Happy New Year

I would like to wish everyone who has looked at my blog over the last 12 months a
Happy New Year

Seasons Greetings from Carcassonne

Carcassonne has really come up trumps with their decorations and activities in the town this year. From the beginning of December there have been a wide range of activities for all ages.

There are bouncy castles and La Grande Roue in the Place Genéral de Gaulle. The Halle aux Grains has held an exhibition of magnificent crèches, or Nativity scenes, which are traditional in France (crèche meaning manger in French). Some of the little characters were even made out of Champagne corks.

There is an ice skating area in Place Carnot which the younger children enjoyed during the day then when it was dark, came alive with youths.

The revamped Gambetta Square has an amazing array of decorations plus lighting on the surrounding buildings which constantly change colour giving a wonderful effect.

Most of the attractions close on 31^st December.

Snow on Boxing Day

We woke up this morning to a white covering across the pool cover. At first I thought we had had a hard frost but on closer inspection I realized that it was snowing! It gradually began to snow harder and now the garden and countryside looks gorgeous. We had planned to nip into Carcassonne for a few bits and pieces but as we drove to pick up the bread we realized the roads wouldn’t be safe, so we decided to stick the fire on and stay at home. It was amazing how quiet everywhere is. The snow certainly seems to blanket out the noise.

Happy Christmas to everyone!

Winter Warmth

The sun might be out now, but if it does turn cold again at least we have a good pile of logs to keep us warm. We got the wood this week from a chap in the village called Joseph Expert, who by the way lives up to his name and is an expert in the Fléchettes group.

Winter Sunshine

After a long spell of cold, grey, grizzly “British” weather, we woke up today to a much better day. We headed off to the Med for a walk on the Plateau above Leucate and then along the beach. The sky was blue and the temperature was in double figures for the first time in 4 weeks. What the photograph doesn’t show is the Tramontane wind, which was blowing fiercely.

Congratulations!

I don’t usually write about things that have happened to family members but for once I would like to make an exception. I would like to congratulate our daughter Sally and Duncan on their engagement which they announced this weekend!

Wee Furry Beasties - The Follow Up

After about 10 days, our humane trap in the attic wasn’t having much success so unfortunately we decided something more drastic would be needed. We weren’t going to put poison down because if the creature left the loft and then was eaten by a cat, the cat would suffer as well. Plus we didn’t want it rotting in the attic. We bought 2 very strong rat traps, so now we had 3 traps up there. Nothing caught after a week but a couple of days ago we found a dead lérot. Richard checked again today and bingo, the humane trap had something in. When we looked closer, the beast in question was a rat. We took the cage down the road and released him in the ruisseau. I hope that he doesn’t return.

I do wish that the lérot had managed to find this trap!