All Work and No Play Makes Nina a Dull Girl!

We've been a bit bogged down with the renovation of our house lately and our sense of humour appeared to have gone AWOL so it was lucky that our home town of Cognac held a couple of well timed events over the weekend to get us out of the house and remind us why we moved in the first place.

The first event was a nocturnal market situated beside the Port of Cognac on the River Charente. We live about a five minute walk from the port so there was no excuse at the end of a busy day not to tidy ourselves up and wander over for a look.

At about 8pm we took a stroll along the river to the port and spotted nine little ducklings out without their mother and enjoying an evening snack.  It was a lovely evening but not very nocturnal because being a couple of days before the longest day of the year it did't get dark until much much later. 

The nocturnal market is held every year to promote local produce and crafts but we dashed past all these lovely stalls initially because the aroma of various stands offering different food was our primary concern.

Having deliberated for some time we decided on Moroccan cuisine and tucked into some yummy couscous at the end of a long table by the port and admired the boats.

Fortified by our meal we then wandered around the rest of the market and had a free look around the Musée des Arts du Cognac which I'm ashamed to say we hadn't visited before.  The museum was very informative about the history of the town and we really enjoyed the experience.  

We didn't actually buy anything (apart from the couscous of course) mainly because we are more into vintage items than hand crafted ones but the atmosphere was lovely and we meandered home feeling like the strains of the renovation had lifted for a while.

The following evening the town was holding the Fête de la Musique (an event I missed last year and was keen to go to).   This kind of music festival is held all over France and it is an opportunity to hear musicians play in the streets and in venues in the centre of town.

The first little band we came across were in the covered market and we enjoyed a couple of songs before deciding to move on to see what else was happening.

As we walked along the pedestrianised streets towards the centre of town we heard the introduction to the Pink Floyd song 'Money' starting up so being fans of their music we rushed along to enjoy the entertainment.  The band and young lead singer was great and we stayed there until the end of their set.

Having wandered off for a while to see what else was going on by the time we got back to the main stage in Place François 1er another band was preparing to start so we decided to buy a drink at one of the cafés which would have been great had Spike not been miffed at having to pay over 13€ for the privilege. 

We then spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to eke out our drinks and make the price of a comfortable seat at a table worthwhile before finding another band down a side street on the way home.  

En route we struggled to push through a large crowd that had congregated in the old town around a latin band and a group of annoyingly energetic people salsa dancing.

And feeling tired and slightly disappointed at our lack of staying power we left the excitement behind just as night was falling keen to get home to the doggies and a nice cup of tea (I know it's pathetic isn't it?)

I have tickets to see Lenny Kravitz with my friend Sally at the upcoming Cognac Blues Passion festival (July) which I'm really looking forward to so a siesta that day might be a good idea!