Lundi de Pâques

As I have mentioned earlier, I am a member of the village Randonneurs. We usually walk on Sunday mornings but Easter is slightly different. The Sunday walk is moved to Lundi de Pâques and the members of the club meet for an apéritif (naturally) and omelette (a traditional Easter custom). As this was the first time that we had been to this event, we were unsure of the procedure. On the programme, we were told to meet at the Place at 11 o’clock. We duly turned up and there was no sign of anyone. We had been warned that if it was raining, it would be in the foyer. We walked round the village, looking at the most likely places, still no sign walkers. Fortunately, we met René, an 88 year old member of the group who told us that the group was meeting at a cottage outside the village. Error number 1. We drove to the rendezvous point to find error number 2. The meeting was at midday. We went home to do a few jobs and returned at the appropriate time. This was better. The Randonneurs had arrived, wine, pastis and Suze were being served with nibbles. We started being a little concerned when more people arrive with baskets containing wine, things in tin foil and baguettes. They must be the committee bringing a few extra things! Once we sat down we realized error number 3. We should have brought plates, knives and forks, wine and something to eat before the omelette! The typical things being eaten were saucisson, a wide variety of pâtes and salads. With the generosity of the group, this wasn’t a problem. Everyone was sharing everything even the wine.

After the entrée the omelettes were served. There were several each with a different flavouring. They were lovely.

That wasn’t the end. After, tarte aux pomme, traditional gateaux, cheese and pieces of chocolate were passed around. Once the eating had finished, they started singing songs which were obviously well known by the group.

Our New Maire and Council

Those who don’t live in France might be surprised to know that although it is a Catholic country, Good Friday is not a holiday here. Children go to school as usual, shops are open and everyone goes to work. The only holiday is Easter Monday. As a result, there was no problem holding the first meeting of the new council that was elected last week, yesterday. We were impressed how many villagers came to watch the proceedings. The first thing on the agenda was to elect the Maire. The 15 councilors each took it in turn to get up and write a name on a piece of paper. When everyone had chosen, the votes were counted. Jean Claude Pistre was elected as Maire! This procedure continued to select the adjoints or deputies.

Once all the positions had been appointed, the retiring Maire, André Gol, presented his successor with the écharpe or sash of office and the official photograph was taken.

The new Maire thanked everyone for coming and the statutory apéros appeared.

Facebook - The New Generation

I thought this was rather amusing. Either it is my age, or I have an odd sense of humour.

We have a new Maire

As only 4 people were elected in the first round of voting last Sunday, we had to have a second round yesterday to elect the remaining 11 councilors. The liste with the green affiliation didn’t have many votes last week, so they decided that they might do better by combining with one of the other teams. Because of that, it has been a busy 7 days in “local politics” in the village. We have members of both listes drumming up support, ringing the bell and explaining why we should vote for them.

At 6 o’clock, the polling finished and the counting started. We were amazed how many of the villagers turned up for this. It was quite difficult to work out who was winning. At 7:30pm the count was finished and retiring Maire read out the results. I was impressed that 89% of those eligible to vote did so. When everything was finalised, the statutory apéros appeared. When we voted in local elections in UK, it was usually less than half that. I think this is because the Maire has a more crucial role in village life here.

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We have had another unusual feathered visitor this week - an albino magpie.

Voting

Today we voted in the Elections Municipales and selected our new mayor and council. This is the first election that we have taken part in and it is quite an interesting exercise. The process is very different to that in the UK. We were presented with three listes each containing 15 names. We went into the voting booth to make up our selection. We could either put one of the lists unchanged into the voting box, or make any changes as desired. We could put more than one list into the ballot box, crossing off any candidates that we didn’t want to win. We could even add names to the list of anyone we think would represent our community well. The maximum that we could vote for in our village is 15. Other villages vary according to their size of population. The listes are generally non- party political - just groups of like minded individuals seeking to serve for the benefit of the community. We had received the manifestoes from 2 of the listes but not that of the Green group – are they saving paper?

We thought that we also had to vote for a representative for the Canton, but unfortunately as we are étrangères, we were not allowed to. This is a political election with candidates representing the usual range of parties from Green to National Front. It has been quite cut and thrust in Carcassonne. The candidates have been taking over empty shops in the town and adorning them with flags and posters. In the usual French tradition, aperitifs have also been served here to encourage passers-by to come in and give their support.

Winds

Gosh, we have had two days and nights of very strong winds, 45 kilometres an hour with gusts over 100 Km/h. It was amazing that there has been was no damage in the garden. That was probably due to our high hedge, the height of which would not be allowed in the UK. We seem quite prone to winds in this part of France. The only time that there isn’t any wind is when it is changing from one direction to another!

Some You Win, Some You Lose

Since we moved to France,we have been following the fortunes of ASC XIII, our local Carcassonne Rugby League team and in the last 2 weeks they have had 2 local derbies. The first match, was at Limoux which, as you can see from the scoreboard, was a win for ASC. Unfortunately, the second match against Lezignan who are top of the league, was not as successful. The final score was 14 - 28. To be honest, the better team won. They created more opportunities and capitalised on Carcassonne's mistakes. ASC are still third in the league and if they continue to play well and keep this place, they will be in next year's English Cup. There were large crowds at both matches and the atmosphere was great.

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We went for a walk across The Razes this afternoon and saw this snake. I am sure it is a viper. It was just crossing the footpath and not interested in us at all, fortunately.