The End of a Season

Saturday was the last day of the 2009-2010 season of Les Fléchettes de la Malepère and to celebrate this, there was a tournament in the afternoon and a meal in the evening. Le tournoi was open to everyone, not just club members, and 32 people with ages ranging from 10 to 90 competed!

Gradually as the games progressed, players were eliminated and a winner was found. Albane Montagné beat the othe 3 finalists with a fantastic 2 dart finish.

The evening began with the presentation of trophies. Finalists and semi-finalists of the afternoon's tournament, all received a trophy and so did the winners of the regular club-night
season.

Gérard Baidal received his trophy for winning the most points this season. Albane won the most points for the ladies this year.

The repas began with the usual apéritif with dancing to a wide range of music between the courses. It is lovely to see the older children looking after the little ones, all having a lovely time.

I would like to thank Thierry Strittmatter and his team for organgising a super day to finish the season.

Roll on the Petanque season......

Soggy Moggy

Just as we were going to bed last night, a very wet cat came in (and it wan't raining). Bruno had fallen in the pool! We don't know what happened but we could trace the evidence from the pool to the house.

I do hope he won't try it again once we put the pool cover on today.

Swimming Cats!

Ever since we have aquired our kittens, Bruno has been fascinated with water, dripping taps, puddles, in fact anything.

Today we have opened up the pool and this is going to create a whole new adventure for him. I wonder if he will ever become a swimming cat?

Around and About

The fourth covering of snow of the winter has finally gone. Let's hope that it was the last and spring can finally begin.

For those of you who do not know Arzens (and also for those of you who do), I have included a link from Google Maps which shows you around parts of our village. Click on the A and select "Street View". By clicking, dragging and moving along the line it is possible to see different views. If you want to see other parts of the village, click and drag the yellow "pegman" in the small map insert.


I hope that you enjoy looking around Arzens.

Snow in Arzens

Icicles hang from M. et Mme Gol's house.

Skiers in the vineyards

Bruno enjoying the snow


A very snowy garden

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.

The Hand of Henry

You may find this amusing and addictive.