June sees an acceleration in “things to do and places to go”. On the first Sunday I was vacillating between music in Kennedy Squ, Royan; Fête de velo (cycle day) in Royan or going to the cinema to see the film Django, when my friend Luce called to say that there was a free choral concert in the attractive little Romanesque church in the village of St Seurin d’Uzet and there was a space for me in the car! Quandary solved.
There were two choirs and the music was varied, not all liturgical. One song was a fair rendition of the South African miners song, Shosholoza.
June is also the time of the bursting into flower of that glorious weed, the Hollyhock. In multiple colours this tall, strong, plant pushes through tarmac and rubble to decorate the pavements and building sites. Frances answer to the English Rose Bay Willow Herb!
Meanwhile work continues in the garden and with the terrace, recently enhanced by the addition of two solar powered water features.
8th. This afternoon Luce and I drove to the nearby village of St Sulpice de Royan to look at the medieval garden that has been developed by volunteers in the garden of the Parsonage. The attractive Romanesque church still has some traces of medieval wall painting.
The garden is divided into boxed beds devoted to particular types of herbs, those that are curative, poisonous, used for dyeing textiles, having edible roots or leaves etc.
10th. Put the finishing touches to the deck this morning which included unraveling the Wisteria and draping it over the top. The dappled shade effect is really very pleasing. Now, apart from maintenance, the garden is finished.
11th. Big “Vide Grenier” on the promenade today (literally “empty your garage”). Had a wander about and bought a five euro pair of sunnies and a new wallet (ten euro) from as nice Senegalise man with whom I had a nice chat about Senegal in particular and Africa in general! The purchases were courtesy Sandi du Sud, to whom many thankyous.
17th Picked up Kazy and Chris at La Rochelle airport for a four day visit. It was quite late by the time we got home so a light supper with a bottle of Fizz (which I drank alone finding that they had both totally stopped drinking since last we met!) on the terrace and then to bed.
The next couple of days were trip up the estuary to Talmont and beyond and a day in Brouage. All too soon it was time to take them back to the airport for the return flight.
21st Today was the first of a season on School of music concerts. They are held in an auditorium with an open side and the audience sit on the lawn outside. I went with Luce and we managed to find a bit of shade to sit in. The standard was very high for first year students. There are concerts all next week starting with the year three Piano students on Monday and ending on Friday with the full symphony orchestra and picnic on Friday, in time for Lyn! Some years ago the 21st of June was nominated as a Fête de Musique day by the then Minister of Culture. When Cassidy and I walked out at 10pm we found many musical performances of high quality taking place on the streets.
22nd Every Thursday from the 1st June till the 21st September there is a concert in one of the churches of the commune of Charent-Marintime. This week it was the prize winning Pianist Philippe Cassard at Etasules with work by Mendelssohn, Brahms and Schubert. Having left in a bit of a hurry I got the town wrong and found myself at the delightful little Oyster Port of Eguille-sur-Seudre. Wishful thinking I suppose as I had passed it often on the main road and thought it worth a look!
Luckily the correct venue was not too far away. The church was not as old as many in the area having been rebuilt with the stone from the original church which had been destroyed by the Huguenots. It did have a rather splendid pulpit though.
I got a good seat with a great view of the stage and the pianist’s hands, which is always a bonus. The Concerts start at 9pm, the performer introduced each set with long and enthusiastic commentary, there was an interval, appreciative clapping and an encore. By the time I got out of the church it was 11.30 and tables were set up with orange juice, cider and Gallets Chanentaise, a local version of shortbread. It turned out well to have bought the camper and Cassidy. We pulled into the town Square parking for a good night’s sleep and enjoyed a coffee and croissant ast the cafè/Patisserie before heading home in the morning.
23rd. This evening was the occasion of the “Town picnic. Long trestle tables were arranged down the centre of the closed off main streets and around the church square. The idea being that people from the town get together with friends and bring a picnic to enjoy. There was a band in the square and people dancing. I had been out to supper with friends so Cassidy and I didn’t get there till well after ten and it was still lively.
Most cafes and bars were open and so was the sweet shop!
Just by way of a taster to tempt you into visiting, here is a short video of the beach.
26th In the early evening went to the school of music for one of their end of year concerts. This time it was the turn of the pianist, starting with the youngest, who’s feet didn’t touch the floor from the piano stool let alone the pedals. They were very cute and everyone did their best under the watchful eye of the Director. It is a good start to learning to have the confidence to perform.
28th. This evening was the last of the school of Music year end concerts that I will be attending. We are having a rather wet spell so the orchestral concert with picnic that was scheduled for Friday has had to be cancelled. Tomorrow is the choral students and as well as preferring instruments I will be picking Lyn up at the train station. However this evening was a real treat with a succession of third year soloists who were very accomplished on a variety of instruments.
The evening was rounded off with something completely different. A trio of drummers performing rock riffs!
The girl in the group signaled someone in the audience to take some photos but they didn’t have a camera with them so I took some more and got her e-mail address from her at the end so that I could send them to her.
capetocarpe 