Around and about with Tony Goodman
Staying at home
It sounds odd but possibly because we do so much, seem to be always juggling invitations: music, concerts and movies, winery visits, soirees, French lessons and city breaks… The idea of staying in is actually quite attractive, at least at the moment.
No doubt it will be tiresome but for the moment we are enjoying box sets we have which we have never watched and old favourites we have promised we would re-watch.
Sacred Music Festival
We had tickets to the concert at the Théâtre de l’Archipel and our fingers crossed. However its not to be, advice received that the festival has been postponed until October. Plenty to see on line of course. Sad but necessary, live music is on hold for the moment.
French
Because of my ossified neurons I need to continually refresh my French. It fades quickly. To replace our cancelled exchanges we’ve found some ancient detective shows on TV in French with HoH French subtitles. Peter Falks as Colombo is a favourite. These and possibly future session via Skype I’m hoping will give us our regular language fix.
Shopping
We have a choice of two small supermarkets and more importantly a few small traders within walking distance. Not a full range, no poissonnerie which we miss however that’s the new reality. Marching off for a mid week forage I could not help notice how quiet it was and the amount of birdsong. Perhaps celebrating the new soundscape.
Leaks
Along with most of Perpignan, we have a leak in the roof, a minor leak. It was detected and reported six months ago. It’s been an interesting exercise to go through the process to get it remedied.
Appointments for various parties to inspect the ceilings and the roof. Multiple email exchanges to reach an agreement that there was indeed a leak. Multiple quotes were gathered, presented, rejected and finally accepted by the syndic.
Meetings are now being arranged to discuss the carrying out the actual work.
While progress is glacial it is interesting how all parties, owners, syndic members, managing agents and even competing repair firms apparently must be consulted at every step to avoid ruffling plumage. Thankfully the region is known for its low rainfall.
Virtual Apéro
All is not lost, while still not completely au fait with the technology we enjoyed a on-line apéro on the weekend. It was good to sit in the sun, to see and hear everyone was fit and well. The sort of thing that will become increasingly important judging by the latest headlines.
A few suggestions for user-friendly group video calling:
Life goes on
At least for the moment it seems most municipal services continues including multiple teams out and about pressure washing recycling stations, bus stops and the heroic amount of dog droppings that appear on footpaths overnight. They should be cheered as well, the cleaners not the hounds.
