It doesn’t seem two weeks ago that it was impossible to drive along our road because of the snow. It was beautiful to see the countryside covered in a white blanket but it was treacherous to walk on. Our two kittens loved it, Bruno in particular. They chased the snowflakes and ploughed the snow into snowballs.

As our cats love climbing, we had a dilemma this year whether to buy a real Christmas tree or an artificial one. We opted for the latter and it was probably a good choice as we have had to retrieve Bruno from the top many times. He has even taken a liking to chewing the fairy lights!

Christmas has been busy with the usual Christmas preparations, parties and apéros. Our daughter Sally was able to join us for a few days at Christmas as Duncan was away with his regiment.

Carcassonne has again been holding La Magie de Noël. Since we have been here we have never ventured on the Grande Roue. As Sunday was such a glorious day, we decided to give it a go. It was absolutely fantastic. We could see the snow covered Pyrenees in the distance and the castle walls of the Cité.

2009 is finally coming to an end. We have had another lovely year in France. I hope that 2010 holds as much excitement, the highlight of which will be Sally and Duncan’s wedding in the summer.


I would like to wish everyone a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year! May 2010 be a good one.

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.

What a Cracking Game!

What a cracking game!

This was the first match we had been to this season as most of the home games don’t start until 7:30 and we prefer to settle down for dinner at that time. This match began at 5:00 against the local rivals, Limoux. Carcassonne finished the first half just behind 6-8. They had obviously had had a good talking to during the break because they all came out fighting (not literally). There were tries for both teams and with 2 minutes to go Limoux were ahead 32-28. Carcassonne then scored a try to tie the scores 32-32. Could Banquet convert it? It was a hard kick. The spectators stood with bated breath. IT WENT OVER!! The whistle went.

Carcassonne had won 34-32.

Portes Ouvertes - Day Two

In my last blog I half jested that I hoped the troops weren’t using live bullets. Unfortunately yesterday someone made a terrible mistake with awful consequences

Portes Ouvertes

If you are into young men in uniform, you will enjoy the Open Days at the 3rd RPIMA Barracks this weekend. The event started with the signing of a twinning charter between the 3rd RPIMA and the town of Carcassonne. This was supposed to start at 11:00am, and in true military precision, it did, on the dot. The ceremonial ribbon was cut by the Maire, Gérard Larrat and Colonel Merveilleux du Vignaux,

After that, the soldiers gave demonstrations of battle techniques. The display began with the Haka which made the men look quite menacing.

Next was a “battle” between soldiers who had arrived in an armoured personnel carrier and an “enemy outpost”. Even though they were firing blanks (I hope) the noise of the gun fire was amazing and quite made the hairs on the back of the neck stand on end. They demonstrated how the soldiers dealt with the prisoners and any wounded soldiers.

The final display was how a team of soldiers approached a building which contained a man who was being held captive. The whole presentation was very well performed.

We walked around the barrack courtyard which had a wide range of military vehicles and equipment. It was possible to go up in a helicopter, have a parachute jump or even be driven around the town in an armoured vehicle. There was an opportunity to shoot at a firing range and there were lots of fun things for the children to do.

There were many other displays programmed for the afternoon and Sunday which also looked exciting.


It was a very interesting event.