Rock occitan

Busy day today. We had arranged to take J&B out to lunch but hadn't been terribly well organised especially given that one member of the party is not very mobile. We'd decided to try the restaurant at the salt pans in Gruissan. "No need to book," decided S. "They're bound to have space if we get there at twelve". We set off as soon as I got back from the pool. Then we got stuck in traffic in Narbonne for half an hour while going to pick up J&B, and found we didn't have their number on either of our mobiles, and I'd left the card from the restaurant at home. 

When we finally got to their flat, we decided we'd better phone the restaurant before setting off. "We're full." Oh. So plan B was hastily put into place -- we'd go instead to the marina at La Nautique, a restaurant of which we knew nothing except for its existence.

It turned out to be a good choice though; a set menu of starter, main course, dessert, and wine for 14 euros was remarkably good value, the staff were friendly, and the view over the lagoon pleasant. Somehow, with chatting and eating, we didn't leave till well after three, and running an errand in town meant we didn't get home till five. So much for our work day.

This evening Christian Almerge was playing in the amphitheatre. When we first came here in the mid-90s, he had a seventies-style rock group called Test, complete with pounding bass, light show, and girl singers in tight black vinyl. Now he is older and wiser and does a kind of send-up of himself, taking well-known tunes and parodying them with new lyrics in Occitan.So what would not normally be to my taste turns out to be quite entertaining. Here's a song about a Massey Ferguson to whet your appetite.

As for what we did between getting back from lunch and going to the concert ... see extra. Our neighbour's "wine tasting", aka generous apero was the perfect time-filler.