Pezenas Newsletter May

It was a shame you weren’t here in June – we had such a lovely party on the terrace by the pool. After a stifling hot day, the evening was just warm and all the children arrived in swimsuits knowing they were going to be splashing in and out of the pool most of the night. You recognise the photos ? Perhaps you are coming here this summer – indeed the party took place in Tourbes at http://www.southernfrance.com/Tourbes/Index.htm

Let’s say it was Theo’s twenty somethingth twice over birthday ! And what a party. In true Spanish style (we are only half an hour’s drive from the border),

Jean Luc had prepared a gigantic Paëlla with fresh mussels and giant prawns from Bouzigues.

Hervé had come to serenade us with old favourites by Georges Brassens (who lived almost round the corner – at Sète) for sixties and seventies nostalgia, blues and jazzy compositions of his own with his special dose of dry humour – sung both in French and in English.

Did you know that from just Ł 100 you can organise quite acceptable live music for a party here ? And don’t worry about the neighbours – while we were enjoying Theo’s party, the rest of Tourbes was out in the street at the village "kermesse" enjoying a barbecue in front of the "mairie" or town hall in company of the village mayor and his councillors.

Excellent local wine from the "Cave Coopérative" (almost as cheap as water at 70 p per litre) was flowing both in the village square and at Theo’s – not in bottles of course, but drawn from the cheaper plastic containers. We had collected it that morning for the party, so there was no point in bottling it.

In the summer here life can feel like one big party – and I am not exaggerating after ten years of living in the south. In fact it takes very little to create a party atmosphere – look at this photo taken at Pézenas’ big and busy Ascension Day fair on June 3^rd. Visitors and clients had the good taste to disappear home or to nearby restaurants for lunch for at least two hours from 12 to 2 pm to allow the stand-holders to gather together in groups for a real banquet of produce sold at the fair – quite the best way to prove their local products are delicious. And for Marcel it seemed quite normal to share his excellent Picpoul de Pinet with oysters brought along by Lulu and Martine’s crusty bread was generously spread with pâté or sausage brought in by Simone from nearby Auvergne area. By the time they had enjoyed local "Pelardon" goat and Cantal cheese, liberally washed down with Merlot and Syrah red wines and eaten a few delicious strawberries and cherries picked that morning in St. Thibery, they all looked slightly sleepy at around 3pm as people started strolling leisurely back to visit the fair.

When a large town or city decides to celebrate, the party gets quite out of proportion. I cannot say that I am a great fan of bull-fighting, but especially for www.southernfrance.com I bravely gritted my teeth and went to the bull fighting and "Feria" in Nîmes on June 10^th and discovered there that you can even be positively vegetarian and enjoy the fun as much as those bloodthirsty carnivorous spectators who get a kick out of watching bulls being stabbed to death.

You do not need to get any nearer the "Corrida" than the ticket office outside the magnificent Roman arena to be the life and soul of the party. From the arena to the columns of the Roman temple or "Maison carrée" the town centre is alive with music and dancing at the "bodegas" crammed in a continuous line along the streets. These are either bars and restaurants with extra tables and chairs spilling out into the middle of the road or makeshift bars set up for the occasion inside open marquees. All supply food and drink right through to the end of the night and start again in the morning after your café and croissants. If you can find your way through the crowds you will encounter groups producing live music, street theatre, jugglers, acrobats, parades, market stalls ; the population of the whole city is down in the streets to celebrate the 4 day Feria. And it’s not just in Nîmes ; nearer to Pézenas, perhaps you will be around to come to the Feria in Béziers between August 11^th and 15^th.