Aici sén pla

10 months since the last post - how time flies an' all that!

We will soon embark on the fifth year of our life here at Ségala - the Ségala sunrises continue to be stunning but somehow I never get round to blogging - too busy enjoying life and hoping I don't wake up to find it's all a dream.

Time for a change. I've never been good at diary writing ( a pity as there are such stories I could tell that no-one would believe now) always too busy just getting on with it. But this year we embark on our fifth year living at Segala. I have decided to try to mark it with a daily diary ( some days it will be just a photo) of our life over the year starting on 8th October when we moved in.

I have trawled my brain for witty titles without success then I remembered the slogan on the T shirts at the fêtes in Espinas in the summer

A friend translated it from the occitan for us. It seems to mean something along the lines of my soul/heart  likes it here. Very apt for us,  "I like it here " is a refrain we use to each other at least daily so that's the plan - Aici sén pla - a year of daily musings from a contented retired expat who thinks herself  damned lucky every single day

speaking in tongues

This morning we went to buy wine for Christmas. We had to endure a drive through frosty deserted roads, under clear blue skies, through beautiful countryside and picturesque villages to the Gaillac vineyards . We had to wait while a call was made to the men in the vineyard for someone to come and open up the "cave" but we stocked up on wine and got a free bottle and complimented on our French speaking skills. On our way back we were counting our blessings along with the bottles!

The main difficulty with  living in foreign parts is of course that these foreigners insist on speaking a different language to the mother tongue. It is also one of the advantages though as learning a new language gives our aging brain cells constant exercise and challenge.

Every compliment I get on my French skills delights me and boosts my confidence. On the other hand our friend's daughter, 9 year old Elodie, keeps me from being smug  as she delights in correcting me and giggling at my pronunciation so I know I've a long way to go! I am at a dangerous stage too - often French people see that I understand something and hear me respond then assume I am fluent and off they go at full pelt leaving me listening to what could be outer Mongolian for all that I understand. Then there are the times I set off on a discourse only to find I have dug myself into a linguistic hole which can end in nothing but a total collapse into blithering idiot.

In November we organised a French/English evening along the lines of a celidh. TC managed to enlist musicians to play in a multinational "All stars celidh band" and I called traditional English and French dances in French and English to an audience of English, Dutch and French. It certainly was the biggest linguistic challenge for me  to date but I survived, the dancing was great fun and the musicians left asking when they could play together again.

I must have passed some sort of threshold though. During our last visit to England in November I found myself explaining how to use the coffee machine in a cafe to the customer ahead of me - she was somewhat bemused - I was speaking in French!

a universal language

Another milestone this week - two years since we moved into Ségala - and what a wonderful two years it has been. In some ways it seems much longer as we feel so much at home here and in other ways the time is just flying by (hence no blog since April!).

We had a really busy summer with visitors arriving constantly as the previous ones left. It's great having visitors, we love seeing people and sharing this fabulous corner of France with them but it does cause a significant problem - my French speaking and listening skills went into dormant mode! After they all left and the rentrée commenced  I felt I had taken more than several steps back when I started to try my French conversation skills again with our French friends at our dance workshops.

Although we do know some other English people in the area most of our socialising is with French speaking people who we have met through our interest in traditional music and dancing. I have TC to thank  as his musicianship ( he is an accomplished concertina, guitar, piano player) has opened doors to some superb soirees and fun occasions throughout the year with people of all ages and backgrounds sharing common interests.  TC has also enjoyed the challenge of learning a new instrument the diatonic accordion ( melodeon to us English) which he is now confident to play in public! Last week we went to lunch at the Auberge Lou Bourdie and how thrilled was he when Monique invited him personally to play at the vin nouveau soiree again!

Luckily our French friends are very patient with me as I massacre their language and hopefully over the coming months I will make some progress again - in the meantime at least we can play music and/or dance - a universal language.

April - end of year bal for los dancaires

First time out for the accordion

Bals sous les Halles was a brilliant series of outdoor traditional dances in various villages with market "halles" over the summer

Les musicians de Salles à Milhars

The musicians were pleased to be asked back Le Troubadour for the annual occitan festival in Laguepie

The boy's toy

"The truest expression of a people is in its dances and its music. Bodies never lie"

Agnes De Mille