les Davey de France

https://youtu.be/xMozAvMMmhw

 Went to Carrefour for leeks and oats. Found sunflower oil. A big bottle !

 "It would be in your interest to tick box 0UU" said the government website. I thought I had better do it. I could always untick it if it was a problem. I ticked it. The government gave me lots of tax back. I do hope that's right ! 

 The Pizzicati sent out a poster containing the date of the Gjeilo concert. I'm in the UK.

 Choirs, eh? Anyway at present I am back at Arianna and we are rehearsing a work by James Whitbourn, called Annelies. It’s a kind of cantata or oratorio based on the diary of Anne Frank. It’s not very cheerful, though it has some charming passages. I’m also finding it quite a difficult work to get into. I sing low bass for Arianna, thought I can’t remember why. The choir continues to rehearse at the Pessac library, which is far easier for me to reach than the old Music School rehearsal room, but I’m not sure what they plan for the future. Annelies is sung mostly in English. English pronunciation is a minefield for the Gallic mouth. Enough said. Meanwhile another choir advertised for help from any basses, tenors or high sopranos. I looked into them. They rehearse in a part of Bordeaux which is easy to get to by Tram D. You just sit on the tram for about 30 minutes and then walk 5 and you’re there. They’re a smaller group and thin in tenors and baritones. They need me in baritone for...

 So on Friday we were meant to be visiting Venice. That still awaits us. Instead we went to visit the ADIL. The ADIL is a government backed advisory service that helps people with issues about housing. You can go there if your landlord is treating you unfairly, or if your accommodation is insalubrious, or to get advice on insulating your home or whatever. We went to get impartial advice on what we should do. The advisor was someone who used to be an advocate but who decided to come and work for the ADIL instead. Some of her colleagues used to be notaries. Most have some legal training. She began by of course telling us that she could advise us of the options available to us, but that she could not tell us what we ought to do. I of course said that we were depending on her to do exactly that, and we laughed. We showed her our situation and by the time we left we knew what we ought to do, namely to take out a mortgage over three years for the shortfall in purchasing the house, plus a...