Potpourri from La Rochelle

The Soldes are here again! Every La Rochelle store window is covered in ads; some creative and others junky. And once again, they all began on the same date, regulated by Paris, June 30th. The streets were filled that first week with people staggering under the weight of their various boxes and bags. I have bought a few things but even at 50% offf, the various items I had admired in the expensive shops are way too much for me--beautiful jackets on sale for €250? I think not!

All sorts of festivals follow each other, one after the other. The Night of Music (when outdoor spaces, gardens, street corners and cafés were filled with musicians), The Documentary Film Festival, the 38th International Film Festival, the Francofolies (an international celebration of French music and performers) have all overlapped. In fact there are so many festivals we are told, there is no space for a big celebration of the Fête Nationale, July 14!! Just some fireworks which we will pretend are in honour of David whose birthday it is. The cafés, especially those on the port, are hopping. As well, the streets are thronged with tourists, easily recognizable either by their cameras or their clothes! We take secret delight when they ask us for directions.

Now that the warm weather is here, we are spending time again on our balcony watching the street theatre below. On this very short street, there are two restaurants, two very expensive women's clothing stores (see €250 sale jackets above), a wonderful hat store and of course, the Sex Book Shop. 

We have drawn a sociogram of the merchants and watch to see it played out. One restaurant Le Boute en Train (Live Wire) has an outdoor terrace and seems to be much more successful than O5, right next door. O5 has a lovely garden behind the restaurant but they do very little to sell its delights. In fact, they are very bad at selling themselves at all. So Le Boute  is usually full and O5 is often empty.

The chef/owner of O5 has been seen several times flogging a prospectus with well-heeled businessmen. Unsuccessfully, we imagine, as he seems a very grumpy man. None of the other merchants talk with him. He has even given David an angry harangue about garbage. The woman who runs the shop next door is also grumpy about garbage and has spoken severely to David when he dared to put it out before 7:30 PM when the stores close. David's radar about women's clothing has been sensitized since coming to France and he has christened her Peasant Woman. He wonders how she can sell expensive and sophisticated clothing dressed the way she is. She is very good friends with the staff of Le Boute and often sits on their terrace, drinking coffee (they are on the sunny side of the street). She has also been seen deep in conversation with Olivier of the Sex Book Shop. The man who runs the hat shop is a great reader and keeps to himself although seems to be friendly with everyone. The owner of the even more expensive women's shop on the corner never smiles and speaks to no one. Olivier is friends with everyone!

Then there are our neighbours who live above the stores. Blondie continues to intrigue us. She carries on waving across the street to us as she closes her shutters. We rarely see her go out. One family member suggested that perhaps she works in the phone sex world?! The Short-Haired Woman's hair is now growing longer and longer. She had a succession of boyfriends over the winter but now one seems to have settled in. The Sax Player has improved immeasureably. He now plays real tunes without mistakes. The Commune continues to come and go and are having yet another baby and far across the rooftops, Les Gars with the dodgy deck that disappeared in the tempête, are gone. The deck is gone too, replaced by a new roof and there is a For Rent sign on the window. We will say goodbye to them all when we leave, although some of them won't know it. I am sure we will wonder from time to time in Toronto, what has become of them all.