Music

It may be a few weeks away however tickets for Mozart a Salzbourg at Theatre d’Archipel are selling quickly. Mozart of course with superb pieces from both  Haydens,  Joseph and Michael. Te Deum in C major is the big finale.

Find out more about the Festival de Musique Sacrée here.

Movies

Parasite, Oscar winner has returned to the Ciné Castillet. It is one of the most original movies we have ever seen, you will ever see. Original plot, dark humour and slapstick. Thoughtful social comment. Great camerawork. VOSTFR.

Art

Musée Rigaud is currently hosting a temporary exposition of local talent 8 Feb – 10 May. The region’s wealth of artistic endeavours never ceases to amaze and delight. Taking a moment to secure our annual passes we enjoyed 40 mins or so of an uncluttered view of the exhibits before wandering off to lunch. The museum is an absolute gem!

Find out more here.

Wine

Based in Elne, Vincoeur Catalan is a cave offering free deliveries of the best local wines. We gave them a try after a suggestion from a neighbour who being well into his tenth decade decided to hang up his car keys as a new years resolution.  Good value, good range of wines. Organised friendly service. Two days from the on-line order to delivery.

Seaside

Early in the week we drove over to Canet Page to ensure the Mediterranean was still there, to wander the market and to secure some fresh sea bass and a dozen oysters from the Poissonnerie Nostra Mar in Boulevard Hippolyte Tixador.

Plenty of people taking in the sunshine and sea fresh air. The beach was neat, water clean.  Scanning carefully out to sea I could see summer just below the horizon.

French

This week it was the importance of clearly pronouncing the “ement” at the end of adjectives. Failing to do so can offend the ears of French purists and render a sentence confusing. If Rhett had told Scarlett “Frank my dear I don’t give a damn” that would have put a post modernist, neo-agrippen spin on the entire movie.

Further afield

After careful calculation, investigation and consultation we determined the best time for a city break is the front half of March. Cold, bleak winters, blistering summers. Mardrid is an early spring destination.

Train is taking the strain of course. City to city centre in just over 4 hours.

Origin of democracy

Elections are at the core of liberal democracies. Existing office holder being judged, aspirants setting out their stalls. Left, right, green, red and blue. All wanting to capture supporters.  A political process  driven by the highest of ideals is the conventional wisdom.

Judging by the amount of material that appears in our mailbox, handed to us in the street and in the market I wonder in fact whether the entire democratic political process was created by ancient advertising execs and printers to generate demand for their skills.

Long before Xmas, birthday and mother’s day cards churning out political flyers was the only way to put bread on the table and shoes on feet. Socrates was just a spin doctor, Cassandra a media pundit.