Hervé and our café

It would be easy to continue blogging about not being able to blog as efficiently as I think I used to. However, I’ve decided to ignore the frustrations of technology and assume I’ll get the hang of it all again soon.

So, here I am, still in Caunes, after making the decision to split our lives between Yorkshire and this beautiful part of the south of France. That was 13 years ago, and just a year before my cancer diagnosis. A close friend , also a cancer survivor, and I have a phrase we repeat regularly , “ We’re still here”.  We are still here, and are still trying to value every moment, whether it is when I am here in Caunes or back with family in Yorkshire..

Caunes is still a lovely place to be. I suppose it has changed a little in the 13 years we’ve been here. 

The village bar changed hands a couple of years ago. Some people couldn’t take to the new owners, the menu changed, hours of opening were slightly different, but in general it has kept its friendly ambience, having a great mixture of customers, locals, both French and foreign,  and tourists, both French and foreign. Perhaps most importantly, the amazing server, Hervé, who remembers everyone’s choice of coffee, is still there. It’s lovely to be greeted by his smile, as he brings me my café allongé , after months back in Yorkshire. No order needed, it just arrives. 

This is the café, where 13 years ago, Mark approached the then proprietors and asked in his very limited French, if we could hold a weekly language café . It began as a small venture and some weeks in the winter, when Mark and I weren’t even there, it met with just 3 or 4 people. In the summer, when us second home owners arrived, numbers swell.

 Yesterday, there were over 20 of us. Hervé brought us all our coffees, and we chatted for an hour or so. The group consisted of 4 native French speakers, a Belgian, two Germans, two from the Netherlands, a South African, an Irishman, and I think the rest of us were English or Scottish. Often there are Australians , Americans too. We speak mostly in French. Standards vary, and from time to time the more fluent and the native speakers have to help others. Yes, we practice our French, but it has become much more than that. Friendships have been made that are very strong. New people moving into the village come to make all sorts of links and to find out information about what is going on in the village. Over the years many important friendships between French and Anglophones in he village have started here. We met most of our closest French friends over coffee and chats, sitting in La Grande Fontaine in Caunes.

My French, by the way, is pretty static. I get by, I am confident with my rudimentary grammar and vocabulary, so can usually make myself understood and my comprehension is good. Mark has come on in leaps and bounds.13 years ago he spoke no French, now he has a much better vocab than me, and his grammar is better too. However, he still thinks too hard about getting exactly the right wording, whereas I just launch into things using my more limited school girl French. Between us though, we manage well.