Closed for business

The place Cabrié (my One Street), inaugurated in grand pomp two weeks ago (see extras here), is still closed to the public. No-one knows what is going on -- part of the massive and popular Lézignan market is supposed to be transferred here, but the traders say no-one from the Mairie has made any effort to discuss it with them, and they are worried that they don't know who will move, when, and what the access conditions for their vans will be. It would be pretty ironic if the town council managed to destroy a real, living market while creating a supposed espace de vie ...

Blipped on the way to my first French book group of the new season. We have four new members, there were ten of us round the table, and the discussion was a typically chaotic French one in which those with the loudest voices set the agenda. I decided I wouldn't bother figuring out which books we'd agreed to read at the end of this process ... I'll just wait for the email from J-M. I had suggested Amélie Nothomb's Métaphysique des Tubes (The Character of Rain in English) before we broke up for the summer, and the one thing I'm sure of is that it was shot down in flames. We're reading Eric Vuillard's 14 Juillet for the next meeting and I'm afraid I'm terminally bored with it 80 pages in ... I'm reading The Moonstone for my English book group instead.