Bastile Day

As we had been to the last two Fête Nationionale celebrations in our village, we decided to see what happened in Carcassonne on 14th July. After the speech and placing of the gerbes. a real band played La Marseillaise rather than a recording. There were representatives of many organisations based in the town, police, gendarme, the 3rd RPIMA and youth groups amongst many others and afterwards they were acknowledged by the dignitaries. It was very impressive.

In the evening we visited friends who live in a beautiful house on the Malepère hills. They have a most wonderful view of the Montages Noire and Carcassonne and the plan was to watch the fireworks from the Cité. We went last year and unfortunately the wind was blowing in the wrong direction and after the initial burst all we could see was smoke! Last night was superb. It was lovely wining and dining on the terrace whilst watching an amazing display.

Thank you Kate and Jim for a fantastic evening.

Paëlla and Fireworks

After a hot and sunny week, the weather has changed over the last few days. Following a thunderstorm overnight on Friday, it kept raining for most of the day on Saturday so we spent a lot of time watching the Test Match from a sunny Lords.

Fortunately, the weather was better on Sunday, as we went to a Paëlla Dinner in the village square followed by fireworks. It was a very simple but lovely meal with plenty of wine flowing.

Just before 11 o’clock everyone started to walk to the site where the fireworks were be lit. All the children carried Chinese lanterns with a lit candle inside. The whole procession was very impressive.

The fireworks were quite a spectacle. They shot into the sky and cascaded over the field. It is amazing that a relatively small village can put on such a superb show.

Sunflowers

Today is 1st July, so obviously the Sunflowers have come out. The temperature is 31 degrees and there is a beautiful warm Marin wind blowing. We must be living in the South of France.

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.

Summer has started

For all of May and most of June, the weather has been awful. Finally on Wednesday the skies cleared to beautiful blue and summer started. Places and people take on a cheerier aspect and body language. Both the air and the pool have reached over 30 degrees and the forecast looks good for the next 10 days at least.

Richard has tried to continue with the painting but when it is this warm, either the paint or he is in the sun, and it not good for either. (We shouldn’t complain I suppose)

This morning we went to Carcassonne market and had a little more luck parking than last week. It was lovely walking round Place Carnot with all the stalls selling colourful fruit, vegetables and flowers. The smells from the herb and spice stalls were also quite intoxicating.

May the weather continue!

Sally's Visit

On Wednesday afternoon, I popped down to Carcassonne Airport to pick up our daughter, Sally, who was coming to stay with us for a few days. I went on my own as Richard was up to his elbows in paint. (He has begun to paint the outside of the house, a task which will be a bit like the Forth Bridge) Sally was a little disappointed that 4:30 was too early for a G. and T.! She would have to wait.

On Thursday, after the statutory paper and baguette buying, we had a coffee at our café in the village, meeting and greeting the regular customers. The afternoon was spent sitting by the pool, finishing the crossword and reading. At 23 degrees, the pool was still a little cool for Sally to test the water.

We decided that we needed to do a little exercise before dinner, so we drove to Villarzel du Razès, where there is a sanglier and deer reserve. It was amazing to see both the boar and the deer walking up to the fence to meet us. Photos had to be taken and sent to Duncan, Sally’s partner, who is serving in Afghanistan at the moment until October.

Friday’s forecast was good so we headed to Gruissan which is on the Med for a lovely lunch. Our intention was to spend the afternoon on the beach, but after being sand-blasted for a while, we decided to come home.

Saturday was another sunny day and as the pool reached 25 degrees, Sally went in the water the quick way.

On Sunday, there was another vide-grenier in the village, so before we set off to the airport, we walked around to see what was there. We resisted the 2 month old kitten which was being given away. We didn’t think that our 12 year old cat would be very impressed if we brought him home.

I hope that Matt Beake and Sally’s other colleagues, will still follow our adventures after she leaves the BBC on Friday. Good luck with the new job.