Monday 22nd July, a magnificent full moon rises above the hillside beyond the farm:

The field which surrounds Sunejo , supposedly barley, but there was a lot of oats in it and other stuff, has been harvested, and the straw bailed and taken away. Other fields in the area  have ripening wheat, maize, sown late but growing very fast, and sunflowers just coming into bloom.

I responded to an item on ‘Any Questions’ on Friday evening with an e-mail to ‘Any Answers’. They contacted me, but in the end the didn’t revisit that question (Europe) in the programme. Anyway, I posted the e-mail in my parallel blog “Daddy Says”, which is public, and suddenly I have a ‘like’ from one total stranger and another is ‘following’ me. You can find the blog, if you want, by clicking ‘stephenkeith0804’ at the top right of this screen and going to ‘Daddy Says” – but remember, you’ll be signed in as me, so no edits or comments, please, unless you find another way in as yourself.

Now, Wednesday, 24th July.  A year ago, while living in Harry at Puivert, we promised ourselves a return visit for their annual festival and firework display. We booked a pitch for Harry, knowing that after the meal, and what goes with, neither of us would be likely to be able to drive home legally, and we encouraged our friends Nick & Carolyn, who run a guest house in the village, to come and join us, with their guests. We parked up mid-afternoon and had a dip in the lake, for old time’s sake (at 25° the water was chillier than in our pool, which is now over 30°, with poolside temperatures in the mid 40s. Who wants to house sit for us next year while we’re away – or even next month? )

After apéro (drinks and nibbles) the 200 folk who’d booked the meal at the campsite found their places at the three rows of trestle tables beside the lake – are Carol and Carolyn laughing at me? I’ve forgotten, but probably ………           

As last year the French people beside us were friendly and sociable, as we would expect.

First course: assiette de charcuteries:

Second course – it’s difficult to make a beef stew look good on a photograph, but it was! And the jugs of red and rosé wine just kept getting refilled as soon as they were any where near empty!

Third course: fromage de chèvre (goats cheese) / salade. Actually, it’s now getting dark and the photo used flash – I didn’t realise till I saw the picture that the salad had dressing on it!

Fourth course: tarte aux pommes. (That’s not my personal jug of rosé, you know!)

A reminder of the setting: very soon now, the bank on the far side of the lake will be ablaze with fireworks and lasers, all reflected in the lake:

Here we go:

I took about 100 photos of this display, which lasted 20 minutes

Whereas last year we had a more or less clear view of the lake, this year an overhanging tree was a bit too close.

I think the tree enhances some pictures and spoils others.

I also switched to video for  about 2 minutes – the result is on FACEBOOK!!

And finally:

It’s over! One man seems worried about his taxi, but most are joining in the applause and cheering.

We could have followed on by going to the disco and the marché nocturne just outside the campsite, but we settled for coffee and digestif  with our friends, chez Harry, where the music was quite adequate for our liking; in fact, just happening to have a guitar handy, we competed with it. (No photo! Shame!)

Another amazing evening provided by a small community ……