The Cuisery Brass Band play in Uchizy Church
It seemed to me the most unlikely setting. Friends invited us to a concert staged by the Cuisery Brass Band in the church at Uchizy.
This Romanesque church of St Pierre was built in the 11th century. It was part of the priory of the St Philibert Abbey in Tournus, about 8km away. Later alterations included making the bell tower unusually high, raising it to four storeys to be used as a look-out.
Not having experience French brass bands before, I was not expecting much. But what a surprise! The band tentatively began with the juniors and a dirge-like rendition of Land of Hope and Glory (next time we will take our Union Jacks). But they soon got into their stride and the more experienced players soon joined in with gusto. There was a particularly intricate medley of tunes from popular films. The biggest surprise of the evening was when the lady in charge put down her baton and took up the trombone. She was excellent; in fact any one of the Band would have done credit to the Black Dyke Mills Band.
Afterwards, instead of rushing away, we were all invited to partake of wine and gaufres. This is a part of life here that we enjoy so much. It was such a pleasure to enjoy the warm evening, to chat with old friends and meet new ones.
Painting chairs for Cluny 2010
We are making preparations for the Cluny 2010 celebrations planned for the weekend of 9th, 10th and 11th September. Our village is the Porte des Prés (light blue), and we have joined up the Porte du Haras, the neighbouring villages of Donzy and Blanot (light green). We will be entertaining a contingent of German people from the Cluniac site of Calw-Hirsau. We will be singing the European anthem in different languages so we have been allotted the words for the German version.
So the committees for the two Portes are meeting regularly to discuss the arrangements for the weekend. Happily, as well as sitting round the table there are more practical tasks. We have enjoyed painting everything in sight blue and green. We started with lots of old folding chairs donated by Donzy. We moved on to fashioning a coffee kiosk from old orange boxes wired together and painted blue and green. We have artistically decorated umpteen strips of blue and green material that will be used as banners at the banquet.
After each session we are covered in so much light blue paint that we match our blue Cluny2010 teeshirts!
Preparing the Cortambert buvette
For three evenings this weekend you could see the Illuminations in the Abbey gardens. The spectacle was called “Cluny, dreams of light”, devised by Patrice Warrener. Of course this did not start until dark so entertainment was provided in the early evenings. On Saturday there was Batucada Pulse, a group of 66 percussionists of all ages playing to an audience of 2,000 people. On the Sunday there was What the Folk!,a couple of American Rock singers who kept everyone clapping and jiggling to the music until a heavy shower of rain brought them to a premature finish.
The catering for this weekend was also a class act. It was performed by the Foyer Rural of Cortambert, a willing team under the leadership of Pascale who is noted for her tasty quiches. She makes them on demand so they are piping hot. On the busy Saturday night she made 18. Other ladies produced praline tarts, custard tarts, tarts with nuts (my favourite) and chocolate pies. Jean Louis was kept busy all night making huge batches of gaufres. Chris and I helped to make ham sandwiches with Marie Antoinette.
This event will be held again on the Cluny 2010 weekend of the 10th, 11th and 12th September. Meanwhile you can get a taste of Patrice Warrener’s work if you wander into Cluny marketplace any evening after dark.
The Potters' Market at Cluny
There was an excellent potters’ market this weekend in Cluny. There were fifty stands with artists from all over France exhibiting wonderful pieces that were useful or quirky but always beautifully made.
 "The chateau at Pierreclos")