The 'Cafe Under The Stars'

A dream of creating a live music venue is realised, is Boris Johnson a 'good chap'? and why is cocoa still causing deforestation?

The cafe at La Chaussee

When we moved to France at the end of 2020, to escape Brexit, one of our plans was to open a live music cafe in one of the outbuildings connected to the house.

Because of the slightly surreal French planning laws, we realised that we didn't have courtyard access to one of the buildings, which would have been ideal. We even looked at buying the property next door, a shop, to create a musical/retail/food hub - but quickly dropped the idea when we realised how much work was needed to be done in the house and creating the guest apartment.

Much to our own astonishment a year one we have created a ‘Cafe Under The Stars’ in a space that we could never have imagined - even in our wildest dreams.

When Sadie took over as Artistic Director of Footsbarn Travelling Theatre, she also became responsible for La Chaussee, the company’s base in France, which by coincidence happened to be 25kms from our house.

Because of Covid lockdowns the venue, which houses a studio, accommodation blocks, offices, a restaurant and workshops etc, has been dark for a couple of years and required a clear-out and a spruce-up.

Much to her credit, Sadie’s first job was with a mop and bucket, and a tin of paint to renovate the restaurant. With help from a couple of volunteers, she soon had the place sparkling and we held our first live music event there at the weekend, which was a great success.

It was at that moment we realised that we had created a ‘Cafe Under Stars’ that would have been inconceivable even six months ago.

The night was an intimate evening of acoustic music that Sadie opened with a short set before introducing our friend Charlie Seymour, a singer-songwriter from Paris.

We had a small audience of around 40 guests and we made soup and served wine and beer, afterwards we passed the hat around for the music and we actually managed to break even.

More importantly, we had not only realised our romantic vision of opening a music cafe, but we had also brought new life back into La Chaussee and plan to run regular acoustic nights while we work on a full artistic programme for 2022-23, which will include an arts festival in the summer.

This opportunity for Sadie, especially, has materialised because we took the decision, not quite on a whim, to change our lives when our own personal circumstances allowed us … against a backdrop of uncertain political upheaval in the UK and EU.

We now find ourselves in the middle of France, and therefore Europe, and at the centre of a vibrant international artistic community where we can offer a creative space and accommodation for anyone who wants to visit.

Sure, it’s a challenge and a giant undertaking because there is a lot of work to be done to make La Chaussee fit for purpose as a 21st-century arts centre, but with the little Cafe Under The Stars, nestled in a corner of the courtyard, we have made a new beginning with the promise of even greater things to come.

I almost missed the occasion because of the delay in fixing the car in the UK. In the end, I had to scrap the vehicle and return to France on the Eurostar. The car, a Peugeot, was quite old but it had been extremely reliable making numerous crossings from the UK to France when we moved. The repair bill was going to be more than the vehicle’s worth, and the fact that we could not import it into France because of its age meant we had to cut our losses and will look for a French car.

In the meantime, we have the Lotus sports car to run around in, but there is a story behind how we acquired such a prestigious set of wheels, which I shall write about more fully in due course.   

How to get rid of Boris Johnson?

Being trapped in the UK for two weeks allowed me to observe the current state of the country with a semi-outside eye. 

Some people, my mother included, were trying to defend prime minister Boris Johnson for his involvement in the Downing Street party scandal when the rest of the country was supposed to be in lockdown. 

His total disregard for the rules his government introduced is one thing, the despicable slanderous remarks about labour leader Kier Starmer when he was director of public prosecutions and Johnson’s claim of failing to prosecute the paedophile Jimmy Saville are truly abhorrent.

The allegations were totally false and led to Starmer being confronted in the street by right-wing thugs repeating the Saville smear. 

Johnson so far has failed to resign for his role in the ‘partygate’ scandal and apologise for his remarks made to Starmer in the House of Commons.

The fact that he is still in office is a combination of the man’s sense of self-entitlement and arrogance and the fact that unlike countries such as the US, the UK has no single document or written constitution’ to rein in a rogue leader. Instead, we have unspoken agreements and a quaint ‘good chap’ theory of government with a tacit understanding that there are some things which you just shouldn’t do when you are in a position of power and privilege. 

Johnson is a nasty piece of work, a posh thug who thinks he is above the law who has taken the electorate and his own party down a deeply depressing road and the longer he remains leader the more the UK’s reputation will suffer as a once decent and fair country.

Cocoa break: why the industry is still failing to end deforestation

A forest in Cote d’Ivoire recently destroyed by cocoa. Photo:Mighty Earth

A new report from global advocacy organisation Might Earth claims that since the high-profile launch of the Cocoa and Forests Initiative (CFI), Africa’s top cocoa-producing nations continue to see huge areas of forest being destroyed to make room for cocoa production.

It says that forests within the cocoa-growing regions Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana lost 39,497 hectares – 152.5 sq. mi., amounting to a combined area equivalent to the size of the cities of Madrid, Seoul or Chicago. 

“This report unwraps the unsavoury side of the cocoa industry and shows the urgent need to break the link between chocolate products and deforestation,” said Glenn Hurowitz, CEO of Mighty Earth. “Chocolate companies like Nestlé, Hershey’s, Mondelez and Mars need to stop making empty promises and start working together with governments in the CFI to establish an open and effective joint deforestation monitoring mechanism this year”.

Mighty Earth, whose remit is to ‘defend a living planet’, said Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana are estimated to have lost 80% to 90% of their forested area over the last few decades, in large part to make way for cocoa farms. 

The organisation also flags up the need for more legislation from authorities in the European Union, Japan, and the United States, that “requires companies to conduct thorough due diligence checks to prevent cocoa or cocoa-derived products linked to deforestation from being imported into their consumer markets.”

Quote of the week: “We're here to bring beauty to the world and make a difference in this planet. That's what art forms are about.” - Charlie Haden, bass player 1937 – 2014

Spotify playlist: An esoteric mix of music curated just for you and to get me through the night, day, while I work and play. Thanks for your suggestions - a couple of new tracks added this week!