And Then There Was Light!

Gosh, what a weekend! We woke up on Saturday morning to strong winds, but that isn't surprising around here. Gradually as the morning went on, the wind got stronger causing the occasional trip in the electricity which took out the computer (very annoying). By 12 noon we had no power and the winds were very strong. Whilst we were having lunch there was an almighty crash on the roof and yes, the chimney had fallen down, smashing roof tiles. From the loft hatch we could see daylight! We called the insurance help line who asked us if we needed a hotel room.Fortunately that wasn't necessary so they gave us the phone number of a company who could provide a tarpaulin to cover the hole. As no one was there we left a message and went on to Plan B.

We decided to visit Jean-Jacques, a councillor who lives on our road and can speak English for some advice. He wasn't at home but at the Mairie with all the other councillors helping the villagers who had problems, cutting up fallen trees, clearing roads, organising builders to help with repairs. They even gave Richard a bâche, a cover, to go over the hole in the roof until someone could fix it. The team work in the village was amazing! Before Richard had even arrived home, word had got to a local builder who turned up to assess the situation. he went away and returned with the necessary equipment. Within 2 hours of the chimney collapsing, the hole had been covered securely. I was very impressed.

As the power was still off on Sunday morning, Jean-Jacques turned up and asked if we needed a generator to get the fridge and freezer cold again. We could borrow it for 2 hours before passing it on to the next person who needed it. This too was provided by the Mairie.

Power was finally restored on our road after 3 days! The rest of the village were back to normal after 1 day but unfortunately we have some very large trees that had taken down the power cables. Apparently at one point, 90% of the Aude department was without power.

Things are slowly getting back to normal but until we get our satellite dish up we will have to rely on the computer for the news and radio.

Getting Up Early

Would you believe that I have been asked to change my "tooth hurty" dental appointment to 9:30 tomorrow!

The Beginning of a New Year

All the Christmas and New Year festivities have finished and everything is back to normal. The sales have started here but without the frenzy that seems to happen in the UK. The dates of the sales are organised by the Minister of the Economy and not the individual shops. On 7th December it was declared that the sales would start on the first Wednesday of January. Each prefect of the departments would decide whether they would last 4, 5, or 6 weeks.

The weather over the last month has been terrible. We have had snow on several days, rain, freezing fog and days when the temperature hasn’t got above -3 degrees. It was a good job we managed to get our wood supply in time!

Although Epiphany is 6th January, the French seem to celebrate with gateaux throughout the month of January. Last Friday at Fléchettes, galettes des rois and bottles of Cider and Blanquette were provided and much appreciated too.

After the Randonneurs walk on Tuesday 3 galettes des rois and bottles of cider were produced. It was very pleasant eating and drinking in the late evening sunshine.

The tradition actually dates back to the 14th century. It is an ancient festival which celebrates the 3 kings who brought gifts to Jesus, soon after he was born.

A ’fève’ (*originally a bean but now tends to be a plastic trinket) is baked inside the cake and the cake is shared around the table. Whoever receives the fève is then crowned king or queen for the day.

The Queens on this occasion were France, Jo and myself!