Interestingly (well I think it is interesting anyway), the French word for heatwave is canicule, from the Latin canus and something else, but implying our dog days of high summer. Anyway, we are slap bang in the middle of another bout of high heat, which is quite restricting. This morning we thought we might go to the Festival of the Giant Croissant - it is an annual thing around here. I thought I might have written about it one year, but looking back, I haven't. The giant croissants are over a foot long and would feed a family of four for two breakfasts. I digress - everyone seemed to have the same idea and with a wait of 15 minutes to get into a car park, a couple of hours slogging around a hot village surrounded by fragrant and sweaty people lost all appeal. We diverted to see the cats in the country and slop a bit of water around new crops and came home. When I checked the Weather App, this is what I was promised.
While the sun is at its most intense at midday, the hottest time of the day is generally between 5pm and 7pm, by which time it was due to be about 35ºC. We have decided to spend the day defrosting the small freezer instead.
With hot periods like this, there isn't much you can do really. You have to go with the flow and try to keep as cool as possible (it is only 29ºC in my office currently). This week we did decide to try out a new restaurant nearby. The Bistrot 1813 has only been open perhaps 3 months, and is doing well, although from adverts on social media, when the schools and colleges go back, they could be struggling for waiting and kitchen staff. We had a very enjoyable lunch there - 16,90€ a head for three courses, plus drinks on top (a very good Côtes de Rhône by the glass - not cheap, but if you are only having one glass, make it a good one!). Fontaine Guerin is just down the road from us and has a church with a twisted spire - there are a few of them around here!
Yesterday morning was overcast and sticky. Sunny and 36ºC is distinctly unpleasant but 28ºC and muggy is possibly worse. To make the small and bijou market at Baugé that much more pleasant, there is often musical entertainment. Some can be a bit trying - some Frenchman trying to croon "It's now or never" and imitating Elvis is the nadir, but recently there was a trad jazz clarinettist who was fab. Yesterday we had a couple on guitar and fiddle doing Celtic sea shanty type music which was enchanting. I hope they come again.
Rebus is no longer officially a kitten, he is now a cat. He thinks this is a bit unfair, but once you hit one year old, you are a grown up in cat world. But as he is now considered a cat, he has adopted one of the best loved cat perches around our garden. Not our gutter, but definitely our cat!
He is well camouflaged in there!
The Marx Sisters have taken to garden life well and Harpo has started to lay eggs, but Chico and Groucho are being threatened with being part of the poule au pot served by the village at Telethon time. I don't really need 3 freeloading chickens!
We are in the final countdown to the Comice, at Vaulandry this year. The last time it was there was 2011 and it was very hot (bit of a theme there). On the Saturday a bunch of us performed Old MacDonald a une Ferme - there are photos here but fortunately no video! Reading through the rest of the story, Pauline is now in the caring profession, Florian is married with one child, and Valentin has a degree in Engineering - how things move on! The second day was the usual mayors' ploughing match and parade of floats, as is shown here. I had nothing to do with the lovely float for le Vieil Baugé, which paid homage to the village's past as a wine producing area.
I've just heard a noise like a large lump of ice falling off the freezer, so I must go and tend to the ice removal process, which will be nice and cool - have I mentioned that it is 29ºC around my computer? Have a good week!
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