Well, first off, after my posting about how lucky I was to be able to work from home so much, I have had several trips back to the UK just recently. These have generally been fairly painless affairs, although each time I leave home I do attach a psychological bungee cord to the gate-post so I can come back as quickly as possible.  As we are in the high season, I have a lot more flights to choose from and I have found the EasyJet routes to be quite useful. They do mid-day flights from La Rochelle to Gatwick with a return flight mid-morning from London. This really fits in much better with my needs as I can catch a flight to London and still get some time in the office the same day. Gatwick is closer to Maidenhead than Stansted, and the Gatwick Express train service is head-and-shoulders above the Stansted Express, which is the pits.

In fact, the whole EasyJet experience is so much nicer than that offered by RyanAir. The planes are more like normal planes, and not just big yellow tubes advertising the airline. The seats are a soothing grey, and not in-your-face yellow, and they have pockets in the back. In the pockets there is even a magazine! Yes, folks, its almost like being on a proper flight. The boarding process is better organised as well. With Ryanair you are either a priority boarder or not. Hence, there is always a huge scrum at the departure gate while people jostle to get in the best position to get the best seats. At least with EasyJet you are broken down into groups: Those that have requested “Special  Assistance”, those that have purchased “Speedy Boarding”, “Boarding group A” and “Boarding Group B”. Each group is boarded separately and in my experience it works much better.

So, work has kept me away from my blog for a while. There are changes going on which may affect me and I’ve had to give it a lot of attention recently. However, it’s not been all work and no play. We have had visitors too.

For the first time since February, my sister Kathryn and her family managed to come and see us. My brother-in-law Sam had broken his leg at doing something foolish (playing football actually, which just confirms my belief that exercise is bad for you…). So their planned trip was very much in the balance for a while. Thankfully they got the all-clear from the consultant and so they made the journey down to see us. We had a lovely time and our kids were delighted to see them, especially their nephews, who they haven’t seen since February.

While they were here we had a couple of days out.

On recommendation by Kevin D, we went to the Ile de Ré near La Rochelle. What a lovely island it is, although the €17 toll to cross the bridge is rather steep! We found a nice beach at La Flotte and had a great day doing the usual building of big sandcastles and playing in the sea. This day also saw the christening of our picnic-hamper-rucksack-thing, which Kathryn and Sam had bought us. It was very pleasant eating our lunch on the beach with proper plates, knives and a cheese-board. All very civilised! Sadly we had all managed to forget to bring a bottle of wine, so we failed to finish off the event in true style. Maybe next time

As the sea started to come closer we decided to go for a walk along the sea-front up to the harbour. Sam, who is still on crutches as he has all sorts of pins sticking out of his leg, stayed behind to soak up some sun. The harbour was a very nice part of town, made all the better in Molly’s eyes by the inclusion of a Chi-Chi stall.

For the uninitiated, Chi-Chis are like long thin doughnuts and are totally gorgeous, freshly fried and caked in sugar. No good for the diet, but heavenly   Most seaside resorts sell them somewhere round here and we always like to indulge. Well, once has to support local businesses don’t you think?!

When we returned to the beach to join Sam, the sea had come right in, leaving a throng of people clinging on to the 10 square meters of sand that was left. It was all rather amusing, seeing the masses of people spilling off the beach and up the steps, onto the grass verge above. No-one was willing to give up on the sunshine, so they just escaped as far as necessary from the sea and plonked themselves down there to sunbathe. It looked rather like a refugee camp to be honest!

We were totally won over by Ile de Ré. It looks like a beautiful place and is certainly somewhere to come back to and explore further (preferably without the tourists ).

We eventually toddled back to Foussais and enjoyed moules et frites once more. Lisa makes a very nice m&f, though she was inspired by those we had in Carcassonne to add lots more wine & garlic. Still she felt she hadn’t reached the same level of flavour, so next time there will be even more! When we visited Niort a while ago we tried Moules au Pineau, which was rather delightful too. Though it seems a bit of a waste to cook with Pineau… we’ll have to see.

Anyway, back to the visitors.

There was a fête in Maillezais on Sunday, so we went to explore. It seemed to be fairly busy, and there was the Yeovil Brass Band there, which we though would be fun. However we were a bit disappointed with what was there and the band only played a little during the day. The whole fête seemed to be focussed mainly on the evening’s concert by the brass band, and we weren’t really looking to stay out that long, so we moved on.

After our great night at Nieul the week before, we thought we would go back and see the village on a “normal” day. Well, it being Sunday, it wasn’t really normal as everything was shut, but at least we could explore a little. First things first though, we needed something to eat, so we stopped at the auberge near the abbey for a lovely meal. They certainly do know how to make good goats cheese salads round here

After starting the day quite cool, the weather really improved while we ate, and so we decided to head back home and let the kids jump in the pool. Yes, our pool is still standing, so far. I can’t remember if I have told you the tale, so I’ll fill you in another time.

We were very sad to say good bye to Kathryn, Sam and the boys. We always have a great time together and this one has seemed all-too-short. We’re already looking forward to the next time.

So there you go, it has been a busy few days and I’m sorry for neglecting you, my faithful readership. I’ll try to keep on the ball from now on

As I mentioned previously, Friday was Fete de la Musique day in Foussais. We wandered down to the garden behind the church, where it was all going to happen, and got ourselves established. It was a beautiful evening, the sun was still strong and there was not a cloud in the sky. The evening kicked off with a lady playing the accordion, joined by what I assumed to be her pupils – one on the accordion and one on the flute. They played a few tunes and the pupils did very well. I imagine the accordion is deceptively tricky to learn, what with it being side-ways-on and all that squeezing in and out – seems like a lot to remember to me.

Then came the kids from Gaston Goulard, the ecole publique. They did several numbers, all unaccompanied, and performed admirably. Some of them were really getting into the swing of it and were jigging along without any worries. Then they were joined by some of the children from St Antoine, including Joe, to sing a song that really confused the audience by singing alternate verses loud then quiet. Each time the quiet verse came around everyone thought they had finished and started clapping!

Then the GG kids left and the rest of the St Antoine children, including Molly, joined the “stage”. They were accompanied on the guitars by Joe’s teacher Nathalie and her guitar teacher in an anglo-french version of “Do-Re-Mi” from the Sound of Music. Lisa had leant Nathalie the DVD of the film a while ago to help her in getting the pronunciation right – the only word they struggled with was “so”, pronouncing it “soo”, but apart from that they were spot-on.

They then went on to treat us to a couple of songs that had featured in last month’s Chante-Mai, “Oh Eh Hein Bon” and “TGV”, both very catchy numbers that had the audience singing and clapping along. The kids were brilliant and we were very proud of them. it was especially nice that we had Lisa’s mum and sister with us so they could see the kids performing, something the family will miss out on very often now we are so far away.

The evening then progressed with a choir from, shall I say, the older generation in the village. I’m not sure what they were singing about, but they made quite a lovely sound and did quite a long session. The crowd were really getting into it by the end, swaying in time to the music and joining in with the chorus – great to see.

By the time the choir had finished, our troops were getting restless, so Lisa took her mum and sister plus Rosie home, while I satayed for a while so Molly and joe could play with their friends. it was such a nice atmosphere, as it always is at these events. The kids all got on and played without getting up to too much mischief and the adults could all relax and enjoy a drink on the grass.

While they played a young lad with another accordion played several songs. I have to say that I think it;s great that there was so much music on show, but the accordion did start to drag on a little bit – reminiscent of the flamenco guitar from the Stevenage concert.  Thankfully the accordion was soon replaced by a chap singing some folky kind of songs, accompanied very well by a guy with a guitar.  He sang a few songs, then made way for a 3-piece combo of keyboard, flute and some other instrument which I can’t remember now…perhaps an oboe. But they were very good, and nicely turned out in matching costumes too!

Once they had finished it was about time to head off. Joe had already been picked up in the car, so Molly and I walked back home. It was still a lovely long, warm night and it was a really nice way to end a very pleasant day.

On Friday it is the Fete de la Musique. This is a national event that was set up in 1982 by the French Ministry of Culture to help popularise music in France and the French-speaking world. The actual day of the festival is the 21st June, the day of the summer solstice, but in Foussais our event is on the evening of the 20th. It is basically a series of free concerts showcasing all different kinds of music and brining the community together to enjoy it.

The concerts in Foussais start at 8.30pm (like most things) and look like they’ll be going on into the wee small hours.  The pupils from the local schools will be singing some songs, followed by various acts that I really know nothing about (!), including “Katell et ses élèves” – with the accordian and flute , the “Chorale du foyer soleil” and “Trompes de chasse”. The evening draws to a rocking close with a series of bands called  “Maigre Souris“, “Nadine is a groove child” and “The Fat Pandas“, the last of which is billed as “British rock”, though I’m not quite sure what that is supposed to sound like.

We have Lisa’s mum and sister staying with us, so I’m not sure we will be staying too late, but it will certainly be nice for them to experience a little of the event and to see, hopefully, the community gathered together.

Another chance for a community gathering comes on Sunday when it is the Kermesse - the “summer fair” if you like – at Molly & Joe’s school.   This event is another all-day job, starting with a meal of moules et frites, one of our favourite meals. There is then a show by the children, followed by a raffle, with a barbecue to round off the night.  It should be another chance for us to get to know people and hopefully enjoy the lovely weather – presently predicted to be sunny and 30 degrees!

Rest assured, there will be reports and photos of all the happenings next week.

My parents are coming to stay for a week from tomorrow, so it looks like good timing for a top weekend’s entertainment for them. I’ll be sure to take photos and show any decent ones here.

More top entertainment coming up is a visit to the church in Foussais of the Stevenage Male Voice choir. We saw this advertised in the local Chocolate shop (yes, we have a chocolate chop in our little village…strange but true. that is, a shop that sells chocolate, not one that is made off chocolate – that would be rather impractical given the temperatures that have suddenly arrived). Now we are a pretty musical family. All of us love singing – Lisa and I were both in various choirs and singing groups back in Grimsby, and we all play various instruments – so we though this would be a great opportunity to hear some great voices, whilst also mixing with the locals once again and doing our bit to support the community. I think the profits go towards sthe local church so its all in a good cause.

It was also interesting that it was the Stevenage choir who were visiting, as my sister lives not far away, so it is a place that we know quite well. So I decided to get in touch with the choir to find out why they chose to come to our neck of the woods.

I had a very nice reply from the conductor of the choir who seemed really chuffed that I had got in touch. Apparently an ex-choir member has moved out to a place near La Châtaigneraie (about 15 mins from us), hence the link to this area. After the concert in Foussais on 17th May, they then travel on to Chatelaillon-Plage, where they will perform a concert on the 21st May.

They are singing with a local choir called “Choraline”, so we are looking forward to hearing them too, as at some point we would love to get into a choir over here and start doing some singing again. We both really miss it. Needless to say, I’ll fill you in on how it went!