting up ceilings and re-plastering walls in the Box Office, and I painted the remaining door on the side of the house, having thought in the sunshine the day before that this might be the last fine weekend for some time. (This is the glass-panelled door at the end of the side corridor, in between the windows of the grande pièce, kitchen and dining room which I painted a few weeks ago when it was so hot. No window sills or flower pots to worry about with a door.) At the same time, in an amazing display of time management, I cooked what N called a « real » Sunday lunch: roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast home-grown potatoes and carrots; steamed marrow and gravy, then rhubarb crumble and custard. Afterwards we continued our reading of Beowulf, having had a few Sundays off, and reached the end. I then went back and finished painting the door. Today I am very pleased with it; like the window frames it really could have done with two coats, but I think second coats will have to wait till next spring.
I have phoned Monsieur A to ask when someone (Guillaume?) can come to give an annual check on our new heating installation, and N has left a message for the TV man who seems to have completely forgotten that he has lent us a spare set while he repairs ours. I think our TV screen is going to look very small when we eventually get it back………
This morning we had a phone call from the gardienne at Saint-Denis telling us that the chimney sweep will be coming to Les Ursulines on Thursday 20 September - N’s birthday! We agreed that we would have to go back to Saint-Denis, and so could celebrate his birthday in Paris rather than Normandy, and about half an hour later the post brought the autumn opera schedule with a choice of two operas on that night: Strauss’ Capriccio, N’s favourite but unfortunately all booked up, and Elixir d’Amore, by Donizetti, at Opera Bastille, which wasn’t, so N has reserved two seats. It has been on the radio a lot this week, in recordings by Pavarotti. So, all of a sudden, we are going back to Paris next week, and to the Opera! Must decide what to wear.
# posted by Chez Katherine @ 8:56 AM 
