Republic Ramblings: Excusez-moi, avez-vous vu ma balle?

The Easter weekend has flown by and everyone in Marsilly is settling back to their normal work routines, except us! We have thirteen days ahead of us before we set off back to the UK and whilst we both have things we need to attend to, workwise, we aim to switch off the metronome of regular life and have a good break.

Golf clubs at rest

Sunday was a lovely day and the afternoon saw us on the golf course for our first game this year. Not just the first game of the year but also the first since we were here in August last year, so the first game in eight months. We had picked up from the various local newsletters delivered to the house in our absence that that the management of the club was undergoing change and it was clear that things were beginning to change but only superficially. We learned for a member of staff that the new management had taken over in January so it will be interesting to see how things develop.

We were both decidedly rusty and this was a bit awkward since we were joined up into a foursome on the first tee with two blokes. One was on holiday from Bordeaux, visiting his brother who lives in La Rochelle. The second was a local, a club member, who was delighted to be able to play with a fellow Frenchman who could clearly play golf. By the third hole we had all relaxed a little and something resembling a conversation (in Franglais) was struck up and the whole thing was very amiable.

The “local” only played the first nine holes and left the three of us to continue. At the tenth tee we met our fellow golfer’s wife, brother, sister in law and a third women whose relationship was beyond our French to comprehend. They formed a mini gallery and followed around the rest of the course, this did not do very much for my golf but had the added bonus that they were keen to join in the search for any ball lost in the long grass – as mine was on several occasions. This also helped them realise we are not native French speakers and that we were actually quite friendly just a bit short language skills. We developed a series of friendly exchanges around “Le golf est tres difficle” – a bad shot and “Le golf est tres facile” – a good shot. Interspersed with a bit of “pas mal” and the odd “pas problem”

We arrived back from the course about 7.30pm and knew that the four hours we had spent chasing little white balls along 6km of uneven ground would ensure a good night’s sleep.

Monday was mostly sunny but cooler and with more of a breeze – not really warm enough to lounge in the backyard and read. Our trip out was to La Rochelle in the afternoon. WE parked in a near deserted Place de Verdun and strolled down towards the Vieux Port past the market place and the main shopping streets. Much to our surprise lots of the shops were open, but everything was very quiet. With the sun shining it was no surprise to find that all the activity was at the pavement cafes and market stalls overlooking the harbour.

After a rather indulgent sit-down ice-cream we decide to take a “cruise” – or rather take the ferry over to Minimes and enjoy the sea air and have a gander at how the marina extension work was progressing. I is clear that they are near completion and the work of commissioning the new has pontoons already begun and will be complete by the summer. When complete there will be moorings for 4,500 boats, up from 3,500.

A quiet evening in – reading and snoozing to prepare for the rest of the holiday.