Best laid plans

Back at home, we woke early on what promised to be a bright, sunny day, perfect for some heavy gardening. The slope had become very overgrown already since the last cut just a couple of weeks ago.

Brian was first to set off downstairs to make coffee, but soon after he returned. “We’ve had a call from Joëlle, she’s suggesting we visit a vide maison where she has seen some jazz records, and she’s suggesting we ring her afterwards to pop over”. It certainly wasn’t what I had planned, but we hadn’t heard from our friend in a little while, so we got changed out of our work clothes and set off.

A ‘vide maison’ is basically a house clearance sale, where you wander from room to room seeing what’s available. We started in the room our friend had suggested, and soon found the record collection. Unfortunately much of it was scratched, but Brian did find a box set of the history of jazz piano which was in better condition. In the same room he also found some books that looked interesting and a folder of old musical scores. We scooped them all for €15, but passed on the two little figurines Brian pointed to that were apparently €850!!

After the vide maison we rang our friend who told us to meet her at her home in Essoyes. This turned into another treasure hunt, as her home has a little brocante (antique shop) attached to it and we couldn’t resist a look around. Brian soon found a couple of prints and a painting that took his fancy.

We then all popped over into her little garden/pottager for a coffee and a chat. It was a simply wonderful morning, even if our plans had changed.

We returned home with enough energy still to start the gardening, and got quite a long way before stopping for a well earned glass of wine.