Châtelus Malvaleix is not a very big place but this week it has mustered all its forces to mount an arts festival. There’s an exhibition of painting and sculpture, a couple of plays, some musical events, a book fair, an artisan market and bizarrely to my mind a country walk.

I’ve seen the first of the two plays and despite the warm appreciation of the public I was not too impressed. It was about people wandering around an art gallery commenting on the works on display – quite appropriate for the occasion - but for a cast of nine to impersonate convincingly several dozen gallery visitors and staff is not easy however many changes of costume they affect. It had its moments though and if it hadn’t been twenty minutes late in starting I might have regarded their efforts more charitably.

I know only one other work by Jean-Michel Ribes and it too involves people wandering around a gallery commenting on the exhibits. It’s definitely not the same play so he must surely be working out some hang-up from a misspent youth.

The jazz concert yesterday was more enjoyable. A piano and trumpet duo who played mostly standards pre-dating Miles Davis. The trumpeter sang as well but his voice was a bit thin and under-powered for my taste although he gave a very nice version of Besame Mucho. At the end we were asked to give a special round of applause for the Creuse’s one and only piano tuner without whom even those lacking perfect pitch might have been plagued by the odd bum note.

Below is a collage of some of the art works. I would not pay €100 or so for the mysterious fluffy things nor €750 for the pretty enough picture of horses but what do I know about art?


On the other hand I was very happy to pay €3 for a tray of sixteen peaches this afternoon despite knowing nothing about fruit growing.