So here we are summering in the south II

Aaaah Ampus! Every year a bunch of us, old friends, head down to Ampus, to Olivia's dad's house. Ampus is a haven of peace and quiet : a stone house on the south side of a hill covered in olive groves that overlooks Draguignan and, in the distance a sea. See last year's post for more photos. After staying in M. I headed down to Les Arcs - Draguignan, a 40 minute drive to the house, which itself is three kilometers from the village of Ampus.


This year was a diferent crowd from last time. Arnaud, the pater familias, and Véronique, his girlfriend, were there, as were his daughter Olivia and her son Romain. Quentin, Olivia's brother and bassist of Furykane, and Axelle were there.



Furykane's two guitarists, Max and Kris, and Kris' girlfriend Jeanne were also there, so pretty crowded. Jeanne and Kris left and were replaced later in the week by Géry and Amélie.




Highlights include epic chess games with Quentin, roasting chickens and grilling pork chops in the fireplace for long boozy evening meals, going to the lake and regressing to being five with the huge bouncy trampoline and slide combo, crashing down the hill in the dark after supper to check out a 1000 year old olive tree. Also lounging in the sun, reading, practising English teaching on Arnaud and on one day a truly epic walk.



Arnaud's nephews (Olivia and Quentin's cousins) were down for the day and we had implicit instructions not to be too stoned and drunken and depraved as they are staying with the graddad who disapproves of the youth in general and us specifically (he doesn't know us but he has no time for left wing bobos suh as ourselves, musicians and people who like to drink on holiday. They came to lunch, after which we decided to walk to the village, about three kilometers away. So cousins, Olivia, Quentin, Axelle, Max and myself set off, armed against dehydration with a liter and a half bottle of [diluted] pastis, the strong, fennel-tasting drink of the South of France. We got to Ampus in a hour or so, having followed the road over the curved and craggy countryside, and slightly tipsy. There is nothing to do at Ampus so we had a beer and set back. The cousins didn't want to walk, so Romain came to get them in the car; Olivia joined them.

The four of us, armed with a freshly bought bottles of Pastis and water, and armed with some hash and rolling material started walking, and drinking. Soon we were watching massive clouds appear on the horizon, but were too light headed to care. So we started to do relaxation techniques, sing stupid songs and roll joints. We got caught in the mother of all storms and took refuge under a solitary tree. More drinking. The storm cleared a bit and we damply ontinued walking, and drinking, and stopping to sing and play games. Details aside, it took us over four hours to get back, night had fallen and we were as drunk as lords. "We must be dignified" we giggled hysterically as we entered the kitchen. Chaos ensued, everyone looked slightly taken aback. Quentin broke everything as he tried to demonstate he could do a triple dancing leap. Axelle, usually dignified and calm, was cackling hysterically. Max was crashing around pouring more drinks (later trying to carve a piece of pork in the sink). I filmed the scene...

Arnaud was not amused and the cousins seemed scared at the dinner table.... I can't think why

A brilliant holiday with my brilliant friends, on remet ça pour l'année prchaine!


The only downer was on the return journey, when Géry, Amélie and I got stuck in the worst cock up the SNCF has known for years: due to a technical fault tens of thousands of people got stranded in the South of France. We never even made it to Marseille to catch our TGV to Paris, being stuck for hours near Toulon. Finally in Toulon we simply got on a train for the capital and settled in first class. Got to Paris at 5 A.M., eight hours late...