It’s been a pretty frantic weekend! It started on Friday evening, with a gig at the Salle d’Animation in Nogaro, featuring “Funky Style Brass”, a group of nine young musicians from the Toulouse Conservatoire. The first clue that this may not be quite what we’re used to came as we arrived – the hall was empty apart from the mixing desk in the centre of the room; so we stood with everyone else. We were far from the oldest there; one of the things we love about the French is their “give anything a try” attitude, and there were people from 2 years old up to well into their seventies. The band was great; real showmen, dressed in a variety of outfits, from pink tutus worn with Doc Marten’s and pigtails, to scarlet mohican-style wigs, to chicken costumes and they really could play. The only downside, for us, was the music – a sort of rap-meets-bandas-meets-post-modernist-french-music-hall! We stuck it out for a couple of hours before admitting defeat.

On Saturday lunchtime we’d been invited to the inauguration of a new, teaching kitchen at a nearby village, the mayor of which is one of my English students. There were all sorts of local and not-so-local dignitaries as well as the whole of the village population. Naturally, the apero dinatoire, a sort of finger buffet, was amazing; aperitifs, soup (not so easy with your fingers!), pizza, quiche, roast beef to die for, prunes in bacon and all manner of other delicious delicacies, followed by cheese and dessert and washed down with huge quantities of red wine.

We got home with about an hour to spare before we had to leave for the St. Patrick’s day gig, so, not knowing whether or when we’d be fed again, had a quick bite to eat and loaded the Renault up with my guitar etc. The bistro in Panjas is quite small and the band, which numbered eight, took up about half of one of the two rooms; it was soon difficult to move at all as people poured in for Jean-Paul’s St. Patrick’s Day special. Because I didn’t know many of the songs, I was put where I could see the harpist’s music and the other guitarist’s fingers and told to just play what I felt like! It was slightly chaotic, but great fun and much appreciated by the crowd; some cycle club members were there, and asked if we’ll play at a cycle club dinner soon, which everyone seemed quite happy to do.

Ade and Julie came to lunch today; it was good just to sit and chat and wind down after what’s felt like a whirlwind few days.