Saturday 29 June 2013: Pt 2

Relaxed Sunday before the rally

Still in bleary eyed and weary brain state even after a cup of coffee or two. Comes from another, but not quite as late a night, meaning we got to bed around 1.30am in the morning - Sunday. Cravant was elevated to almost Le Mans status on Saturday, when the sports car rally arrived. If the upheaval, noise and general bizarreness of the occasion wasn't for you, you probably have wanted to jump out the window. As for us, we spent the day with a really fun group of neighbours.

Patient by-sitters

Saturday, Cravant was in party-ish mode, with groups here and there, some having les pique-niques, others had tables set up with drinks, food etc. Outside L'Auberge in the centre of Cravant, a covered seating area had been rigged up for a large group of their regular clubbers (it's a night-club and during the day, our local and very good restaurant) who spent the day there, getting slowly hammered. Some neighbours in rue des vignes had pulled a table out into the road for some impromptu drinks, which eventually finished around 2 in the morning!

Alain pouring some drinks

Meantime we were into serious food in Alain's garage. The twelve of us and four children started our party around 12noon. We'd all taken things along. Alain's girlfriend had kindly organised all the wine. Her daughter and children came as well. Jacqueline and Norbert were there, who've been mentioned in earlier blogs,  along with their sons and families, Mike and I, and Dominic et Jeanette who we'd first met when we walked together for the Cravant randonnée, earlier in June.

waiting for the race

We began with apèros, during which Mike and I were given a guided tour of Alain's house for the first time. Quite amazing. From the outside it looks like an average sized and shaped detached house that we  used to live in, in London. However it just goes on and on and on. A real Tardis. Pretty much all the work he's done himself and it's an incredible job. We asked him if he had a map! Could easily have got lost. Then back we went into the garage for the entrée of different salads, followed by a barbecue, that had been building heat since around 10.30. Next came a huge selection of cheeses, followed by at least four different desserts. Different wines of course and last but not least, plenty of breads etc., Fantastic. By this time it was just after 16h00. The rally was now to start at 4.30pm.

First arrival

Not sure how many cars took part. There were 120 in the programme which listed all their details and drivers, but there were a few gaps in the running order as the cars passed by. We were perfectly positioned to see them hurtling towards us down from old Cravant, screeching, growling, coughing and loudly farting their way round the bend which took them into the road, as pictured here, which runs across the top of our road, then drops down to the main road through to Chinon.

Somewhere on the way to Cravant there had been an accident. Not sure if it involved any of the race cars and haven't heard any more details. Hopefully no one was injured. But it meant the race stopped for about an hour. The temperature started shooting up, so we thought we'd nip home for a cup of something and then come back as  we were only minutes away. Only it wasn't that simple. You're not allowed to walk on the 'race track', so we crossed from our viewing position through a field that leads on to the back of Jacqueline and Norbert's garden. Jacqueline came as well, got a ladder, and then we all climbed over her fence into her garden, which runs along the bottom of ours. Then we put the ladder over their hedge and climbed into our garden. Had a cup of tea and of course fell asleep. About an hour later back we went, this time walking up rue des vignes. Met up with our immediate neighbours. At this point we spotted two hot air balloons drifting over head. Didn't have the right lens unfortunately, which is why the balloons look like pimples. But it was a glorious day for a ride like that. 

To get back to Alain's house, we walked through a field belong to Jacqueline and Norbert's parents to the far end, that took us opposite  Alain's house, sneaked under the tape and legged it across the road. Wine and nibbles in gorgeous evening light and a fantastic view from Alain's terrace. Just great. The race finally finished around 10pm, but we hadn't.  Back into the garage we went, this time for a late dinner.  Entrées, roast pork, cheese and the remainder of desserts. We all got hysterical. I could barely move or think. Jeannette was crying with laughter, Alain was laughing so much he could barely get a word out. Some time after 1am, we started clearing up, the party broke up and wandered home. A brilliantly knackering day. Loved it.

On the go go go: Pt 2

Eyes aren't quite being held open by match sticks. Busy day Friday which ended up with our friends Sue and Dave coming round for supper before we headed over to Avoine for a rock gig at Le Temps des Crises. It's a community run space which has entertainment on all year round. From the outside it looks like a church hall. Inside there's a small foyer and then behind a door is the space, which probably can hold 200 at anyone time. There's a little bar at the door end and a proper stage and lighting rig at the other. Then there's an outside area, which on  a hot night like Friday was just great to be able to escape to. Quite often there'll be small tables and chairs laid out, but for the Monkey Junk gig on Friday it had been cleared out, except for a few high tables and chairs round the sides. We'd seen Monkey Junk - a Canadian band - last year in Chinon at Café Français. They were just brilliant live. So when we saw they were in France again we just had to go. Thought Sue and Dave might be interested in them and the space so invited them along. Also a Canadian/American couple, Chris and Moira, who we've got to know and who are based in Seuilly. They've bought a huge old place and spent a year in France, starting to get to grips with the repairs. Late in July they go back to the States and then do the six months a year arrangement  as we did until April. They love it in France as much as we do. Chris's brother and sister in law had arrived from Canada earlier in the week, so they came too.  Brilliant night. Monkey Junk just excelled themselves. We all loved them and they clearly loved the audience and Les Temps des Crises otherwise we wouldn't have had five encores. One of those nights that leave you buzzing the next morning. Think we got to bed around 2am.

Le Temps des Crises by the way is a play on words from the French song Le Temps des Cerises. It was written in 1866 by Jean Baptiste-Clement as a sentimental love song and was then set to music in 1868 by Antoine Renard. But the song took on a whole different meaning when the Paris Commune emerged in 1871 and the workers governed themselves and their interests. Clement was a revolutionary and fought in the final battle of the commune known as Semaine Sanglante/bloody week. The song was dedicated to an ambulance nurse called Louise Michel. It was at this time that the red cherries were used to symbolize the blood that was shed and the colours of communism and socialism. The song is littered with metaphors and has remained closely associated with political struggle. It's extremely well known throughout France and has been recorded by all sorts of people including Yves Montand, Charles Trenet and has even had the hard rock treatment from Noir Désir in their 2008 recording. Found a you tube compilation of various interpreters and their interpretations, which obviously took some time to put together.

Saturday 29 June 2013

An auspicious day both sides of the channel. In the UK a friend of ours Becca Newlan is getting married. So excited for her and James and hope they have a truly wonderful day and wonderful life together. Here in Cravant the village battens down the hatches for the annual car rally of about we think 150 sports cars, that begin the competition in Beaumont en Verron and converge on Cravant around 3pm this afternoon. The village is blocked off from about 2pm this afternoon till 11pm tonight. We are shortly walking round, armed with salad and dessert (pavlova) to neighbours Jacqueline and Norbert to spend the day with their family and another neighbour, Alain's family, for a barbecue. After that - no doubt in shambolic ebullient fashion, we will walk to a good viewing point.
Taking camera.  More later

On the go go go: PT 1

Woke up this morning to something excessively shiny creeping in round the shutters. Can someone tell me what it is. Think the name begins with an S. There was definitely some heat to it and everything seemed brighter. And most intriguingly this warm S thing was around all day and I believe is meant to be around for the rest of the week. Ha!

Been a very good week so far even without the S thing. Had friends round for an apéro dinatoire last Saturday. That hybrid event which sits between a drinks do and a dinner party, with different plates of tasters including homemade guacamole -the avocados were just perfect and beetroot tzatsiki. Mike made some baby smoked trout tartelettes and some savoury cases with different fillings. cold meats, gorgeous melon with a slightly sharp blue cheese. One of our friends made a mirabelle tart with very fine and slightly crisp pastry - it was very good. Fun evening with a mixture of French friends who speak a little bit of English, Americans who speak a little bit of French and the rest of us filled in the gaps or translated whenever necessary. Sunday our friends Sue and Dave who are staying nearby in Cravant cooked us Sunday lunch, which was really lovely. Sue did a great job but then she would as she's a very good cook. The weather didn't - do a good job. Chucking it down throughout the afternoon with total abandon. As if we needed more of the wet stuff. Hey ho. 

The mayor of Cravant has been organising support for insurance claims after the flooding mess in Cravant. We downloaded some images for our neighbours Jacqueline and Norbert, whose cave and contents were flooded out and totally ruined. The images were revolting. The water carries all sorts of stuff with it, so looks and smells badly and is inevitably corrosive. So nothing was safe. Absolutely foul. Just hope insurance is settled quickly for everyone.

Le Festival de musique

Chris's music school

Come rain or shine - nothing was going to spoil this baby on Friday in Chinon.  The Festival has become an annual event and it's very popular with loads of people out and about in town. Anyone who has been to Chinon will known it's not a big place. So the way the festival is put together and presented is very interesting. Also the musicians playing are a mixture of professional, semi-professional and aspiring beginners. 


A beginner here can be anyone of any age. We saw this a few years back, when we went to an afternoon accordeon concert over in Beaumont en Verron. The local music school was putting on their annual show, so the players were students, professors and some very good professionals. What we liked was that the beginners were encouraged to play in front of everyone, regardless of their ability and standard. They were helped over performance nerves and the audience was expected and did provide support and patience sometimes, in listening. It was lovely to see.

The same thing applied on Friday, in the central square on the stage were all the students from Chris's music school. So mixed ages, instruments, music styles and abilities. They kicked off the event from this very prominent position. Families of course came to support, others like us were milling around and being near cafés, could grab a bite and a glass of something. Worked very well and everyone was having a good time.

Starting up

The festival was in fact all over town, with different stages rigged up small alleyways and in other squares. This rock band who had just started up when we got there, were really good. They had been sensibly positioned! as were all the bands near a watering-hole. We were quite early, but even so people were starting to gather round, away from the main square. It's a free event, so with music all over the place and half decent weather, it was a fun time to wander about and to stop and stay for a while at each venue. We're often in this part of town for shopping. Also in the background is the building where we go for one of our anglo-french groups.

Vol de Nuit

One of the best bands were playing outside Le Lion D'or. It's a big hotel and brasserie just off Place Jeanne D'Arc, where the weekly market is held. Our neighbour Karine also works in the brasserie. Most of the bands playing off the main square were into rock music. Vol de Nuit were a trio of older guys playing Pop Rock. They were great. Again we arrived just after they'd begun. Their stage was the outside coffee area for Le Lion d'Or, wherr we often stop on market day.  

Jean-François (JF)

Of course the weather changed suddenly and dramatically. Across the main road opposite Le Lion d'Or is an area called Quai Jeanne d'Arc. Quite often it's used for boule competitions or les brocaderies. This evening it was the venue for the line dancers. Great fun. First came across them last September in Chinon for the Forum des Associations - the big open day for groups and organisations in Chinon, which is held in a venue the other side of town called L'Espace Rabelais. It's a big multi-purpose hall, used for sports, conferences, concerts, dance and theatre. Good space. The poor line dancers Friday night got well and truly soaked. They just kept going, regardless of what overhead was chucking at them. We stayed for a while huddled under umbrellas until it got to heavy and even the dancers had to stop. Such a shame.

Jean-François otherwise known as JF is a key figure on the music scene in and around Chinon. With his wife Severine and their children he lives 'over the shop', otherwise known as the Café Français. We often go there, for a glass before the cinema or for the music gigs they regularly host. We've heard some fantastic musicians there. JF is very supportive of all events in Chinon. If there's a possibility of a cross-over with another event, he'll find it and help get it going. So for example, Chinon film festival -a four day event in September - will involve him, either in a special showing of music related films, such as one year, a film about Chet Baker and another year about Charlie Parker. Or he'll organise a brunch for the Sunday, which is an all day film affair, meaning four or five showings. For the first time this year, we'll be able to go to the whole thing including the brunch. The enthusiasm is one of the things we like about him and Severine, as well as them being just such lovely people. Friday at the music festival, of course there he was in the main square, helping, watching, supporting and finding a moment to stop for a chat with us. We're now, as of a few months back, FBook friends.

Fun and games in Cravant pt 2

Neighbour's Garden - Cravant

Food problem due to the village being cut-off was resolved by a quick phonecall to our local bistro L'Auberge. Got in early. Lots of discussion about what was happening and the generally feeling in the village. Bumped into another neighbour Loic who works for the Maire and also Florence who works for the Mayor and had dropped in to l'Auberge for a spot of lunch.



Outside L'Auberge the weather was doing its best to make things more difficult. A lot of the

The Lavoir - Cravant

villages have a Lavoir or communal washing house, where in the past the women of the village would gather to do a bit of washing and have a good gossip. There are four lavoirs in Cravant. One is opposite L'Auberge. Usually there is a low level of water, today the level was so high and the speed so fast and powerful that the water had gone over the top to flood the road. Walking back we spoke to three vignerons all of whom had lost vines. Roads had started to collapse and were causing more flooding. Our neighbours Jacqueline and Norbert had got some people in with a pump to help clear  the mess from their cave. Took most of the afternoon.


Some other links about vignerons in our immediate area. Two films about Pierre and Bertrand Couly in Chinon: 'thanks to the firemen' and 'a new flood'. Met some friends this morning in the market who are themselves good friends with the biggest wine producer in Vouvray. Apparently he has lost everything. There's little to be said with something like this.
This disaster has come on top of a short crop last year, caused mainly by frost. One way or another the outlook is tough.

Fun and games in Cravant

Severe flooding in various parts of France at the moment. As for Cravant, well it has its own problems as we discovered this morning. There has been rain pretty much from the beginning of the year with odd days of sunshine. We arrived in rain yesterday and reported on the storm that had done so much damage.

This morning we woke up to a grey day. We'd had a good evening last night with our friends who are in Cravant for a month, renting a house nearby from other friends of ours.  We'd arranged to take them to Leclerc on the outskirts of Chinon this morning, which is also where we pick up petrol. The weather suddenly went from grey to black with rod iron rainfall for about two hours. Our friends had an electrical problem in the house, which was in the process of being sorted out. We went to collect them from the house. They were following us to Leclerc on the back route which is also the most direct. Great start to our friend's holiday!!

I set off on with Sue, arranging to meet Mike and Dave at Leclerc as they were sorting the electrics out. The latest rainfall had brought a lot of gravel and mud on to the road as we drove along. Some big branches were down as well. Just ahead the traffic had stopped outside the house of Jean-Claude and Christine Dellalande - wine producers who we know. The water was pounding down the road next to their house, across the main road causing flooding the otherside. Impassable because a water main had also burst and so was really aggravating the problem. I backed up and turned round.  Saw about six caravans coming towards the same point. Tried to slow them down. Then saw Mike and Dave in other car. Tried to slow them down. I was at this point blocking my side of the road so had to go on. Found a place to stop, turned round and went back to where I thought Mike and Dave were in the other car. On the way back, saw Dave passing me without Mike. Picked Mike up further along. An electrician was going to the house, so Dave was returning home. Mike, Sue and I were going on  to Leclerc.

With everyone now together, I turned round again and headed in the opposite direction to Ile de Bouchard where there is also a SuperU and petrol station. Took me past our road. Saw our neighbours Jacqueline and Norbert whose cave had been severely flooded. Stopped for a chat with them and their neighbour who we know - Matthieu. Then carried on into the centre of Cravant to pick up the Ile de Bouchard road. As we suspected the road to Ile de Bouchard was flooded, so the entry was barred. Usually happens after heavy rain but thought we'd give it a try. So turned back and picked up the Cravant road which would take us through the forest. It comes out on to the big Tours to Chinon road, which also goes past Leclerc. No chance. In Cravant saw various neighbours whose gardens are completely flooded. The gulleys were full to breaking point and running very fast. Water was pouring fast across the forest road at various intervals. At this point it was safest to just go home. Fortunately I had picked up a few supplies when I went shopping yesterday. So was able to give some things to Sue and Dave who hadn't anything edible in the house. Of course being a Wednesday, our breadshop was closed. So couldn't buy fresh bread from anywhere.  We have been incredibly lucky so far and not had any problems in the house.  The rain of course having eased off, is now chucking it down again. It's meant to be clearer this afternoon and evening. Let's hope for once the méteo is right.