Pierrefeu

More news from PF

2010-02-26T20:38:30Z

With the new version of Vivre a Pierrefeu ready to download, here are the headlines from this quarter's gripping edition:

- A recipe for tasty - and seasonally - Pets de Nonnes - or Nun's Farts (seriously!)

- Details of new businesses opening in the village, including no fewer than two manicurists

- News of a competition of Pierrefeu photos, being run by the tourist board. If you're passing through over the Summer, apply here. Who knows? By the time you click on this link, I might even have done the long-overdue English translation of the site...

- Photos of various festive events, including the best-decorated house and Santa Claus visiting the village

- Quite useful information about the local gendarmerie's initiative 'Operation Peaceful Holidays' where you can register when you're away and they'll keep an eye on your house. Possibly one for folk like me

Bring on the bypass!

2009-04-19T07:17:12Z

Sunshine after the rain
Originally uploaded by Blue Blanket

This is the view from my bedroom window in Pierrefeu. It'd be lovely to sleep with the windows open like this when it's very hot, but I can't. Why? Because from about 5am onwards, huge big lorries start rumbling through the village on the road below. Quite often they are bin lorries from Toulon and round about, heading to the dump on the Collobrieres road. And they are massive, smelly and dirty...

When I first bought my house in 2002, I asked why the village put up with this. Michelle, in the Bar Central, called it 'la honte de Pierrefeu' (Pierrefeu's shame) and hinted that the Mairie actually benefitted financially in some way for letting the village be a main artery for juggernauts. Others just shrugged, and watched as yet another huge trunker had to squeeze past a school bus or a tractor-trailer pulling a load of vines.

But there may be good news for Pierrefeu. Last week, an open meeting was held to lay out plans for a detour which will lessen traffic through the village - lorries and cars.

Var Matin's report outlined the options and some of the comments from locals - especially those who live in the area where it's likely to be built, down in the valley. However, when you see the numbers of vehicles we're talking about - 20,000 lorries a year and 6000 plus cars a day - it's hard to see where there can be valid objections.

It won't be cheap at 14 million euros. But I'm willing to start a small fund now, if it helps...

TV - Pierrefeu style

2008-05-21T19:29:00Z

Local TV has hit Pierrefeu. And I don't mean to be rude but I think the presenter, her cameraman and director could do with a few basic lessons...

Watch out for these classics in the Fete du Terroir film:

- Madame Poncho is in virtually every shot...

- The kitchen scenes with the cooks and their chums smoking over the bubbling pots and pans

- The lazy re-use of some shots by simply putting them in again - in rewind. There's actually a child running backwards in one scene.

- Monsieur le Maire everywhere and a guest-presenting slot by M Benentendi, who's the councillor responsible for these events

- The fascinating vegetable-carving gentleman

- Repeated appearances of sundry barnyard animals

Joking aside, it's lovely to see Pierrefeu on film and I even spotted a few familiar faces in the crowd. It does make me think I've missed a relocation opportunity, though, when I realise that the Var TV mob are pocketing 500 euros a pop for these wee videos. And they've covered Le Luc, Carnoules and many other places across the valley.

Oh, and if you want to see what a Christmas town hall meeting looks like when it's given Presidential Debate status, check this out. Lovely scenes of a festive Pierrefeu by night.

Some time later...

2008-04-21T19:15:38Z

Some time later...
Originally uploaded by Blue Blanket

...I was on the beach at St Clair. Same day, mind. Apart from a bit of a breeze, who knew there had been a monsoon first thing that morning?

Lunch on the beach, watching children paddling, a snooze in the sun afterwards with a podcast of the Now Show.

And home tomorrow.

Curses.

Pierrefeu thunderclap

2008-04-21T19:06:17Z

Pierrefeu thunderclap
Originally uploaded by Blue Blanket

Woke at 5 this morning to the sound of yet more pouring rain. So had to do the tour of the house to make sure all was secure. Switched on the radio but the monsoon continued. An hour later, thunder and lightning kicked in. I went up to the terrace to catch this thunderclap. Check out the next entry, though, to see how the day improved...

(Sorry - not yet worked out how to post two videos in one entry. Otherwise, you'd have got the before and after in one.)

New Hotel Univers website

2008-04-21T07:11:19Z

I've blogged before about the village's only hotel and their attempts at English translation.

Now L'Univers has created its own website and their English text is following previous form...

I think they've taken it a bit far in translating place names (Londe Moors = La Londe des Maures. Hyeres Palm-Trees = Hyeres les Palmiers) but have followed suit for some of the local vineyards. A shiny two euro piece for the first person to work out what on earth they mean by 'Would Square'.

Time for Mass

2008-04-20T17:09:47Z

Time for Mass
Originally uploaded by Blue Blanket

The church in PF is about hundred yards downhill from my house. It's cool, smells of floor polish and candles and has a wonderful war memorial to the fallen young men of Pierrefeu from 1914-18 in the local language, Provencal.

These bells sound every day, summoning the diminishing faithful to Mass and sometimes for funerals. And on hot, sleepless nights I often count the chimes of church clock as the hours pass. Earlier on today, a friend of mine showed me an appartment for sale right opposite the church, with a terrace looking right onto it. That might be a little too close...

The Smoking Doctor

2008-04-19T08:22:00Z

After a week of facial pain and no improvement, I decided to go and see Dr Lienard here in Pierrefeu. The dentist had said that he'd thought maybe my sinuses were inflamed so, as you can't get anything over the counter here, I trundled along to the Doc's to wait in line with the halt and the lame.

You don't make appointments in France so it's basically first-come, first served. So I joined a small room-full of folk, all reading three year-old magazines, whispering conversations about last night's torrential rain and greeting each newcomer with a 'Bonjour, madame/monsieur'. A woman came in with two toddlers and, remarkably, managed to keep them both amused and in line simply by whispering at them.

Soon it was my turn. Now, I've seen Dr Lienard before when my ears got a bit bunged up after some ill-advised snorkling at St Clair. I remember her as a lady of a certain age, in a jaunty red suit with a packet of ciggies on her desk but assumed that, with the new laws about smoking in France, this would be a thing of the past.

Nothing of the sort. I start my tale of woe, desperately trying to remember the french for jaw, x-ray and pain, and the phone rings. In fact it rings several times. Not only does she take the calls (fair dos - there were probably folk much worse off than me) but during the second one, she reaches for her pack of Lucky Strikes, gets her Bic out and lights up - all one-handed. Inhaling deeply, she informs Monsieur So-and-So that she'll call him after her consultation. He carries on talking and she cuts him off, rolling her eyes at me. I nod sympathetically, leaning back to avoid the cloud of smoke.

Actually, she was very nice. She did far more than the English Doc in London had done - including checking me for spots, oddly - and commenting on the British propensity for sticking cotton buds in their ears. How we laughed.

Twenty two euros later and I had a lengthy, scrawled prescription and a note to get me a sinus x-ray in Cuers. (Well, if it keeps raining, what else will I have to do?)

Oh, and a faint whiff of cigarette smoke, clinging to my clothes.

Rainy evening in Pierrefeu

2008-04-18T20:10:27Z

Rainy evening in Pierrefeu
Originally uploaded by Blue Blanket

This time last year I was on the beach at St Clair with Linda R and Linda M. Now, it's monsoon time in PF. Not that the vines don't need it, but it does prompt me to inspect the house and its every nook and cranny every ten minutes. So far so good...

Not sure whether or not this is good news for the sailing teams from all over the world who have amassed at Hyeres this week, for the French Olympic Sailing week. They were all congregating at the port yesterday - young and bronzed to a man/woman. And scarfing down food at the Tocco as if their lives depended on it. I popped in there straight from the airport, as is traditional. What was less traditional was my choice of Orangina instead of the pink stuff. Dashed antibiotics.

Once I got up to Pierrefeu, I parked at the top and started trundling through the village with my suitcase. Got a cheery welcome from an elderly gentleman who pointed out that he'd not seen me for ages and then joshed that he'd not slept or eaten for missing me. It's amazing how much you can enjoy a bit of light flirtation with a seventy year-old.

House looked great. And before long I was back in peasant mode, with the Evil One lit, the Powerbook playing back-to-back Will and Grace and a pizza in the oven. (Actually, I don't think peasants a century ago had the last two things.) It's good to be home..

Wine time

2008-04-06T20:18:16Z

Despite today's snow in London, the milder weather last week made me think it was getting time to start filling the fridge with rosé again. Surfing about, though, I spotted that Pierrefeu's wines are beginning to permeate the web a bit.

The local winegrowers have launched their own website which, despite its awful translation - apparently 'those wines have a preserved gustative quality, typical of a unique provençal land' - is a pretty useful guide to the very drinkable rosés of the area.

And my friend Corinne from the tourist office also has a starring role in this site, which features the Maison du Vin next door to where she works. A good way to get a wee free taste of the great wines of Pierrefeu and, as my brother has clocked, cheaper than paying a mighty one euro for a glass of the pink stuff in our local bar. Skinflint...

Memories

2008-04-05T20:42:53Z

It's five years this month that we took extended, long service leave and went out to Pierrefeu to paint, build Ikea furniture and get to know the area. The weather was just getting warmer so the Evil Stove wasn't pressed into service too often. And, as you can see, much of the Ikea furniture work was done outside. Actually, that's about all I did. T did most of the hard graft with the Allen key while we both donned overalls and painted the house from top to bottom.

It was a wonderful three or so weeks and it was over that time that the house became a home. Albeit a long distance one.

A whole new street

2008-02-08T09:31:45Z

The local council have been in my street over the past few weeks. No more odd bumps, cracks and loose stone work in Rue de la Chapelle. Oh, no. Check out the new look.

Of course, I'm already worrying about drainage and moss. But it does look a lot smarter...

A blast from the past

2007-12-20T11:32:05Z

While clearing out emails from my BBC email account, I came upon some photos from 2002 which show the Pierrefeu house as it was when Lucinda and Olivier lived there. These were the pics which got me in a plane out to the Var and encouraged me to buy the place in two days. The best thing I ever did. This is the kitchen. Obviously.

And this is the bedroom, with the wee 'chambrette' - where Elisa used to sleep - just through the wall behind the bed.

Then, it's up the dangerously open stairs (Linda M freaked when she saw these) to the living room.

And finally, the 'salon', which had a lot more stuff in it then than it does now. But still has a wonderful view South over the roofs of the village and to the hills. And on to the terrace, which has had a couple of licks of paint since 2002 but is still a great place to drink a glass or two of rosé, count bats and watch the sun go down...

Vivre a Pierrefeu - Christmas special

2007-11-27T11:22:13Z

It's in and downloadable here by clicking on 'telecharger'.

Headlines this quarter include:

- The arrival of doggy poop bags, accompanied by a cute picture of a West Highland Terrier positioned next to a lampost. Let's see if this makes any difference to the streets of Pierrefeu... (The bags, not the terrier.)

- New shops and businesses opening, including the lovely new boulangerie near the Mairie, a hairdresser who'll come to your house and a computer expert who's set up shop in the Atac complex.

- Details of how to submit your house into the Best Christmas Decorations competition and, of course, information about the hugely exciting 'Foire aux Santons' in the village. Not to be missed.

- An update on Pierrefeu's own running club, Cool Running, and the imminent 'Trail de Pierre a Feu', all 26 kms of it. Gulp...

- Some photos of some very tiny 'acrobates pierrefeucains' from the village's gym club.

And finally, if you're around on Christmas Eve, Pere Noel is in the streets of Pierrefeu. Probably lurching from bar to bar, smelling strongly of Pernod and puffing at his last Gitane before the ban comes in on 1 January.

Bonnes fetes, tout le monde!

Things to do in Pierrefeu in the Autumn

2007-11-04T18:32:19Z

PIerrefeu by night 2, originally uploaded by Blue Blanket.

As festive as it might look, there's not an AWFUL lot happening in downtown Pierrefeu as winter approaches. When I was there the other week, just before Halloween, the big news was that the Circus Anthony was coming to town. And later, the local paper went big on a photo of a camel standing near a pile of builder's sand near the Big Top. Bit of a scoop, that.

Not as exciting, however, as the other circus which opened in the area, The Cirque Amar, which promised unforgettable spectacle and the biggest cabaret in the world. What piqued my interest though was the prospect of 'The Globe of the Death' - which I think was some kind of motorbike stunt-thing. Badly translated.