Fête de la Motte

Two weeks ago, Kaye attended a réunion (meeting) of our commune's comité des fêtes. This is the group that organizes all the outings and get-togethers for the commune. The major point was organizing the all-day Fête del la Motte, which took place yesterday. Kaye hopes she will one day understand enough French to actually participate in these meetings. It was exhausting listening and trying to figure out what was happening. Most things seemed surprisingly unorganized for an event only two weeks away, and there was a lot of discussion about things that seemed (to Kaye) to be routine for an annual event. Part of the day was an organized walk and there was a lot of discussion about avoiding last year's problem, but she never could figure out what the problem was.

La motte is a large mound, 20m high and 25m in diameter. There's a path and rope to help you get to the top. (We're waiting for a visitor who's up for a climb.) It's presence is recorded as early as 1294, and it seems to have been an observation point for a chateau that is no longer here. As far as we know it's never been excavated. It stands across from our little 12C (some of it) Romanesque church. Online, we found an image that shows both the motte and the church:

The events of the day included a walk, noon-time refreshments and aperifs, and a concert in the church by an amateur choir and student soloists and string orchestra from a conservatoire playing too much heavy liturgical music. A meal was served at 8:30 with Kaye doing her bit serving le fromage. (Du fromage? Not too much talking involved there.) Dinner was accompanied by lively music, which later turned into group dancing. About 10:30 everyone gathered around the motte for a bizarre electro-acoustic concert, maybe a folk opera kind of thing. We couldn't understand the oral parts at all. There were a violinist and a singer stationed on the hill, distorted and accompanied by electronic music and a light show hidden among the trees.

The piece and the evening culminated with a feu de la St Jean, a huge bonfire in honor of St John the Baptist. It was fun to see that, as soon as this was lit, all the kids moved close to see it.

The new kitchen cabinets are coming along well. The cabinets are in as much as possible now, having stopped at the missing one; we'll return to IKEA sometime in July to get the missing bits. Doors, drawers, and shelves still have to be added. There is nothing square in the room, so Ed has a bit of a challenge to keep everything level and flush. At some point, there will be a lot of molding applied to cover gaps between cabinets and walls. The end of the counter that is perpendicular to the fireplace wall (west) is 10cm/4in closer to the north wall than the start of the counter. Our next challenge is to find someone to make a countertop; for the short term we're using the side of a closet that was retired when the dressing was painted.

Very hot summer weather has finally arrived with temps forecast in the low 30sC (almost 90F) for the next days. Eat your hearts out, Texans!