Change is in the Air

 March 2026

After the quiet of the post Xmas season, there was a burgeoning of village activities. The arrival of Spring, longer days as the clocks change, anticipation of possible Municipal change and a hope that the situation of women will change.  Yellow mimosa has given way to white almond and pink peach blossom creating stunning images  with cloudless blue skies and a snow capped Canigou in the background. There was colour in the village, too. 

Carnival time.

St Patrick's Day 

Celebrated along with a full house wearing the green at the bar and even ate there. Irish Jack responded to my request for "Only our rivers run free" and oh, did my skin prickle when the guy on the penny whistle joined in.

A mini concert: 

Ventured out in the evening despite the damp chilly weather, to the village hall.  Really enjoyed it. Top notch and different. Melodic sound  for songs in German, English, French, Spanish, Yiddish and vocal cords from a German singer and Israeli guitarist. Stayed for the usual apéro and caught up with various folk.

Lizzie's Vernissage. 

She made plenty of sales, the proceeds of which were shared between an association that neuters cats and an animal refuge. It too, was followed by an apéro accompanied by Jennifer singing and Tony playing jazz.

There were more serious events, too.

MsF's Soirée Tapas

It's a while since I attended one of the association's tapas evenings. It was a convivial evening with new people to meet, a variety of interesting food to sample and foot tapping music to enjoy provided by Gadjo Lolo. No regrets!

                                  International Women's Day

The association marked  with it's traditional salon du thé with the men serving women. Our street also did it's bit. We were invited to choose a remarkable woman and write a short text about her to be displayed at the start of the street. Decided on Gisèle Pelicot, the French Woman who was drugged and raped by her husband and 50 other men while she was unconscious. Backed up the text with some statistics.

                                “Shame must change sides.”

The Café Litteraire 

As usual the winter edition of the group met at the bar. This time it was upstairs in the "private" room. I listened with interest but didn't present a book. Maybe I should think about Gisèle Pelicot's "Hymn to Life" when I can find the confidence. 

Municipal Elections

After six years polling day arrived. Finally, there were 3 lists in contention but the incumbent Maire polled 50.02% of the vote on a turnout of 64.5%, thus avoiding a second round. In reality the Maire was only 2 votes in advance thus the most serious contender put in an appeal to the Sous Préfecture as he believed there had been irregularities. 

Next came the official "Installation" of the Council which I attended. The elected members which included 5 members of the Opposition, had to elect the Maire who then named his 6 Assistants i.e. those heading up particular functions and entitled to wear a sash. Just for interest, the Maire's has gild metallic tassels and the assistants silver. There was a bit of a rumpus when the Maire wouldn't let two Opposition replacements participate as he ruled that the correct procedure hadn't been followed. So, another appeal was lodged. The Leader of the Opposition nitpicked his way through the session to the amusement of some and the annoyance of others!

 

On the home front there was the usual round of social events with friends, chez eux, chez moi and at the café. Won't enumerate them. Trips outside the village merit a note and photo though.

Hansel & Gretel Salon du Thé, Céret

A treat for the 'non knitting" group from Lisa who isn't in a position to invite us to her house. Not just tea ceremoniously presented by Gretel and scrummy cakes made by the  Michelin* restaurant opposite but also a spray of flowers from the florist part of the establishment. An unexpected touch from Lisa and if you think that Gretel's German, you're wrong!. She's half Taiwanese, half Porto Rican and her husband is the patron of the restaurant! It was Angela's first time there and she was bowled over as only Angela can be. Something else for her "j'adore" repertoire!!

Le Jardin de Céret with Friends from Soréde

Marfil Restaurant, La Jonquera

Here, we met up with Dali's daughter, and her fella. I went for a starter of escalibade followed by paella and Irish coffee which was generous to say the least. The house offered limoncello and a herby type liqueur, leaving the bottles on the table, to end off the meal. Dali invited us (Henri & Michèle, JJ & Jacques, Nany & André, Cathy {her daughter} and Gérard {an ex Usap player}) all back to hers for whisky, chocolate and cake. The whisky at 105€, a bottle came from Cap d'Ona and was recently awarded best whisky in the world! I had to point out the codicil was "in it's category and we don't know either which organisation was making the awards and how much it cost to participate.

Perpignan with Joëlle

What's with the toucan? It was part of the street art expo. We didn't settle on anywhere to have lunch but had tea and patisseries at Brasserie 1900.

Farther afield, I had a day out over the border.

Roses with Jean & Françoise

Despite very strong winds, Françoise was having none of it and wanted to go to Roses. So, to Roses we went. Had coffee at Si'us plau then, battled our way along the front. Settled on a restaurant but settling on a table took 3 moves and even at the end up she wasn't satisfied as there wasn't a clear view of the sea! The meal wasn't to her liking either .. her entrée was tasteless, her main course was tasteless though her tiramiso was cleared without a negative word.

Finally, some exercise . . .

On the Coastal Path 

Wanting to take advantage of the warm sunshine, Françoise & I were joined on the coastal path leaving from Sole Mio by Véro. A bit chilly despite the sun.

Over the Channel, Little Sis had a birthday and inspiration didn't fail me

What better present for a cheesaholic? And the funny thing is I came across this one in France!

One last thing: 

Of all the screen time I had, "Immortal Man", the Peaky Blinders film and "Togo" about an Alaskan husky were the most memorable.

Nature Notes:

Weather:

Highest Daytime 22°; Lowest Daytime 11°

Highest Nighttime 12°. Lowest Nighttime 5°

Lots of rain, strong winds

February 2026 and the Days are getting Longer

1.2.26: No comment!

 

The Galettes des Rois are forgotten until January next year having been replaced by crêpes. You wouldn't know that Lent started in the middle of the month; no sign of abstinence here. Gone are days when I was a kid and gave up chocolate. 

In recognition of a bit of cultural balance, the Chinese New Year of the Horse fell 17th. Both the café and restaurant reopened and is our tradition, JJ, Martine, Jacques & Suzette were there for the latter.

I won't bother you with the usual round of meal, apéros and coffees with friends but here are other meals of note: 

  

Ann's 80th 

Chinese Meal followed by Champagne for Michèle's Birthday

 

 

 

 

Delicious Chicken & King Prawns at the Village Hall to raise Funds for the forthcoming Twinning Visit

 

There were 7 of us at our table with the remaining 3 being filled by the man standing in opposition to the Maire, and his Mum ( I've studiously ignored her until now for a remark she was said to have made about Christian 17 years ago; mon dieu!) and a woman who's not unpleasant but presents as wishy washy and uninteresting even though she volunteers at a food bank and charity store. Nothing for it but to concentrate on our copious meal and the bottles of wine that kept coming while trying not to become embroiled in the political swiping.   

Yes, municipal elections are upon us after 6 years of the current Maire's term of office. Leaflets, candidates on the stump, political meetings watching who's in a huddle with whom and bated breathes to see who's on the 3 lists (of 23 people that must respect male/female parity) to join battle for the Mairie for the next 6 years.

 

Good timing. The Municipal Library (open for 2h Wed am, 2h Thurs after school hours and 3h on a Sat am) was inaugurated at the end of the month giving the Maire the chance to meet prospective voters. With the President of the Communité des Communes and two members of the Conseil Départemental in support, he was able to tell those in attendance, what a good job he's been doing. An apéritif  (or two) on offer, there was a respectable turnout.

 

  

There's more to village life than political manoeuvringsI've been involved in the EvS (Éspace de Vie Sociale). It aims to increase social integration and reduce isolation through workshops, networking and other activities. First off a small group of us with the help of a co ordinator, shared 50:50 with Céret, worked on a Charter for users and those offering activities. Here's hoping it will take off. Already there are sewing and knitting groups, both of which have as their base an action to benefit others. Of course, there's help with personal projects if need be a cuppa, biscuits and plenty of chat as well. 

 

As well as continuing a weekly English conversation session with my Japanese friend, Lisa, I've now started a Spanish/English exchange with Pilar.  Feminist, singer/guitarist she already speaks English quite well and is ready to come from Céret to mine on a weekly basis. Not only that, Pilar speaks Catalan, Spanish, French and German as well which she used to teach until she retired. It's not hard to see who's getting the better deal!!uess who's getting the best deal!

 

 All's well, on the health front; just some dental work and haven't put on any weight. Downside is, I haven't lost any despite needing to.

One screen or another is ever present in my life. Having abandoned my original cloud storage provider as too expensive, for Microsofr 365, I soon realised it had not been a good move. Couldn't get to grips with it and found Copilot trying to take over my life. But where else to go? 

The computer bunny burrowed its way into my brain and took me down, the "I must clear my phone of so many photos as google keeps telling me that I'm maxing out my free storage allowance, rabbit hole". It was a very deep rabbit hole and the hours spent hardly made a dent. Once again, I had to go for broke by tagging, editing, collaging and organising. OTT to say the least.

I need to try and keep a rein on my obsessive behavior. Too many very late nights bingeing on box sets can be added to the list. Even my neighbour opposite as commented on the light being on when she gets up in the middle of the night. 

 

I did watch "Hamnet" and Bill Nighy in "Hope Gap" (known as "Goodbye" in France) which were several steps up from my usual fare. I should add I didn't watch Hope Gap in either German or French but of course, in English.

 

 As for the weather. There have been wild swings of temperature with very little rain. It was colder at the end of the month (11°H, 6°L) than at the beginning (16°H, 9°L) having reached the dizzy heights of 24° and the lowest nighttime temperature of 4°. 

But there are signs of better things to come.

Nature Notes: 

Two Turtle Doves

 

  

So, all that remains is for me to leave you with a couple of anecdotes:

1. 1st February is National Yorkshire Pudding Day. Who knew that?

2. 27th February Neil Sedaka died aged 86. Who remembers him? 

 

 

April arrived howling down the Chimney

April? Feels more like Winter than Spring!

1.4.22: Local Musicians swing into Action

 A concert in aid of Ukraine raised 1,500€. That's Jacques on stage strumming away at his guitar.

2.4.22: Braving the Elements

A banda from Toulouse joined the village one to play at the market in the morning. It was bitt-er-ly cold so their audience was a bit meager. In the evening they played again but this time they had a more sheltered position and the terrace and the bar was packed. A couple of small whiskys by the fire inside was worth the covid risk.

Weather: 9°! 

3.4.22: Variety is . . .

Lunch of a veritable couscous at Dali's in tribute to her Algerian origins, accompanied by foie gras and champagne in tribute to her French upbringing. I'm all for having the best of both worlds!

Weather: 10°, sunny, wind much lighter

4.4.22: Chez Suzette near Toulouse

Had a walk around the village after lunch. Bigger and lots more new build than I had expected from Jacques' reminiscences. Only sites of note were:

• the house of the Resistant, Blanche Lavalade Robène that had been used as a staging post for those fleeing theVichy regime
  

• the old outdoor public "lavoire" that could do with a little tlc

• a canon that was buried during  the 2WW 

Weather: 13°, sunshine and cloud

5.4.22: On the Tourist Trail

The Capitol was not open to the public due to renovation work so we had to content ourselves with admiring it from the outside, searching our star signs embedded in the square and looking up at the painted ceiling panels of the arcade depicting the history and achievements of Toulouse.

 Went for coffee at Le Florida as recommended by Françoise and popped into the Tourist Office, housed in the 16th century donjon.

Then followed a day of ecliesiastical visits:

* First off: Notre Dame du Taur started in the 14th century on the spot where the body of St Saturnin ended up after being dragged through the streets by a bull: straight sided wall tower built into the church 

* St Saturnin, started in 11th century

* Church of the Jacobins, dominican monestary founded in the 13th century, Palm ceiling vault, luckily out of the way of Napoleon's soldiers and their horses that were garrisoned there and cloister

* Notre Dame de la Daurade which went from a 5th century basilica, to a church, Benedictine monestary, a tobacco factory after the Revolution, was destroyed and rebuilt in 19th century. Unusually, a black Virgin

*Various timbered, Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings and several squares.

*Walk along the Promenade Henri Martin (artist born 1860) on the banks of the Garonne.

* Lunch at "Au Gascon". Bon rapport qualité/prix

*Tea and views at the roof top café in the Galleries Lafayette.

All the while, Jacques pointed out landmarks pertinent to his and his family's history as did Suzette!

Weather: Sunny after a chilly start

6.4.22: More Sights, no Churches

 Drove into Toulouse and started with a good coffee at "le Bibent", a splendid Art Nouveau brasserie. Enjoyed lingering and ruled out any more churches. 

Wandered the streets instead, had lunch in one of the restaurants over the fabulous indoor Victor Hugo food market. Cassolet was on the menu; needless to say that it was very filling though I was the only one to give dessert a miss.

Walked along the Canal du Midi but the chilly weather and light rain drove us to "Midica" a modern home & gardens store where we made our way to the 5th floor café.

Jacques sister-in-law’s sister who's also Suzette's friend, Danielle came for an apéritif and joined us for supper.

Weather: Chilly, overcast and damp

7.4.22:

While Jacques was at an unexpected funeral, we visited Launaguet with it's impressive Mairie. Vive la Révolution! Drove home after lunch without stopping, glad to find sunshine and warmth.

Weather: 20° and warmer sunshine

8.4.22: Straight back into socialising

A vernissage of paintings and sculptures followed by a "pot d'amité" and this time the Maire actually indicated that we were all invited downstairs to have a drink and this time I had time to stay for a while before moving on to the next event. More exasperating, he once again said that he knew nothing about art which wasn't his field of expertise! How can a politician not even waffle to make himself look a bit more competent by expressing a few thoughts about what appealed to him? Still, he gave me something to sound off about over supper at Jean and Françoise's.

Weather: 17°, a little drizzlz later

9.4.22: La Cocinelle

 Couldn't be bothered to turn out for the village carnival though if truth be told I was feeling guilty about not having made any of the thousands of flowers need to create the Cocinelle (Ladybird) which is the nickname of a VW Beetle

Weather: 16° sunny

10.4.22: A Gloomy Day

 

So election day dawned and with it the much talked about (even by the BBC) first round of the Presidential elections. I went over to the Mairie to watch the count which took over 2 1/2 hours. Not the most efficient I've seen. Ashamed to say, the commune voted for Marine Le Pen, followed by Macron, then Melenchon. The national tendance is said to be for Macron in the 2nd round (25th April) but it will be tight as people are fed up of having to vote for someone they don't support in order to keep out the extreme right wing and are talking of not voting at all.

Weather: 19°, sunshine and blue sky

13.4.22: Food with Friends

The elections provided plenty of material for discussion over lunch at Michlle and Henri's (Sunday), JJ's (Tuesday), Jacques (Wednesday) and supper at mine. (Monday)

Weather: 14°, heavy drizzle

15.4.22: That's more like it!

Something to get a move for this morning as a walk with Linde and Françoise was planned.
 

A good 3½ hours up through ground plants, broom and wild flowers 

then down to Cosporons where there's a craft vinegar maker (their vinegar graces many a Parisian restaurant) and a monument to Vietnamese workers who died in an explosion at the then local dynamite factory owned by Nobel. In the field next to the cemetary was this cute Catalan donkey with the "trademark" dark cross on his back. 

 Had a picnic lunch in the shade over looking the sea after which we had a very warm walk back to the car up through the vineyards sympathising with workers having to pick grapes on these slopes.

Weather: 27°, sunny

17.4.22: Joyeuses Pâques

 A quiet day; friends are either away, confined to their own 4 walls or playing safe. Hence, I've managed to get Chitchat up to date and am now off to plunder my stock of chocolate in the cupboard which is not far enough out of reach!

Weather: 22°, sunshine and blue sky

18.4.22: Highlight of the day . . . A trip to Lidl with Nick; chore of the day: cleaned the patio; pleasure of the day: chocolate and phone calls to friends; stupidity of the day: bed at 3am.

Weather: 19°, sunny, overcast later

19.4.22: End of a 110 Streak. Yes, failed to get today's Wordle

23.4.22: The last few days were more intesresting that those of late. Jacques came for lunch, I was invited back the next day and the day after I went with Françoise and Jean to Perpignan. 

St Jordi's (patron saint of Catalunya) day and I didn't think to wear "sang et or" or hand out the Catalan flag . . . . and to think it was actually me who started off the Fête de la Sant Jordi in 2009. The "festivities" were a sad affair; a couple of sardanes, the Association's bookstall was uninviting and that was it. No medieval costumes or music, no market stalls, no reading of the legend, no street decoration. Well, the banda played yet again though their sound is hardly of the epoch. Started off by meeting Martine for a coffee where we were joined by Michelle and Henri. Ended up having lunch with them, Nany and André who had been playing. so, the day was rescued.

Weather: 17°, feeling colder, spells of sunshine and rain

24.4.22: Out to See the Sea

 Started the day wondering what this evening would bring? Although Macron is far from ideal, he's got to be better than Le Pen. Until such time as the results came in, the day was passed pleasantly enough. A trip down to Argelès with Jean & Françoise to meet their daughter and her lads for coffee. Walked along the promenade for a while enjoying the countryside and the sea air. Françoise fancied having stuffed mussels for lunch so we gave her her wish and headed for "L'Asmourzade". I even joined her and wasn't disappointed. The other two courses were just as good.

 Couldn't face going to watch the count at the Mairie after my previous experience.

Result: Macron kept the Presidency but in the village it was Le Pen who came out in front. She polled 863 to Macron's 687. Abstention rate of 26.7%. Doesn't make for easy thoughts living among people with such convictions. Let's see what the Legislatives bring in June.

Weather:

21°, overcast start, sunny later with cloud in evening

 

24.5.22:

 

Not only did I do an hour on the treadmill first thing but also went walking with Françoise in the afternoon. Another result: 18,000+ steps!

Weather: 21°, overcast start, sunny later

 

26.4.22:

New research shows that the optimum amount of sleep is 7 hours. Will give it a go!

Weather: 21°, sunny

30.4.22:

Who'd believe that the first four months have gone and life ticks over much the same as usual apart that it's warmer sitting out for a cuppa at the café. The fountain is still not functioning though. There have been other meals not mentioned above, mostly at Jacques' though I did get to see James and Beverly for an apéro at their place during a week's stopover between the States, Denmark and UK.

My home based activities rermain the same: daily Wordle, other puzzles and reading. I've yet to finish the latest "Outlander" but have been watching the latest series on Netflix. Also watched the last "Ozark" series over the space of two days and laughed my way through Miriam Margoles's interview by Alan Yentl.

And amazingly for a procrastinator like myself, I've made a start on my tax return which isn't due until 7th June. That's got to be a first!

The wider world is still desparing about the situation in Ukraine and shoppers are being rationed on the sunflower oil front, there's never ending talk about the rising cost of living and for some reason articles on dust mites are appearing in magazines??!! Boris is still Boris and frustratingly still there having laughed off his fixed penalty notice for breaking lockdown restrictions.

 

Weatherwise after a miserable start, temperatures are picking up and swallows and house martins can be seen in the sky. What's the betting that we'll soon be complaining that it's too hot!