Hello and welcome to 2009 at La Vie en Foussais.
I lost my blogging mojo a little toward the end of the year and ended up somewhat neglecting you, my faithful readers. But fear not, for I am back and ready to update you all on our comings and goings over the last few weeks.
We have been busy preparing for Christmas…
Joe had his concert (“Arbre de Noel”)…
we trecked back to Grimsby in the car for Christmas…
spent some great times with our family…
and friends…
returned home to Foussais to some very happy cats,
enjoyed a fun (and very long) new year party with our great friends The Dixies…
And to top it all, today saw our first proper snowfall
So that’s brought you all up to date. Now lets get on with enjoying what 2009 has to offer!
We have a busy weekend coming up…
On Friday it is the Fete de la Musique. This is a national event that was set up in 1982 by the French Ministry of Culture to help popularise music in France and the French-speaking world. The actual day of the festival is the 21st June, the day of the summer solstice, but in Foussais our event is on the evening of the 20th. It is basically a series of free concerts showcasing all different kinds of music and brining the community together to enjoy it.
The concerts in Foussais start at 8.30pm (like most things) and look like they’ll be going on into the wee small hours. The pupils from the local schools will be singing some songs, followed by various acts that I really know nothing about (!), including “Katell et ses élèves” – with the accordian and flute , the “Chorale du foyer soleil” and “Trompes de chasse”. The evening draws to a rocking close with a series of bands called “Maigre Souris“, “Nadine is a groove child” and “The Fat Pandas“, the last of which is billed as “British rock”, though I’m not quite sure what that is supposed to sound like.
We have Lisa’s mum and sister staying with us, so I’m not sure we will be staying too late, but it will certainly be nice for them to experience a little of the event and to see, hopefully, the community gathered together.
Another chance for a community gathering comes on Sunday when it is the Kermesse - the “summer fair” if you like – at Molly & Joe’s school. This event is another all-day job, starting with a meal of moules et frites, one of our favourite meals. There is then a show by the children, followed by a raffle, with a barbecue to round off the night. It should be another chance for us to get to know people and hopefully enjoy the lovely weather – presently predicted to be sunny and 30 degrees!
Rest assured, there will be reports and photos of all the happenings next week.
On Tuesday night it was the annual “Chante-Mai” concert. I’m not sure of the background to this event, but I think it is held all over the country. The Chante-Mai involves the local schools putting on a concert of songs (the “Chante”) in May (the “Mai”)…makes sense 
Our concert was in La Chataigneraie and involved all the local private primary schools – 11 in all I believe. They have been practising the songs for the last 6 months or so and we have endured enjoyed them on a CD in the car for most of that time too. As is usually the case, we started off by finding the songs quite jolly and catchy. Then after a couple of months we really got sick of them. But hearing them performed at the concert was a totally different experience. All the kids did so well.
The concert took place in the sports hall at La Chataigneraie and there must have been around 200 children singing to an audience of around 600. All the kids were so well behaved and well turned out. It looked very effective with everyone in dark trousers and white shirts, with a musical note pinned on it in black paper.
The songs were a broad range of styles, but all were fun and well accompanied by the small band comprised of some of the teachers. Even the head of our school took part, playing the flute! What a talented chap he is.
We were so proud of Molly. She knew every word and sang them all really well. To think that she has only been living in France for less than 6 months is amazing, when we saw here there joining in with everyone else. What a great experience for her.
The whole evening was very well organised as usual – no trouble, even though there were dozens of very small children in the audience, and all the kids on stage were impeccably behaved. And so nice to see the teachers all joining in. In the schools back in England music was sadly seen as a very minor part of school life and teachers would go out of their way to avoid having to do any. here it seems that everyone is eagre to join in and it gives such a great example to the kids – it’s really lovely to see and is another tick in the box for French education over English for us.
