June arrives

The artichoke rampaging skywards

So lockdown in France is almost over though it’s more complicated in the U.K. and internationally. This week we have just had our second wine trip, our second invitation to a friend’s house (today for lunch), and our wine tasting circle resumes in 10 days. Then we have a trip north for music and/or wine, which is really exciting. For others, things will take longer to get back to ‘normal’ - we were delighted to hear that one friend marooned in England has now been reunited with her husband in France.

Sunday evening as I began to write, we were just just back from the afternoon walk, that day along a little country road near our house that leads unromantically to the déchèterie. I’ve started to call it nightingale alley - just now there are half a dozen along the 2 km circuit. These birds have a fine poetic reputation but some of our friends commented recently (after I included a recording I made in our garden) that they are very loud - indeed they are, especially outside your bedroom window at night. But the Nachtigallen flöten in various songs probably refers more to the long, upward reaching piping notes which are part of the oh so varied song.

Mary and I often muse that our lives really didn’t change under lockdown - we spend a lot of time at home reading listening to music, watching tv or videos; but what did change suddenly and completely were the regular round of weekly rendez-vous - Tuesday French conversation, monthly ‘réseau’ meetings, Monday music in Vauvert for M, monthly choir In Montpellier for me, monthly wine tastings, any of them often accompanied you bring and share food and drink. So our days have fallen into a much less varied pattern, with shopping trips (still of course allowed), medical appointments (though several of these we have decided to postpone) and so on, but now most frequently walks with the dogs 3 times a day, which are a godsend. 

Of course, you get a chance to catch up on jobs - here, Mary replacing 30-year-old blue chair coverings with smart new grey-green ones.

Now warmer days are here things are growing like mad, and somehow (as others have noticed) everything seems a bit brighter and more luxurious in the absence of so much bustle. We have had over 150 mm of rain since the beginning of April, but that fell mainly in 4 short bursts and we’ve had a lot of sunshine and dry days, which help with dog walking!

Music-wise, Mary is still assidous in practising the cello, I never was a keen practiser on my own, but for us music is usually best when done in groups: we are quite awed by those, mainly keyboard players, who enjoy playing alone. But now she has a possible chamber group to look forward to in the Ain as already mentioned, so she is practising hard for that in case it happens.

The latest upheaval in our lives was the delivery of next winter’s firewood. Not earth-shattering, but it took a bit of stacking!