Party In Grande Terre

After the Tour we had a family party to celebrate Bertie's niece passing her bac and heading off to France for her studies in September. It was due to start at 1pm but...well, we are on West Indian time! Suffice to say we arrived at 5pm!!

First we had to prepare the food. Bertie's mum made a bébélé, tripe and dumplings soup (not my favourite!). There was going to be sorbet, so they squeezed the juice from 20 or so coconuts by machine and then Bertie squeezed by hand to make the coconut milk for it

Then we headed off via Cora, the nicest and most reasonably priced supermarket so far. We ended up spending quite a while looking around there, especailly as this is the period of gros volume, where you bulk on bulk in discount. We came back with lots of nappies!

We stopped at a petrol station to fill up when, horror! the key stuck in the thingy for the petrol tank and wouldn't come out! We twisted and pulled and struggled and prayed and fiddled and all sorts of things, all to no avail. We were beginning to wonder what on earth to do as we had no mobile and were quite a way from home. One lady came and looked supercilliously at us and commented, "Monsieur et Madame devraient acheter une nouvelle voiture..." Thanks for the advice! But after 40 minutes of effort, hurray, the garage man came and sprayed something and out it came! Why didn't we didn't think of that? So we set off again...

The party was at Bertie's Mum's cousin's house in the middle of the countryside right next to a windmill, previously used for making sugar. Most of them have now closed down since the industry has shrunk.

She has a huge piece of land - this is just a bit of it! In the distance you can see all the ladies chatting
See the men together under the tree? They barely moved all day and night, despite rain. Well, they were centrally situated next to the rum table!
Ah here they are, deep in discussion. No idea what about!
Baby JoJo enjoyed rolling about and being held by his cousinsThe girls took advantage of the space to run here there and eveywhere with the other kids. LissaLou (with her cousin and a little friend who took a liking to CassCass) looked around incredulously and asked "are these all my cousins?" Well most of them were!
I sneaked this photo of Mamie doing what she is best known for - falling asleep whatever else is going on around her! Usually it is in front of the tv!The sorbet was delicious. The girls fell asleep on their parents and it was rather a late night. Bertie's aunt came and lost her temper with everyone. Ah, family parties!

The Tour Comes To Town

Saturday morning we all headed out into the blazing sun, foolishly forgetting the girls' hats, to watch the penultimate day of the Tour. Their task was to zoom a few times around town and the surrounding area, before finishing at La Place de la Reconciliation (isn't that a great name?) which has a nice playpark including swings (rare thing here) but a lot of mosquitoes!

Here they come speeding past

Watched by their faithful fans (we made it on to tv again!)
Bertie's eldest sister works with the Stadium so was on duty all day - this involved lots of sitting around in the hot sun!
Then we dashed over to the arrival line where the MC was creating some ambiance before the thrilling arrival which saw a local boy win
I snapped snapped snapped but I don't know if I got one photo where you can see a cyclist!
The Tour then continued at the town velodrome but we had to set off for a party. The following day it concluded at Pointe à Pitre, with victory for a Colombian called Pena Pena for the fourth time. We all thought his name was Pena and the guy on the radio just kept getin gexcited and repeating it! At least we are a bit freer of traffic jams for the next 12 months!

Admin stuff

Hurray, I have finally managed to redirect our post online! If you aren't in a hurry and feel like dropping us a line, you can actually send it to our old address as of 18 August and it will get delivered to us for the price of a first class stamp!

Still trying to sort out my final British Gas bills (their site is never working) and whether I can get my phone unlocked or not.

I am rather confused about the child benefit/tax credit, as according to their notes, if you are gone more than a year, you are no longer eligible, but they have sent me a form to claim from abroad. I don't know if that affects a claim here? We shall see...

We put grey Hamy in the wash this morning, and five mins later LissaLou came to announce that the washing machine was finished! Not very adminy but funny all the same! She hasn't stopped asking for him every 10 mins since!

Pics From Pika

Bertie risks life and limb to climb a rickety ladder in search of coconutsPapy holds on tightly
Selecting the ones that are dry
Papy chops it open with his faithful machete
An avid audience
Reaping the rewards - Bertie drinks the refreshing coconut waterThen uses the chopped off section as a spoon to take out the jelly part

Hard at work
LissaLou and her Papy
Getting coconuts the easier way
Et voila!

Photos R Back

The internet people said it could take a month or more to get it installed so I have put some on my SIL's computer. I have added them to previous posts so do have a look back!

Bites Galore

It may have been the rain last night, but we are all sporting masses of bites - even Baby JoJo has fallen foul to these nasty mozzies, ahhh! That's despite our snazzy new nets - the girls have a bright pink one (of course!). Ours is a white square one but with an interesting design that means it has no less than 12 gaps! Er, what's the point of that? We may as well put up a sign saying we welcome mosquitoes! On the good side though, the infirmiere who visits Bertie's dad early each morning advised me to put alcohol on my sting and it is now much better, though the sting is still in there. Any idea if or how it comes out? The alcohol is pure rum, well 90%, with the helpful "ne pas avaler" on the outside!

We watched the opening ceremony for the Olympics this morning - fascinating to see all the different countries represented, some with so few people! Great diversity amongst them, and strange to think of all the conflicts that are going on between them, all put aside for this occasion.

Just so you don't think life here is too different from elsewhere, Bertie is watching Colombo! Oh, he has just worked out who the baddies are!

We have been looking around for a car, but they are quite pricy and not always a very good condition. If you saw the driving here you would understand why... Yesterday with the Tour a two way road ended up with three lanes heading one way and cars squeezing past on the other side! Bertie said to clarify that it was a wide road...well that's alright then!

Bertie was talking to one car dealer when he learned another myth many people believe her - cars increase in value over time! Apparently one lady was most offended that he wouldn't take her 1993 Peugeot in exchange for this year's model!

We reckon there is no market for freecycle here as people use things until they are completely beyond repair. However, there are sales of furniture and cars amongst the metropolitans (from mainland France) who are returning after a short period here, so we will keep our eyes peeled for some things there.

The Tour At Every Corner

With all his family to look after, Bertie hasn't been able to consecrate as much time to the Tour as he would have done in the past. However, we have discovered if Mohammed won't come to the mountain...

Yesterday we set off nice and early for Ti Bou, a lovely activity park we visited last holiday. However, we found their price of €12 per child rather outrageous for a couple of hours visit (much cheaper before, but apparently they put the prices up as they were too complicated. Hmmm) so at the suggestion of another family there, we set off for another park in the mountains along a road called La Traversée (as it cuts throught the mountains of Basse Terre). "15 minutes drive" Bertie said cheerfully, as I debated whether to feed the hungry Baby JoJo before setting off. Ten minutes into the drive, uh oh, a bit of traffic ahead... We stopped. And stayed. And waited. What was happening? Had everyone decided the prices of Ti Bou were scandalous and headed to Les Mamelles? Then it hit us as the radios blared out of every car around - the Tour was due to pass by the way! We had already missed them earlier so we got out the car in excitement to see them pass. Great was our disappointment when a neighbouring car said it was actually going a slightly different way. But then, to our delight, along came the warning motorbike gendarmes followed by vehicle after vehicle (how many do they need for one little Tour?!) and finally the cyclists themselves! Ok, we only saw them for a few seconds but it was a beautiful sight as they swarmed passed in multi-coloured outfits, and we may even have made it on tv!

By now, it was getting late, so we decided to visit my friend Sylvie instead. Back we turned, sped along happily until...uh oh, traffic ahead! Surely not again? We missed the cyclists by minutes and finally made it to our destination for a quick hello before heading home for a lengthy siesta to get over all the excitement.

Today we set off later than planned for St Anne again and another dip in the sea. Yes, you know the story...traffic ahead, it can't be? It was! The Tour yet again! So we turned back for another beach only to be sent to the side of the road by the motorbike gendarme and his megaphone. Then swept passed the cyclists and the many motorbikes and cars round a rather steep bend and hill, leaving us feeling somewhat vulnerable at the side of the road! One cyclist bombed along centimetres from us!

Then it was all over, leaving us to carry on our journey and enjoy a lovely time at the beach. This time we were far more organised with our new cold bag (essential item here) and bottle of ice - it becomes water by the time you want to drink it! We also got the girls a bucket and spade kit and they had great fun digging a canal with Bertie and filling it with water to the sea. Baby JoJo and I just chilled on the side, not wanting to go into the midday sun.

Tomorrow the Tour hits our town so we get to see it close up! The flags are up, the streets are clean, the barriers are in place...