"All we want for Christmas.."

"Post your wishes here!"

....  not "two front teeth", but a repair to a back one, and we could do with a bit more sunshine and a Peoples' Vote!
It is Christmas noontide and Greyrocks has had the traditional breakfast on the balcony! This is worthy of note as the two previous breakfasts were consumed inside:- a vary rare event, and indicative of the foulest of weather! In fact yesterday was - we agree - the nastiest of all the 27 Christmas Eves we have spent in Corralejo! The trouble is the wind! Predominantly from the South-East and with a speed of around 30 km/hr it isn't funny, Sunday was bad enough to abandon all plans for a spa visit, but it was eclipsed by Monday during which  the sun made no appearance but the dreaded calima did! All plans for coastal strolls and drinks in the sun were been abandoned, and as we did a little last minute shopping we agreed on a complete re-think of the day's catering.

We would normally have our somewhat festive meal at about 9 pm (Spanish style); but we decided to stagger it from lunchtime, having the starter of crab and griddled asparagus at that point and the main course of spiced goose breast at 5 pm! The idea was then to go next door for drinks, and then come back for the dessert (Christmas Mess) and cheese at around 9 pm. Good plan - but we had such fun with the seven other geriatrics (and Mel) that we lurched back near midnight and the balance of the meal remains untouched!

Calle La Iglesia: not bad this year!

There will probably be a re-assembly this afternoon at Blue Rock. The theme of the bar's festive decor is Crackers - complete with an "advent calendar" of awful jokes, and a glorious giant exploding cracker hanging from the ceiling! It is impossible to photograph adequately; so try their Facebook page for images,

The town's decorations are a mighty lot better than last years! And with the pedestrianisation it is (normally) a pleasure to promenade around!

The tooth in question has kept Bob busy, cautious in eating, reduced in savings and frustrated with the delayed delivery of the overlay. We have also kept the Health Centre, pharmacy and x-ray department busy.  The saga of getting refunds on prescriptions stock-piled at full price for the summer is worthy of this blog - but not now! The day trip to Puerto del Rosario for the hospital was on a cold and windy day, but it followed a glorious one when we took the ferry over to Lanzarote to meet John and Tracey on their holiday! And in general afternoons have been good enough for sunbathing on the roof terrace.

Two septuagenarian birthdays!

As we moved into December two very welcome changes took place: the rain stopped and so did the coughing! But these happened too late for the birthdays and their celebrations,
 First was Elaine's seventieth, which was marked with a party for over a hundred at Fado Rock. The dress code was "Black and White", which was fine for Ruth (funeral dress and white lace jacket as for last year's Shrewsbury wedding), but Bob sought a white shirt and was lent a great Indian one by Andrew and he wore it with the wedding bow tie and nearly black shorts. (The Anglican vicar turned after Sunday service, and was thought by many to have dressed for the occasion!)
There were guests we have known for 26 years, but rarely see, an excellent buffet and musical performances by Corralejo icon Trevor and a superb female saxophonist, who also disappeared for a while and emerged from the loo looking just like Cher! Ruth penned a little ditty for Elaine's card, and was goaded into reciting it publicly! It was a delightful evening!

Later in the week Greyrocks celebrated Bob's birthday with a two night stay in Caleta de Fuste. Many Corralejo residents (including us) would say "Second prize: three nights"! It is a truly ghastly resort in many ways, and not really a place to go at this time if you are a Bremainer and/or Guardian-reading member of the metropolitan elite; but  - hey - it's just two cheap bus rides away, and there are a few good restaurants a bit different from here, and an excellent tapas bar. We splashed out a bit on a "deluxe" sea-view room in a quiet, but still convenient, bit of town, and it was just as well, because the weather was awful, and we were both still suffering with the cough! We had brief (cold) walks along the improved promenade beside the improved beach, but mostly it rained, and we lurked inside! Despite the weather there were plenty of idiots on various forms of motorised things taking advantage of the improved promenade! The good news was on the gastronomic front, as "15" was as good as ever for the birthday evening itself, and through Trip Advisor we identified a close contender in Ascension - a relatively new arrival on the scene - for the other dinner.  El Capetan is always a joy for tapas and we spent hours there sheltering and enjoying a selection with the happy hour prices for drinks. Another nice touch was the bottle of cava sent up to us by Reception for Bob's birthday. (Possibly also an apologetic gesture following their (rejected) attempt to "upgrade" us to another hotel well off the beaten track!)

Sod's Law meant that on departure day the sun shone! We broke the journey in Puerto del Rosario and walked down to the "new" beach to discover that the bar we sought was on holiday! We went next door and decided to have more of a lunch than originally intended, with mixed fortune. The return bus ride was then a crammed one, Still...mustn't grumble!

What's new? (Spoiler alert!) and a Funny First Month

A film location!

Dave gave us the rundown during the drive up from the airport, and it was pretty comprehensive in the coverage. It seems we had missed "fun and games" as the new bit of road was opened in full and the national park beaches had been accessible only from one end. We had also missed the lengthy period of filming near there for "Wonderwoman". What a shame! Anyway the new road is a great improvement, and we have been  - in the first month back here - discovering other developments - if not universally accepted as improvements!  Unfortunately one of our first discoveries was that we had missed this year's Blues Festival by a matter of days! Our re-acquaintance with the town has been slower than usual owing to our succumbing sequentially to a foul cough which has been doing the rounds, to a snowballing of health appointments, and to a run of very wet days! Nonetheless here are some of the more significant changes - passing over the now-traditional recycling of Italian coffee bars!

It had been on the cards when we left in the Spring! On the triangle of land outside Pescaditos (where there was once a set of play apparatus) is now a huge restaurant with an upstairs terrace and masses of outdoor tables. Its view is - of course - magnificent, but the scale is too big, and reports of the food and service are - as yet- not good! It has finally put Pescaditos out of its recent misery, and left Dave and Pete and their regular audience at a bit of a loss! Tu Casa III has lost its harbour view as well, but has exploited its street side and expanded.

This development suddenly seemed minor two weeks ago, when - overnight - they started to pull down the unremarkable Garden Grill, which spread along in front of the Hoplaco Apartments (where Greyrocks had stayed during the property purchase). A few days later three enormous palms were excavated and removed, and demolition is ongoing! Meanwhile the line of three catering establishments that line the path from street to beach are thriving. There have been changes of ownership and even name, but not at Greyrocks' favourite: the Dutch owned Anno 2011! We wait to see what will be built on the street. As Grumpy Old Folk we glumly predict fashion, shoes, jewellery and perfume shops! Just what we need! (And maybe an estate agent and an Italian coffee shop)

Near us there has been one of the restaurant closures:- next to the German bakers a total failure of a place called Miro has unsurprisingly gone, and in its place a spanking and brightly decorated eatery has been emerging all month. No prizes for guessing its genre:- pizza! It does look promising, though!

Also nearing completion (perhaps) is the upper part of the Marquesina building. For two seasons it has been swathed in netting with some occasional work, whilst the much-beautified restaurant (a Greyrocks favourite) has continued to to operate below.  Now two sides look finished and there is a trendy external lift.  We are thinking "boutique hotel"!

Not that it is looking (or smelling) too great this week!


Right outside it, and complicating access to the Town Beach is a vast abyss! (We looked into it as we pondered Brexit) All over town there are unspecified "obras" (works) involving trenches. It is making the parking situation even more desperate for those that must - or those many tourists who hire cars for no obvious reason. It seems all to be about drainage and maybe follows on from the two last very wet spells (one just before and one since our arrival). Sitting at La Lonja by the marina a few days ago we watched (and smelt) an hour or so of activity centred on a manhole 50 metres away. What came out was not a pretty sight! Which leads to news that the main town eyesore - the abandoned huge hotel construction at the entry to town - may have had a little cosmetic work!

It's good to be home. In the first week we visited Puerto de Rosario for a knee inspection (full marks!) and saw their pedestrianisation enjoying tapas by the "new" beach, we used up another session at the spa - although Ruth had to adopt a strange one-armed stroke in the pool following the finger injury - and we went on a day trip with Pete and Sandy next door, as they had a (well-justified) hire car! Unfortunately this was during the dodgy weather, but we went to Lidl and found our Xmas fare, then to Gran Tarajal where we had a stroll round and some tapas. Soon after the lurgy struck Bob!

(The post concerning two significant birthdays toward the end of the month is going to miss the November date stamp!)

Time to head South!

The last post hinted that the weather for our last few days on Mainland Europe was "disappointing". There were spots of good luck, but expectations about what can happen at this time of year were met! Our last full day was just solid rain. We had jobs to do, and were warm enough inside, but kept looking out from the terrace and retreating. At one point we made it out to the street and just came straight back in to create a lunch from leftovers. There was no scope for "last looks round" or special last suppers. We took a disintegrating umbrella to one of the nearest places that evening and then came "home"!
A bit of good fortune in that next morning it wasn't actually raining as we performed the check-out rituals and loaded the bikes on the rack! Then we had an easy drive out of the city to pick up the A9 and head south. It was dry, but just as we passed Perpignan airport (where Greyrocks traditionally looks to see if late Gaddafi's plane is still there!) the rain started and followed us for three days! It is not the first time we have crossed the Pyrenees in heavy rain, and this was not the worst; and at least we knew the route to Roses!

Umbrellas not parasols this time!

We stayed two nights in our favourite little hotel, and how different it was from just a month previous! We arrived around lunchtime and the parking lot was one big puddle. We shared amazed laughs with the lady of the house and she lent us a big umbrella so we could get across to one of our regular haunts for a late lunch. There we stayed for as long as was reasonable, bought an over-priced bottle of wine from the shop next door and waddled back to stay in all afternoon and evening. Next day was little better - and also cold - so we went to the supermarket and stocked up for a similar catering model! Somewhere along the line we manged a rain-free hour or so to prepare Yvette for the winter, and our baggage for the Canary flight. Good food and wine on both days - as usual - but not according to schedule!

We left Yvette in the usual capable hands and then spent hours in Girona airport during a time when there were literally no flights in or out. The bus was half an hour late, and it was cold at the bus stop. Fingers were crossed that it wouldn't be raining when we got to Barcelona airport and/or that the hotel shuttle wouldn't be too much later. Half right:- long cold wait but no rain, and further good news was that after a stay in April that was disappointing the room and meal were both good this time! In the morning, however, we woke to serious rain, and we got drenched getting to and from the shuttle. Vueling now have very efficient self-check-in machines, so that bit, and security were soon done and we faced another long wait. At the gate they were casting around for volunteers as the flight was over-booked, and that set the tone! There was no jetty at the gate and were driven out to the plane, where a full load of passengers waited on ground or stairs in the heavy rain to board. There was a protracted dispute about some seat that delayed us, and we both had infuriating seating neighbours. In removing a rucksack Ruth wrenched tendons on her little finger (still causing pain four weeks later!) We arrived only a shade late, and were we pleased??

Greyrocks had come through these last few days of cold and rain in the belief that the Canaries were having a better time; but as he drove us home Dave told us of the previous week's remarkable rain storms. That cheered us up a bit!!

.. and the conclusion of the MTP month: mixed bag of weather, but some high spots!

The weather did improve, and one of the first experiences was a session of bowling organised by Neil - the Australian we had met through Inter Nations. Only five of us were there - and his dog! We went by tram and had a bit of a walk through unknown industrial area! Ruth didn't play (nor did the dog) and Bob won both games, making it worth wearing jeans and shoes! We had a long and interesting chart afterwards and got a lift back to the tram, (Which was nice!!)

Delights of eating in France!

And in another event that is hardly French, we went to try for fish and chips at The Beehive, believing it to be open all day, but it wasn't! But we did go back on a later date, and as a result of the disappointment went down to see what had happened to a third English pub we remembered.  The Robin Hood is now a small brasserie - open all hours and serving Thai/Vietnamese dishes. It merited a Trip Advisor entry and a second visit! Other gastronomic delights included Sunday lunch at the Moroccan place in Port Ariane in  Lattes. We had cycled there - a major outing for Ruth - to find it not only open but happy to serve us at a rather late hour, so we spent several hours there in the sun and left our glasses outside as agreed! Ruth went back on the tram! Next day things didn't seem right, and we later discovered this was a week's holiday for all French schools, so places were a bit packed, but not the swimming pool!

On the Wednesday we met in Carnon - the third nearby resort we like. Ruth went by tram and (very crowded) bus, and Bob cycled. It soon became clear that there was a very strong wind, which had made his ride a struggle, and - having met at the marina where there are dozens of restaurants - we did another post-2.30 job and found ourselves with no prospect of the desired moules, nor indeed anything else warming! Tant pis! We relaxed in a bar after a take-away baguette and the headed back. Ruth's bus was packed - of course - having come from Palavas, and there was a long wait for the tram, then suddenly there was a bell, and Bob appeared having decided enough was enough and would take the bike back on the tram!

The wind had dropped by next day, and it was looking as if the good weather would be with us until departure. We even had another joint bike ride, first to look at some potential rentals for April, and then to explore the Marché du Lez. We have been seeing how crowded the car park here is a s it has been developing from old industrial/commercial buildings beside the river. but we had no idea what it was like. Think Camden Lock -French style! Quirky shops, old vehicles, pop-up street food and trendy restaurants. The food looked great and after looking around and some beer we headed for some, but it was nearly 2.30, so "foiled again"! It is definitely on the list for next time!

The deterioration in weather over the next few days will be described in the next post as part of a soggy return, but worthy of particular note was an exhibition we had toured earlier. In the Spring of 2017 a bizarre coincidence was three activities with the theme of Slavery. This month saw two on the theme of Civil Rights. A major exhibition (and free!) of photographs from the south of USA  in the Sixties was utterly engaging. A matter of days later we were at Utopia to see BlackKlansman:- semi-biographical and with so many resonances. add to that the current state of USA and it is another trio!

MTP experiment- the middle ten days: rain, films and discoveries!

"Will it never stop?"

Greyrocks wanted a fair trial. How would we find a protracted stay in the city? So a bit of bad weather would help decision making! But ten days like this was rather overdoing it! The rain had been forecast, but seemed unlikely as we entered the second weekend, but decided that if we were to explore the historic centre on foot we had better do it soon! A sunny Saturday meant the area was very busy, but we spent hours following a route suggested by a map from the tourist office which covered narrow streets, quirky shops, numerous squares and carefully maintained monuments. We agreed it was strange that we had been visiting the city for so many years and had not yet done thus!

The Historic Centre

As we went round we spotted - for later use - the two British pubs:- The Shakespeare, which is part of a chain of a dozen Charles Wells houses across French cities, and The Beehive, which is open all day and serves food. We stopped for refreshment near the Jardin des Plantes and found a copy of the definitive live music guide, which led us to yet another disappointment that evening! Le Dome is a brasserie we like and there was supposed to be a Ray Charles tribute act. There wasn't - but we had a good meal, and the booklet advertised a community event next day in one of the residential areas where Neil Conti and the Lazy Sundaze  would be playing in the early evening. So -after a late sort-of Sunday Lunch we took the No 1 tram out towards the quartier of Cevannes, and walked to the park, where we probably the only non-French citizens, and there was a delightful family and community feel.
Far from having to sit on the ground we had seats with a stage view, and far from long queues for a drink, it was really efficient and cheap, based on jetons. The band started on time and -as at Pleine Lune  - played funk solidly - without any vocal input - until 7 pm, by which time the sun had gone and we were getting a bit cold. So it was home again in no time! Bob was most impressed by the eco-loos. which for the gents consisted of outdoor dustbins filled with sawdust!

On Monday the rain started! We had plenty to do - and were cooking at home that day  - but we made plans for wet weather things to see us through. First, there would be a trial run at the swimming pool. Two tram stops away is the impressive Piscine Olympique Antigone. We had dropped in during the first week and decided that the 10 lane 50 metre pool was not going to meet our limited needs; but later research revealed there is - upstairs - a piscine ludique (leisure pool) which would! Its hours are a bit short, there are the hat and shorts rules common in France, and the water is not as warm as one would like, but we get in for EUR 2.90 each - without proof of age! - which can't be bad. (During the month we went three times with varying amount of space for continuous swimming as they have one or two areas dedicated to exercise)

A good standby in bad weather is a film in version original. Trips to Diagonal in the city centre have featured in this blog repeatedly, and we went there early this time on as it poured and then a second time (using our discount from the restaurant opposite - now called Tchoutchou);  but we then discovered a new venue, which has become an instant favourite: - Utopia in the university area. Each of the three salles is decorated like an old drawing room, but is very comfortable. The programme changes frequently, and we went three times in a fortnight!
That's five films seen in the whole month:

Galveston

Leave no Trace

Thunder Road

The Sisters Bothers

BlackkKlansman

and not a dud amongst them!

Greyrocks decided if MTP is to figure in our planned stays we should investigate the network of Brits who live here, and this led us to Inter Nations , which has thousands of members in the city from not just UK, but many other nations. We were invited to a social evening in a very pleasant brasserie in the historic centre. There were about eighty people in total, and we talked with folk from Mongolia, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada and Czecho, as well - of course - as France and UK. We came away much heartened after sharing "Bremoans" with creative younger people who have got out! It also led to a further evening out later (see next post)

Shine On!

Thanks to the aforementioned Mama Sound guide we saw out the rainy period with an afternoon/evening of great live music, and discovered  two interesting new venues. First we went to Bistrot Sainte Anne  which was holding a wine festival all day with live jazz in the early evening. It was pretty crowded, but dry for the moment and we sat outside with some good wine introduced by a trader born in St Albans(!), some very acceptable food, and a chat with a Swiss couple. The jazz was fun, but came to an end, and we couldn't carry on paying the price of the wine, so we set off for Part 2 - a French Pink Floyd tribute band named Shine On. (Not to be confused with a British one of the same name!) This was at a place we have been passing frequently as it is on the main road to Lattes. Pub Le O'Liver looked dreadful from the outside, and although sitting right next to the tram-line it is on the longest stretch between stations we know! So we arrived after the start of their first set and left before the end of the last. They were excellent, and the place is not as bad as it looks! We got some "interesting" looks as Ruth enthused! Having left without hearing two of our favourites, but concerned about the hour, we decided to walk in the city-wards direction and it was a long one all the way home - getting a bonus on R's Fitbit!

Some horseradish would be nice!

Sunday - and particularly Monday - were disgusting and kept us in our temporary chez nous most of the day! Our Sunday roast was taken out at La Boucherie near the airport. This was achieved by a quick dash out and back on the tram. The meal produced take-away meat to get us through the drenching of Monday!

Earlier we had the excitement of being en panne! It was Friday so we were due for a trip out to the supermarket for shopping with Yvette. We also planned - in spite of the weather - to go to the seaside. But Yvette was having nothing of it!The battery was as flat as the proverbial pancake, We had to invoke the AA breakdown service and they sent out a local "van and man" to save us (and challenge Ruth's French).
The weather improved on 18th - giving a final ten days for Greyrocks in Montpellier.

"Grand Projet": Week 1 - the sunny one!

But first: Roses!

The morning after landing we walked across the road and picked up Yvette, then drove the short distance to our little hotel in the delightful resort of Roses for a three night stay. This was designed to give a rest after the ten days of travel, and fill the gap until the Montpellier apartment was available. The weather was glorious after the foulness of Bristol and Bronagh!
Bob had a bike ride and we walked along the seafront, found the very necessary laundry and had a late tapas lunch. Cycling around is so easy that next day Ruth was persuaded to mount the barely-used bike and we went out for an adventure! We began with territory familiar to Bob: south along the wide promenade until the river stops progress and up to the first bridge and into the nature reserve. This is flat and largely traffic-free. With some uncertainty about the route we managed to reach the sea at Empuriabrava, but en route discovered the feature that brings many coach day-trippers: the extensive canal system. (Looks like one for Tim and Pru!) This honest description says it all! It was a gloriously sunny day, and although it was now almost October there were some folk in the sea, and many on the impressive beach. Greyrocks found a less posh bar and stayed for a bit of lunch. The journey back was going well until Ruth tried to remount after a steep bridge and fell into the road followed by bike! Fortunately cars were going slowly and swerved - with a couple of drivers coming to help- and the helmet was being worn. No damage to the bike, a lot of bruising, a range of muscular aches which have taken a while to resolve, nasty damage to the arthritic big toe, and huge impact on her confidence and pride! She insisted on walking (limping) until the nature reserve, and then succumbed to persistent nagging and manged to ride for most of the way back. A wrong turn added an unfortunate couple of kilometres, but a good day out! The remaining time in Roses was more gentle, but still sunny and mellow with great meals!

A bit of luxury this time round!

October 2018 will be remembered chez Greyrocks as the month of the Montpellier Experiment. Regular readers (all ten of them!) will be aware of a growing fondness - obsession even - with France's fastest growing city. (Yesterday we read it has overtaken Strasbourg to reach No 7 in size - bonus question: name the other six and check here!)  We have been visiting once or twice a year for some time - but always staying in a mobile home on a very pleasant quiet campsite between city centre and sea. As the shone has somewhat worn off the Canaries post-referendum, we have been considering coming here for longer spells in Spring and Autumn, which means an urban apartment. We have spent a little more this time and have one that is proving so good that we have already breached the principle of a "pilot"  and booked it again for the Spring! Three of the four tram lines are within spitting distance, and we have been travelling around with ease.

Compare with Corralejo!

We have to bring the bikes up to our terrace, and the parking of Yvette is very tight, so walking and tram are the preferred ways of getting around.

We did, however, make one car trip:- combining the essential shopping at the Lattes hypermarket with Grau du Roi  - a fishing port that is just over the departmental border, and - like Palavas - has dozens of restaurants along both banks of the river. It was a beautiful day and the place was heaving. Amongst the visitors were several organised groups of cyclists - some British! We had managed to misunderstand a parking meter and pay too much, and then Ruth had an incident of poor design and/or operator error in the automatic loo and began the walking tour with wet feet! However we had an interesting stroll and stopped for a beer on the seafront close to a new statue which reminded us of that at a similar location in Corralejo.

It was late but not dark for us!

It was a bit chilly in the wind at the chosen bar and we decided to delay lunch, thus ending up with that famous French trap of the 2.30 deadline. (We don't learn and continue to come up against it!) By the time we were hungry there seemed to be no chance, and we headed back towards the car, but suddenly spotted a neon sign down an alley advertising all day service and were welcomed to a place that was essentially a creperie, but served us an excellent salad and a bowl of perfect moules! It also had the strangest toilet decor we have seen for a long time!

Bob did a couple of medium-length bike rides during this dry and sunny period, mostly to Lattes along the river; and on the first Sunday Ruth met him there for the huge market. On other days we walked around bits of the city with which we are familiar, tried to go to the cinema, but the programme had changed, and tried to see Neil Conti and his funk band at Pleine Lune, but their residency had recently finished! Ah well - at least we had the sun and pavement cafes etc. Unlike during the coming week! At Comedie there has been a trailer connected with a breast cancer campaign, and in the neighbouring street a display of open pink umbrellas! How apt!