Water

In our Mediterranean region of France which is used to drought, we haven't had the problems of other areas that have had water restrictions, but even so it was good to wake this morning to hear thunder and heavy rain, clearing the air which was humid and heavy yesterday evening while we were having supper in the garden. This is the oldest existing fountain in the village, in Place Vieille which used to be the market place and centre of the village hundreds of years ago. Like the other fountains in the village, it is now part of a circulating system of water and no longer provides drinking water as it did in the days before mains water. I noticed this morning that the mairie has attached an ugly red warning sign to one side of this lovely old structure, warning people that this is not drinking water.

For those of you who were interested in my Occitan poem, I'm posting it for its novelty value rather than its merit - it's a very simple piece describing our outing to Béziers on Sunday, with the refrain 'e nos regalèrem' - 'and we enjoyed ourselves'. Those of you who know a bit of Spanish and/or French can probably work most of it out!

Un dimenge assolelhat (A sunny Sunday)

nos trobèrem prèp del canal,
lo cercle occitan gabianenc
e nos regalèrem

jus l'ombra dels olius
manjèrem la fideua
e nos regalèrem

montèrem al pichon tren
per far lo torn de Besièrs
e nos regalèrem

visitèrem la catedrala
qualques uns montèran lo campanal
e nos regalèrem

agachèrem la vista
fins a las montanhas
e nos regalèrem

tornèrem davalar al canal
per las carrieiras estrechas
e nos regalèrem

tornèrem dintrar a Gabian
uros
e nos regalèrem