It feels like a lifetime since our last blog when we are in Heinrichemont, about a hundred clicks below Paris. A lot has happened in the past week, read on for details...

SUNDAY 6/10 (Continued), HEINRICHEMONT
Had a relaxed day in Heinrichemont, stretching out our brekky and checking out the town (it..s not a big place so that didn..t take long). The locals turned out in force for our show at Hotel Du Nord and didn..t hold back from getting into our 2 sets (we played a lot of songs that night), it was pretty exhausting, pheww! I think even the very sweet resident German Shepherd, Verrone, enjoyed it. We were very well looked through the night for drinks so we carried on the night at the bar after, being actively encouraged to finish off the bowl of punch that had been made up specially.

MONDAY & TUESDAY 5 - 6/10, PARADOU
A bit slow to get on the road after the previous nights antics in and another traditional french brekky from Heinrichemont. Ended up arriving at the family place in Paradou, south France a bit later than expected, via a trip to the supermarche in St. Remy to stock up on cheese, meats & vegies. Had a great BBQ cook up, esp with Owen's skills cooking the vegies, a good way to finish off a long day of driving. Tuesday was very relaxing, spent eating & drinking rose at the house, and running through some new song ideas in the afternoon.
 
WEDNESDAY 7/10, BORDEAUX
Set off in good time to make the journey over to the south west of France. It was a good 4 or 5 hours on the Motorway passing places i wish we had time to visit like Carcasonne & Toulouse. Arrived in Bordeaux in the afternoon and had to wait around in this dodgy little street for a while waiting for the owner to arrive at the venue so we could unload our stuff. Was a bit of wary of some shady characters hanging around but they turned to be harmless and just waiting for some customers to purchase some of their 'goods'. Eventually we were able to load into El Boqueron club and were treated to a delicious meal by the chef - def our best gig meal on tour so far. Played a good sweaty gig and were invited out later to another club nearby. We caught a bit of a punk/garage band from Paris, the Four Slicks at the club Saint-Ex. it was a cool little club but very sweaty. Didn't stay out too late as had to drive back to Nimes the next day. Our accom that night wasn't the comfiest (though i slept fine!) - blow up matresses on a tiled floor of an apartment under renovation. It was above the venue we played though so very convenient.
 
THURSDAY 8/10. NIMES
This was some day. Everything was going smoothly as we made our way to Nimes, until we felt/heard something very disturbing going on with the back wheel of our Toyota Lucida as we were passing Carcassone. We had to get a tow to the nearest garage and basically the car was out of action until we could the right part could be sent over from UK (they didn..t have it in France at all!) This caused a bit of panic about how we could make our show that night, still 2 hours drive down the motorway. Fortunately I..d taken out europe roadside assistance, and they were very helpful, providing us with a hire car til the Toyota could be fixed. Our new set of wheels, a Ford s-Max was a lot smaller than my car so we had to leave the bass amp and drums and squeeze everything else in. Next hiccup, was a torrential rainstorm which slowed us down on route to Nimes, however we managed to get there just in time (missed soundcheck of course). Despite the weather there was a big turn out for the show and we had a really unbelievable gig. There..s a really cool little rock..n..roll scene in nimes, and after the show the promoter invited people back to where we were staying. despite an early start the next day we partied til late being plied with various types of liquor including the biggest bottle of whiskey i..ve ever seen. Things got a bit crazy when a couple of our new friends took out a knife and started cutting ..the kits..into their arm (see the photo..s - a bit gross actually!)

FRIDAY 9/10, MADRID
Waking up after only 2 hours sleep, we managed to stumble into the car for our early start to Madrid. Made the 10 hour drive to with no problems and another great show that night as well. Had a strong turn out at the Wurlitzer ballroom, which is one of the best rock n roll venues in town. It was the first time i..d been here and it was a pity to hardly see any of the city at all. From what i did see though it seems like a pretty crazy place, and all the people i met where really friendly too, which often doesn..t happen in such a big city.

SATURDAY 10/10, GIJON
Arrived in Gijon in the afternoon, it is a few hours drive directly north of Madrid on the Atlantic coast. The venue we played was the Savoy Club, a really cool 50..s club in the heart of the town. Gijon is not that big but surprisingly has a great rock scene. It..s also a very attractive town, which is right on the beach, and has a beautiful old town within the city. I give it a big thumbs up. Being pretty exhausted from the late nights and long drives from the previous couple of days we were delighted to find out we were playing two sets tonight, the first at 1am and the second at 3am! We managed to find the energy to get through these, helped along by the enthusiastic Gijon crowds who fortunately stay out pretty late, hence the set times. Made some more cool friends here and had yet another late one. After the last 4 days/nights we were all very happy to have the next couple of days off.


We are currently in Santiago De Compostela, where we have a show tonight, then on to Portugal for the last leg of the tour!

Jay