January in the Languedoc

We arrived back in France on January 1st to blue skies. It wasn't much different in terms of temperature than London, but the beautiful blue skies are always a happy sight.
We soon discovered that some friends, Frances and Bryan, had returned to Scotland unexpectedly, leavening their dog Kayla with Ann-Marie who lived close to us. When we first bought our house, we used to enjoy taking Ann-Marie's dog, Guinness, for long walks until he died. We know Kayla quite well and so were pleased to have a dog to roam the countryside with again.








The blue skies turned to grey on Wednesday and soon we were seeing sleet. Snow does fall here occasionally, but it usually melts immediately. This time it was hanging around:




When we woke this morning, the snow had stopped and we were back to blue skies.












The snow has lasted all day despite the sun and temperatures hitting 8 C. This is our first experience of snow that has lasted for more than 24 hours. We await tomorrow.
Pat and John on tour

Last post of the year

We are now back at home after spending Christmas in London with all the family.
Before we left France, we went to a Christmas carol service in the Abbaye de Fontcaude near Cazadarnes, Béziers. The carol service has been organised for the past 20 or so years by David Allner and Peggy Ashworth, both now in their 80s. David was once an organ scholar at Emmanuel College in Cambridge and plays in various churches and Abbayes in the area.
The carol service was originally attended by anglophones, but is now attended by French people as well. Last year it was so full that many were turned away, but this year there were several services on the same day, so it was more comfortable, especially at the bun fight afterwards!
Construction on the Abbeye de Fontcaude started in 1154 according to Wikipedia. Restoration work takes place when money permits and proceeds from the carol service go towards the restoration.




Yes, you can see shells on the robes of the Confrerie de St Jacques (as in St Jacques de Compostela and Coquille St Jacques).
David welcoming the audience




and playing the organ.




There were four readings, including one by Pat reading a poem by Robert Herrick, English and French carols as well as chants by the Confrerie.
When it was all over, we left the church, walked through a courtyard lit by candles and enjoyed the local wines and plenty of meats and cheeses.
We flew to London on 15th of December and stayed at Helen and Nick's for several nights before moving to the flat nearby where we had stayed in August and September. Our time was spent seeing the family including James of course, and Pat was particularly pleased to be with everyone on her 64th birthday. We were able to babysit to let Helen and Nick get some time together and take Ernie for walks in his baby sling. Pat also went with him and Helen into Central London so that Helen could shop.
On the 19th, Ernie held his first Christmas party for his mates: cake and mulled wine for the mums and milk for the babies. Here are some of the 7 babies:




The flat is very close to a very small restaurant/jazz club which we discovered in August. We called in one evening to eat and the chef, Patrick, recognised us immediately. We then returned the next two nights to enjoy live jazz.
On Christmas Day, everyone came to us for champagne, nibbles and wine. Here Is Pat in the flat, waiting for everyone to arrive.




and with Ernie.




and then we moved on to Helen's for the main course and present opening.




Needless to say, Ernie couldn't stay awake for all his presents, but he managed to eat the paper of a few and saved the rest for another day. The robin paper from his Auntie Eira was the favourite.




We really enjoyed our time seeing Ernie and feel so privileged to be able to see so much of him.
On New Year's Eve, we managed to stay up till midnight and to see the London fireworks from Helen and Nick's flat. We returned to France on New Year's Day and were happy to be back home for a while.
Finally, here are some more pics of the young man, the first taken by James.








The 2013 blog, which will feature a trip to South Africa in February and March, is at http://uzin2013.blogspot.com
Pat and John at home

Télethon

This is the weekend of the Télethon, akin to the UK Children in Need. We have plenty of activities in the village and so this is turning into a busy weekend.

The first event of this year's Télethon was a concert in the church on Friday evening. The published time for the start was 18.00 when John was stuck in traffic in Béziers on his way back om the dentist. , Pat and two friends, Silvia and Toni, set off up the hill only to find people standing in the cold outside the locked church. The start time for the concert had been put back (or possible someone just got it wrong) to 18.30, so we went back down the hill for a quick glass of wine to fill in the time. This gave John a chance to get home before we returned to the church where the rehearsal was in progress. Silvia and Toni hadn't been inside the church before, so John gave a quick guided tour.

The choir gave a good performance which we all enjoyed before we retired to the village restaurant to eat.

On Saturday, there was a walk around the village. We arrived in the square at the appointed time where coffee was being served and then set off into the vineyards around the village. We knew a lot of the walk, but there were some interesting variations that we hadn't done before.

Here we are on the walk



and with the next village, Murviel, in the background.







We walked towards Paihles and the small chapel of Montalaru, where we go to concerts in the summer which are held outside. We had not been inside the chapel before so were delighted to see that the door was open as we approached. We learnt that the chapel is only open one day a year, December 8th, which is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Inside, there was a lady putting flowers on the alter and she told us something about the chapel, which was built in 1853.








We returned to the village after midday, to find the customary apéritif waiting for us.





In the evening, we went to the Foyer Rurale for the Télethon meal. The start time was 7 pm for apéros. We joined neighbours and friends





At 8.30, the line dancing started





and at 9, which is normal eating time in France, the paella was delivered by members of a rugby team (we presume that they had made it too).





The team stayed to serve; there was plenty to go round.





After we had eaten, our table came back with us for cognac.

This morning, John took this photo of the sunrise over the village





and later hopped on his bike to take this of the mountains of the Haut Languedoc covered in snow






We also had a vide grenier (garage sale) in the village square.




Other Télethon events include a boules match, a Christmas market at a vigneron with line dancing demonstrations and a tennis tournament.

Now, we are about to leave go to our final event, the Loto (bingo) to practice our numbers in French.


Pat and John at home

A busy few days

We have been kept busy since our return from the UK to see Ernie in mid November, mostly keeping up with friends over meals, wine shopping, routine health checks and such like. Pat has been Christmas shopping, making things for Ernie and doing the final planning of our South African holiday, planned for February while John has been waxing the kitchen floor and organising our Christmas cards and letter.

We leave for London in less than two weeks, where we will spend Christmas, but we have a number of events before that.

On Thursday, we joined our Swedish friends, Gunilla and Håkan for lunch at their house in Montagnac, followed by a walk.

This the view of the village church from their dining table




Montagnac from our walk with the local foothills of the Massif Central, Les Monts de L'Espinouse in the distance. In between is the valley of the Herault river.




A chapel in the vines that we passed




Aumes, a small village en route




The final event of the year for the UNRPA (retired club of Thézan), le repas de fin d'année (end of the year meal), took place on Saturday. As always, it was well attended and very jolly. We sat with our neighbours and a group of ladies whom we regularly encounter on walks in the vineyards around the village on summer evenings.

The meal is always well catered and very cheap, 12€ (£10) per head for a four course meal including drinks. The event starts at noon and we needs to arrive early in order to find seats for ourselves and our neighbours.

We started with a plate of apéros (mini quiche, mini pizza, olives, tomatoes, etc) and a drink, whisky, Pernod or sweet muscat wine (both traditional before a meal here), or for us rosé; refills come round too. Bread and bottles of wine sit on the table and are replaced whenever necessary.

The first course was foie gras, served with a salad and a vin doux (a sweet wine) perfectly suited to foie gras.

This was followed by a stuffed quail, green beans and wild mushrooms (all very traditional).

Cheese came next and to finish, a swiss roll filled with créme anglais (thick custard) and a chocolate and served with a local sparking white wine, Clairette de Die (also traditional).

Finally, we had tea or coffee are served together with more drinks (digestifs like green creme de menthe).

Singing and story telling completes the afternoon and we head for home just after five o'clock.








This is not, however, the end of the village festivities.

Next weekend we will have the Télethon, equivalent to the UK Children in Need, with a concert in the church on Friday, a village walk, boules, the decoration of the village Christmas tree and a meal on Saturday and a jumble sale, tennis and Loto on Sunday.

We also have a large dinner party for friends and Christmas carols in the L'Abbaye de Fontcaude before we leave for the UK.

A day out with the UNRPA

On Tuesday, 5th November, we joined a bus outing with the Union Nationale des Retraités et des Personnes Agées (OAPs). The bus took us to Perpignan first where we visited the Palais des Rois de Majorque, then on to Jonquera in Spain for lunch and some shopping. Heading back home we returned with a second shopping stop at Pertus, on the French, Spanish border. Pertus is a border town with one side of the main street in France and the other side in Spain. Essentially, this was the UNPRA members annual Christmas shopping trip, giving participants the opportunity to top up with bargains from Spanish supermarkets.

The bus was scheduled to leave the village at 08.15 so naturally, it was waiting and almost full at 08.00. The luggage storage was full of shopping trolleys and John just managed to find us a pair of seats together. Getting onto the bus took time because one has to greet (kiss, kiss) neighbours and acquaintances.

The first stop was La Palme on the motorway, about 30 minutes away for a coffee and loo stop. After that, we travelled on to Perpignan and the Palais des Rois de Majorque (Palace of the Kings of Majorca). There haven't been any kings in residence for some time. The last one moved out in 1276.
Perpignan is on the edge of the Mediterranean, on the French side of the Pyrenees. The biggest problem is the wind (the Tramontana) which can be strong and certainly was cold on Thursday. As we entered the palace, we encountered Miss Roussillon, 2012 who was posing for photos.






When it was built, the palace was in Catalonia, the border between France and Spain being closer to the Corbieres rather than the Pyrenees as it is now. It was built for King James I of Majorca and of Aragon and Valencia and he also had titles in Montpellier and Barcelona.

It looks out over the mountains with the Canigou, the largest mountain at this end of the Pyrenees clearly visible.




At one stage it was surrounded by fig trees and it looks as though these might be restored, judging by the use of the ditch as a nursery.



The group had arranged a guide who was very informative and spoke clearly, so we could understand a lot of what he said. Here we are outside the palace.








Inside the palace we looked across to the chapel.



The staircase up to the living level




Unusually, the palace has two chapels, one for the king on top of another for the queen. The design was based on St. Chapelle in Paris.

This is the King's chapel with the columns outside with dragons and griffins.















This is the Queen's






And here the two can be seen together from the outside





Impressively, this ceiling retains its original decoration.




The minor monarchy which lived in the castle did not last long. The third King fell out with his Spanish relatives and was even foolish enough to ally himself to the English.

After a very interesting tour, we were back in the warmth of the bus and on our way to Jonquera for a sociable lunch and then supermarket shopping where we found some Spanish wines and other essentials for the drinks store.

Finally, we stopped at Pertus on the way back. We were not interested in the shopping there, so we wandered along the main street and then up towards the chapel from where we could look down over the valley through which passes the main motorway to Spain.










The main street of Pertus mainly selling spirits, cigarettes, watches and jewelry. We were more interested in Spanish specialist foods.




Pat and John on tour