Brighter times

 

As many of you know, I help run an English-language library in Montpellier (it used to be called FOAL - Friends of the Anglophone Library), and to break with a muddled past we have decided to rename ourselves (unsurpisingly) the Montpellier English-language Library or MEL.  Now my friend and vice-pres. Phil is going through the bureaucratic hoops to register the new name, but meanwhile I am in the throes of producing the second edition of the catalogue.  We now have over 2,000 books!

This blog has three other interconnected parts - the first is renewal and expansion of tramways in Montpellier.  You can't escape this if you us the trams as we often do.  A new line is nearing completion, causing endless changes to local roads and one-way systems.  I write this, and dedicate the blog, to my friend Ed Humphreys who has devoted much of his life professional and beyond to public transport systems (trams, buses and on).  On his last trip here he was all over the Montpellier tram network, and studied one of the major interchanges where three lines intersect in front of Montpellier Saint Roch rail station.  The network has  been in action long enough that most of the heaviest-used stretches of line have just been renewed, with major diversions and closures around the city.  

At the same time the new line 5 is well under way.  It is an interesting comparison with Nottingham, a city of about the same size, where barely 2 lines have been completed, that Montpellier has reached 5 and is already engaged in comprehensive renewal of the first 2.  the new design is typically flamboyant

Mary always said our dentist reminded her of someone who liked making tiny Airfix models.  He has certainly treated us well enough, and shown notable restraint in pushing expensive solutions.  Anyway, apparently several of my teeth are coming loose because the bone in my jaw is shrinking.  Repair would be very expensive, but our dentist has made adjustments to keep me comfortable, and I am content.  Major dental surgery would be expensive!

In fact, tooth repairs and roof repairs are probably in much the same ball park, cost-wise although one is micro-the other macro-.  We have chosen the macro, the roof work I mentioned last time, which has expanded - one thing leads to another, and I'm guessing that nothing had been done since the original installation when the house was built some 40+years back and it is not surprising things are in a bit of a state.  The first tranche we knew of in January was to resecure tiles and replace broken ones, but water and bugs had got in and old anti-pest treatment had not lasted.  So (all from outside, taking tiles off to reach timbers as needed, the whole wooden structure is being retreated, and poor seals at the junctions between roofs and walls and along the ridges are being upgraded.  We are lucky the firm we chose are professional and thorough.  Now we console ourselves that, with a 10-year guarantee, the money we had in savings is just as well used in bricks (tiles) and mortar as it would have been in savings accounts.

We move into February in a spell of fine, dry weather.  The mistral, a dry, cold northerly wind, has blown steadily though not violently these last 10 days so we are glad, as I write, that the replacement of the heating boiler seems to have gone smoothly today.  The sun is shining, and we are peacefully awaiting the next phase of winter.