Time for our weekly update. We’ve just had a semi-successful band practise this morning, to make up for having a bit of a lost day yesterday. In general, we’re definitely making progress, especially since having made a few small tweaks to the setlist. We eliminated one that was proving hard to play and wasn’t adding too much, and replaced it with a much livelier (and easier) track, London Calling by the Clash. This may get turned into “Newcastle Calling” as that’s the city in New South Wales to which Francoise is moving.
Our full set-list is now:
1. Boys Don’t Cry – The Cure
2. Le Vent Nous Portera – Noir Désir
3. Back to Black – Amy Winehouse
4 & 5. Le Chat / The Lovecats (medley) – Téléphone/The Cure
6. La Bombe Humaine – Téléphone
7. Just Like Heaven – The Cure
Encore songs
8. London Calling – The Clash
9. J’T’Emmène au Vent – Louise Attaque
It’s a mix of roughly half French, half English, with most tracks being chosen with Francoise in mind, as well as one or two that are more for us. Assuming the first 7 aren’t a disaster, we’ve 2 tracks lined up for an encore. The astute may note that the last song is the one we played to close our first gig in June last year, though this is going to be more of a ‘full band’ version now we have both drums and bass.
As we both have a bit of spare time at the mo, band practise has been the main theme this week, and the work is beginning to pay off. We had a mid-week session in which we nailed virtually every song, then a follow-up the next day which proved disastrous, but we’re calling that a freak blip. There are really only 2 or 3 songs that need much work so as long as they get a lot of effort, we should be ready for the gig in just under 3 weeks’ time.
Aside from band practise, we had a quiet week of staying in and avoiding the rain. Things got a lot more social at the weekend, kicking off on Friday when the association that runs Matt’s conversation group threw their annual “galette du roi” – the New Year’s tradition of getting together for champagne and sponge cake. In this case, it ended up being cider instead of champagne, but otherwise was very typical. We went down with Bryan and Carol and also Francoise. Afterwards, we dropped B&C off and went over to Francoise’s to get a look at the venue for our gig – she has an attached but self-contained gite with an open plan ground floor, and this is where we’ll be playing. We stayed for an aperitif and then headed back to stoke the fire.
Saturday was a big practise day, breaking only for food and for Matt to pop out for his weekly swim. That evening, we were invited down to Jenny’s for dinner. Also in attendance was her fella Franck, an Italian friend of hers called Alessandro, and Francoise and Philippe. As you can tell, we’re doing our best to see as much as we can of her before she leaves!
We got to Jenny’s just after 8.30, the first to arrive, and were presented with ‘Soupe a la Champagne’ for our apéritif. This is actually a very similar drink to a margarita, except you substitute the tequila for Champagne. A Margarita Francaise if you will. They’d made a huge batch of the stuff, so we had several a-piece before sitting down to begin what turned out to be a colossal meal. Alsessandro was in charge of the starter: thin slices of beef, salad, tomatoes and mozzarella all doused in olive oil.
As his is the only unfamiliar name, I shall describe Alessandro briefly: he hails from Bologna in Italy but has lived here in the Périgord for about 15 years. His French is obviously excellent as a result, though he still has a fairly strong accent, and that Italian habit of speaking with his hands. He also spent a number of years in the UK so his English too is excellent. We found him to be very funny and good company, although Phillipe (a communist through and through) had him written off as a fascist. This says rather more about Phillipe than it does about Alessandro if you ask me…
Jenny took over for the main, which was a recipe from the Ile de la Réunion called Le Rougail Saucisses. It consists of thick chunks of sausage, slow cooked in a tomato, garlic and ginger sauce, served on a bed of rice and lentils. It was really delicious, but very rich and filling. This was all washed down with some superb wine, most notably, a Margaux. Next up was the cheese course, and then dessert. Jenny made a coconut flan served with custard, and Franck also contributed a chocolate and caramel shortbread. By this point we were very, very full indeed, and it was around 1am.
Upon getting home, we pulled our usual trick of staying up for a final drink and some TV, so didn’t get to bed until 2.30 or so. This isn’t terribly late but nonetheless, we were both very tired the next day. The main reason (or reasons) for that was the cats, who paid us visit after visit, going through their entire repertoire of face biting, toe scratching, furniture attacking, mewling and fighting from the time we went to bed until we finally gave up and got up at 9 the next day. It rained literally the entire day yesterday, so we spent it with the cats upstairs watching TV. That brings me full circle, so I shall leave you there. Lunch beckons, followed by band practise part 2! A la prochaine fois.