Work, work, work makes us a little toey so we have taken a little time off over the last two days. Friday morning here is Friday evening in Nelson so we knew we could relax a bit. No 10pm phone call tonight and no crazily urgent work for the next day or so.
We intended to go swimming but of course had to hang around in case the cooktop was delivered, only to find mid-morning via the website that the courier had actually turned up on our doorstep on Tuesday morning, but without the number of our apartment written on his docket, he went away again!!!! If only he has pressed the few buzzers at the doorway he would have easily found us. We were keeping an eye out of the window for delivery vans but maybe he parked outside the church square. Needless to say, our cooktop has now gone full circle and is back in Perpignan. We have replied to the email they sent (they did already have our apartment number but hadn't forwarded it on the the courier) so I guess we have to hope and PRAY it will be delivered again next week.
With some free time on our hands on Friday, we had a wonderful day. Our French neighbour upstairs was returning back to Stuttgart on Sat morning, but had invited us to a family lunch on Friday lunchtime. We felt pretty honoured really, as it was a farewell lunch for his family and they are only in Céret for a few weeks a few times each year. His parents live in Oms, a small village about 20 minutes away uphill, and his sister in another town about 20 minutes towards the coast. We have got to know Francis, his father, pretty well because he has spent so much time doing up his son's apartment. They are a delightful family but we imagine that Francis and his wife Francette desperately miss not seeing more of their grandchildren. At least they are now living in Stuttgart, having recently moved from Korea.
We duly arrived upstairs the expected 15 minutes late and had an extremely enjoyable time chatting away over a light plate-on-knees lunch. Francis and Francette don't speak any English but David, his Korean wife Marie and his sister all do. We conversed mainly in French. I can understand more now and Francis is particularly good at speaking slowly and clearly.
We didn't get back to our place until 4pm and immediately thought we might try to see Severine again. We have tried a few times over recent weeks but when her door is closed it means she is trying to sleep. We struck it lucky today and spent an hour chatting with her. She is still pretty down about the death of her brother Manu but is soldiering on. We have promised to take her out for coffee when she feels she better and hopefully it will be soon.
We had heard from both Severine and Francis that there was going to be a huge fireworks display at Collioure that night. Judging by the two Bastille Day fireworks we have seen here in Céret, both absolutely stunning, we thought we had better go. We cooked a quick meal and then off on the scooter at 7pm, but only after we had re-taped the broken side-mirror which doesn't want to be mended.
.jpg)
The traffic was going to be atrocious apparently but we had a great 30 minute trip and all scooters were still allowed access into the town centre. Everyone in cars had to park outside Collioure and some would have had to walk for a number of miles. It was crowded. Amazing atmosphere in town, people swimming, the beach full of picnicking families waiting for it to get dark, and everyone having a festive time.
.jpg)
We had to wait until 10pm for kick-off but the antics of the crowd kept everyone amused. The fireworks were let off from four different locations - the castle, two rafts in the water and the small turreted building at the end of the harbour jetty. It was fantastic. Stunning coordinated display of all sorts of fireworks and it lasted an incredible 20 minutes. Well worth coming to see and great fun. Jumped on the scooter, and after some pretty slow early manoeuvring managed to get back home after a very pleasant ride by 11:30pm.
We awoke to light rain this morning, the first for weeks and weeks. However, it soon cleared and the Saturday morning market was in full swing by 10am with the sun coming through. We had our usual coffee while listening to our favourite jazz band and felt pretty happy. The temperatures are definitely on a gradual downward trend, with a very pleasant 28 degree maximum today, but not feeling hot at all. Seven hours work this afternoon/evening so time to put something together for a late meal. Tomorrow is Sunday and we hope to get out and do some much needed exercise - either cycling or walking.
