La Belle Anne

Although our village existence is almost ideal, I've been hankering to add a city fix to our lives. We looked further afield, but decided it wasn't practical. Luckily the dynamic city of Montpellier is only an hour away. We enjoy spending time there, decision made. Within the centre historique our focus was on a small area. I saw many flats that weren't right, but one day I walked by this building and realised it was being developed inside. I had to push to see it, the owner wasn't showing it, the agent's key didn't fit the lock, etc. When I finally got in my suspicions were confirmed -- this was the best flat in this location within budget. Henny agreed. After some aggravating negotiations, the initial contracts were signed at the end of February.

The building consists of a ground floor commercial unit, currently the busy Epicerie de Nuit, and four upper floors. The flats are almost the same footprint, with slight differences and pros and cons for each. For us, it was the second floor, with the highest ceilings, or nothing. We've been able to specify some decorative choices, including the kitchen design. Work is going well. Watch this space for news of the sale's completion.

In the meantime, here's why we fell for it. Almost next to Sainte Anne, a deconsecrated church now a modern art gallery, she shares her sunny square with the conservatory of music, luthiers and lovely cafés. An artistic enclave right off Montpellier's premier avenue, rue Foch. Here's the setting in various representations. She takes my breath away every time I see her.

The four windows with greenery are ours.

    




        

Harvest Tunes

Apologies for not keeping up with the blog.  Considering there's been an 11 month gap in posting,  I'm pleased to report the trio, now officially called Lily Blue after you know who, is still happily singing and playing together. Astute followers may notice the addition of our pal Keith on cello. Here we are on a glorious morning in September, playing at the vineyard of our friends Florence and Stéphane. They asked us to entertain their vendangeurs (grape pickers) with a few tunes during the morning coffee break.

Photo bombed. By Lily Blue the dog.

Transplanted Thanksgiving

For the last couple of years Canadian Thanksgiving has been well-celebrated in the Languedoc thanks to Gary & Colleen and Chuck & Margot. This year it was hosted by C&M and a brilliant time was had by all. Due to Zoë's smuggling prowess there was even pumpkin pie. The trio did a little set. (And yes, Canadian songwriters were featured!) Gary, Ali and I continue to be at once puzzled and delighted by our popularity. It might have to do with Gary's encouraging words to our audiences:  The more you drink, the better we sound.

Recently The Wives were described as 'far too gorgeous for the likes of us' by Ali. Here they are, front and centre, with Zoë, Erzsi and Gordon.

The Maple Leaf flew proudly in Pézénas.

If you'd like to hear the trio here's a little film clip from our last gig. Thank you Jess for the video. And to Chuck & Margot, we ate and drank you out of house and home and now I've blatantly pinched your pictures too. Indeed there's a lot to be thankful for!

At the Races

The Fab Five went to the lake one recent evening for a picnic with the Fab Four in tow. That's four dogs: Biba, Noosa, Maddie and Lily Blue. The three younger girls were hardly more than a blur on the landscape for almost 4 hours of racing, chasing, tumbling and exploring. Lily sat down perhaps once for all of 20 seconds. Their energy is boundless and they're as entertaining as a good box set.

Maddie may only be half their size, but don't be fooled. She gives as good as she gets.

 Noosa with a second wind after a refreshing dip.

 Lily: This is my happy tail.

All three are rescue dogs. They've landed on their paws, but we're as lucky to have them!

Biba's much happier hanging out with us, a safe distance from the doggy olympics. 

We ate, drank and made merry while the dogs did the same. No need for the evening walk. Hello, why aren't we doing this more often?  Thanks to Alex for the lovely photos.

The Birthday Girl

I like this picture, taken by our friend Fen. We'd just arrived for Henny's birthday dinner at L'Escampette with about 30 friends. A wonderful, buzzy evening. Her birthday on 24th May kicks off the summer for us.

Happy Easter!

The weather wasn't brilliant, but Easter Monday saw us gathered at Colleen and Gary's for an amazing meal. Here's my bro carving the kid...de-lish!

Valentines at Ballantyne's

We've been excited about Valentine's Day all week. We were invited to L&A's for lunch at their new house up the road, with Lily! Today she was to meet her kissin' cousins Kit, Flynn and Jonty for the first time. It went really well.

Henny and I have missed coverage of most of the Winter Olympics, so we were lucky to get a recap of the 2 woman luge event. Pals, dogs and good nosh -- a great way to spend Valentine's Day.

Newly formed Walking Group -- the Inaugural Promenade

We went on a fantastic 3 hour walk with our pals Juliet and Nick. It was a perfect day. Either side was rainy and grey, but luckily good fortune and sunshine smiled upon us. Our circuit contained everything you could ask for: great company, clear blue skies, meadows, woods, a stream, a herd of sheep, a ruined chateau, an ancient chapel, and last but not least, a perfectly behaved dog!

12th Century Chateau de Lauzières

No Entry signs have the opposite effect on Nick.

Pilgrims in the 10th Century Chapelle de Roubignac

The chapel is the halfway point. Refreshment stop.

En garde!

Chapel gargoyle. Love child of a pug and a panda. 

We enjoyed ourselves so much, we've decided to form our very own walking club. Stay tuned for our next adventure. Henny's calling us the Durty Dog Walking Group. Lily's bound to roll in something.

Magic carpet

Like countless others, we had a go at bargaining for a Moroccan rug. One for our beloved J de P who looked after Pou and Lily so well. The other for us, or so we thought. There's been a takeover.

Morocco

We nipped off to Marrakech and Essaouira for five days and had a fantastic time. My gorgeous travelling companions awaiting lunch after a morning perusing wares in the souk.

Greg commented, "Henny surrounded by pouffs. Nothing's changed then..."

Gary and Colleen in their 'office' in our riad. We had the place to ourselves.

Cooking class. Making chicken pastillas.

If we had the funds, we could imagine turning this ruin into our Essaouira hideout. I loved watching the Atlantic crash into Africa. A la prochaine, Maroc!

Blue Surprise

On Christmas Eve our friend Erica presented us with a gift. Imagine our amazement and sheer delight to open this beautiful water colour of Lily, completely out of the blue! Erica shrugged modestly, "I saw the photo on your blog and decided to paint it this morning. I had a couple of hours spare." Hello?! It's absolutely our favourite present. And Erica, everyone who's seen it has been gobsmacked by your talent. We just love it, and you for painting it for us! Thank you...xxx

Happy New Year 2014

What a wonderful, warm holiday season we've had! Lavish drinks parties, delicious meals and the company of our funny, beautiful, generous friends. We feel very spoiled and truly, truly lucky. Last night was the culmination, Lizzie and Ali's big New Year's Eve party for a mere 46 of us. It was also the debut of our folk trio, Peter, Paul and Gary. We managed to pull off our set of 7 numbers in front of a very supportive audience.

Photo nicked from Richard Nightingale, thanks!

To clear the cobwebs today, an annual picnic at the beach. It was Henny's and my first time at this event, which apparently has been blessed by good weather 4 years out of 5. A great time was had, especially by Lily who ran around visiting lots of other dogs and was, hooray, perfectly behaved. We felt grateful and hopeful for this year to come. We wish you all good health and great happiness for 2014.

Merry Christmas!

Birthday Observation

I had a wonderful birthday! Surrounded by beloved friends all day, both physically and with warm wishes coming from distant shores via all means of communication. Thank you everyone for thinking of me today. What a very lucky girl I am! Today's photos are of our celebration this evening and the picture Henny chose to make into my birthday card. They say dogs and their people begin to look alike. When did Lily and I start sporting the same grizzly blue hair?

Our Pack

A month or so ago, the Boys adopted a young chocolate Lab from the S.P.A. where we found Lily. They worried about mixing a boisterous not-quite-one year old with the 11 year old stately grande dame of the household, Biba. It's all going really well though, and our new friend Noosa is a welcome addition to their pack -- and to ours! We love to walk with the Boys and Les Chocolats. Lily and Noosa frolic while Biba brings up the rear.

It's fun and beneficial for all. Today Sam asked Noosa to sit. She didn't get it right away, but Lily heard the command and sat, so Noosa did too. Biba seems to have more spring in her step even though she rightly thinks the young'uns are a pain, and Lily, who's terrified of the hunters' guns, is more relaxed with the gang. Humans get to chat while the girls do their thing. We meet other dogs along the way, those we like, and those we could frankly do without! The dogs are socialised and they exercise each other.

                         

Lily awaiting her friends this morning.

The New Supremes: Biba, Noosa and Lily Blue

Un petit bisou à demain. Thanks for another great walk Sam and the girls.