Day 2579 (Sunday) 30th June 2024

What a lovely morning – we went up to the church Saint-Michel to help celebrate Sainte Pierre Day. 

Saint Peter's Day

 

Saturday 29th at 11am, mass at the Cocteau chapel
Sunday 30th at 10am, high mass at the Saint-Michel church.
11am, throwing of wreaths into the sea, from the quays.
11:30am, aperitif in the Wilson car park, offered by the Amicale des Anciens Marins.

We got there a bit early and as I was pointing my camera at the band they all waved.

The procession started at 11am and we followed them down the hill – the atmosphere was delightful.

The priest was a very happy soul…

We were soon on the seafront…

and the band all got on board a tourist boat, along with the maire and the priest.

The last to arrive were the two wreaths that will be thrown overboard during the ceremony.

We were chuffed when they played "La Marseillaise". There were nibbles and drinks for everyone but we didn’t like to take their nibbles.

So we went up to Les Palmiers and had a coffee with Roni, an Irish lady who lives here.

The market was in town and we were amazed to see someone buying some silver – that’s a first.

As it’s July 1st tomorrow I will be writing what’s happening in July this year then so here we have What's happening in France this week – the Local France

The Col du Galibier. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)

Another election-heavy week in store, while schools break up for the summer - unleashing the first big holiday dash of the season.

Monday

Full election results - France goes to the polls on Sunday and provisional results will be published on Sunday evening. On Monday, however, the Interior Ministry releases the full and final results for all constituencies from round one. We're only half-way through, however, there's another week of campaigning to get through yet before round two on Sunday.

Household bills – Gas prices are set to rise 12 percent for an estimated 10 million French households that use gas to heat their homes. Even accounting for this latest increase – July’s prices will still be 3.5 percent lower than they were in January. 

Savings plan – A new green savings scheme reserved for under 21s becomes available from July 1st. Parents can open and pay into these accounts for their children, up to a maximum of €22,950.

France v Belgium - France take on Belgium in the last 16 of the Euro 2024 men's football tournament. You can therefore expect to hear a lot of Belgian jokes if you're in France.

Tuesday

Tour de France – After the first three stages in Italy, the 2024 Tour de France crosses the Alpine border into France itself, with the fourth stage finishing in Valloire at the end of a 139km mountainous run, featuring the brutal Col du Galibier. The pass the cyclists will ride only reopened to traffic on Wednesday, June 26th, because of snow...

Election round two candidates - on Wednesday the official lists will be released of all the candidates who will be standing in round two of the parliamentary elections (basically all those who made it out of round one, minus any who have decided to withdraw). By this date, the posters of losing candidates should have been removed from the election billboards.

Thursday

British ballot – Britain decides its next government on July 4th, after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak surprised many back in May by calling a summer election. Polling takes place on Thursday with the results expected in the early hours of Friday. This election marks the first time that all Brits living in France have been eligible to vote in the UK after the scrapping of the '15-year rule'.

US celebrations – Americans celebrate Independence Day.

Friday

Schools’ out – Most schools in France break-up for the long summer holidays after classes on July 5th. Some finish on Saturday, July 6th, if there are Saturday morning classes. You can expect roads to be busier than usual on Friday evening, especially heading out of cities, as families head off on their summer holidays.

Saturday

Traffic jams – Expect ‘very difficult’ conditions on French roads, as the first batch of summer holidaymakers take to the autoroutes. Roads watchdog Bison Futé has issued a nationwide ‘red’ travel status for major routes heading in the direction of holiday resorts.

Olympic Games – France’s athletes for the upcoming Olympic Games are announced. The Paralympics team will be announced on July 10th.

Sunday

Election – the French electorate head back to the polls for the second round of voting in the snap parliamentary elections. Early results will be revealed at about 8pm. 

Car laws – All new cars sold in the EU from July 7th must be equipped with an intelligent speed control system known as Adaptation Intelligente de Vitesse (AIV) these are intended to ensure vehicles automatically adhere to local speed limits.

And to finish – some more corny French jokes…

17 – French Joke 🦷

Un homme va chez le dentiste. Il s’installe sur le fauteuil, puis ouvre la bouche :
– Mais, toutes vos dents sont en or! S’exclame le dentiste.
– Oui, justement, je viens vous demander de poser une alarme…

At the dentist…

A man goes to the dentist. He sits on the armchair, [and] then opens his mouth:
– But, your teeth are all made of gold! Exclaims the dentist.
– Yes, precisely, I came here to ask you to install an alarm.

18 – French Joke 🤡

Un clown dit à son médecin :
– Docteur, je me sens drôle …

Clown story

A clown says to his doctor:
– Doctor, I feel funny…

19 – French Joke 🌵

Un cactus dit à un autre :
– «Connais-tu le langage des hommes, toi ?»
– «Oui» répond l’autre cactus. «C’est facile : ils disent tous “AÏE!”».

A cactus to another cactus:
– “Do you know the human language?”
– “Oh, yeah,” answers the other cactus, “It’s simple: they always say ‘Ouch!'”

This was super cute Badger yesterday lying on my trousers and bag.

 

Other people’s cats…