It’s interesting to find out what happens around here in the run up to Christmas. Our village, despite being what some might describe as a one horse town, has acquired the reputation of being a centre for blues music and has held regular blues concerts for the last 30 years. When the most recent one was advertised we decided to see what it was about and booked tickets. The event is seated and it’s also possible to request a seat around a small bistro table. We’re used to French concerts starting later than the advertised time so we were expecting a lot of hanging around. However most people were in the hall by the time we arrived and shown to our table and the concert started only 5 minutes late. We were seated next to two French men who had each travelled some distance – one from an hour and a half away – and it’s not surprising because the quality of the musicians and music, mainly from the USA, was excellent. We were surprised how quickly 5 hours passed and would definitely attend again.
Something we didn’t know about is the sale of calendars by public sector workers to raise funds for charity. First to appear with one was our post lady, Caroline. If there is post that will fit in the ‘regulation’ post box at the end of our drive, we may spot her van pulling up and leaving the post there. All post boxes have to be of a standard type that conforms to French La Poste requirements and for which the post lady has a master key to leave smaller parcels. For larger parcels, or where a signature is required, Caroline comes up the drive and sounds the horn to alert us of her arrival. A few weeks ago she asked if we would buy a calendar – there is no fixed price, you just make a contribution of however much you want. We had a choice of designs ranging from fluffy kittens to scenes of different parts of France. About a week ago, on a Sunday evening, another van came up the drive with two of the local sapeurs-pompiers, the French emergency services. Romain, another local resident and relative of the mayor, and Berengère, a paramedic nurse, arrived in uniform and proudly showed us their photos in the rather more interesting calendar. We figured that these are definitely people you should keep in with, so a contribution was made.
Talking of people coming up the drive, another vehicle arrived two mornings ago and the occupants started chatting with Joe who had been working in the barn. Some bits were lost in translation, and as we had been awaiting a visit regarding some works we’re sorting out, Joe called up ‘There’s some witnesses here for you’ as he invited them in to the house. We quickly ascertained they were Jehovah’s Witnesses, so we played the ‘not speaking very much French’ card so as not to prolong their visit!
It feels like most of the villages nearby have been holding Christmas markets on the last two weekends. Most are small affairs, held indoors in the local salles des fetes with local artisans displaying their handicrafts. Others are small-scale outdoor markets. We may not have reindeer in our village but Christmas cart rides for local children were provided courtesy of a local farmer and his bull. On the other side of the Lot river the local French classic car and bike group had their last meet-up of the year on a very frosty Sunday morning. Joe’s Harley is tucked up for the winter so we went in the car and Joe was able to practice some French with fellow enthusiasts.
Another event to get us into the Christmas spirit was a choral concert staged by a choir based in a nearby village. The choir has members of various nationalities, including a couple of people in our walking group, and the music reflected that variety. The concert was held in the village church at Roquecor which is not heated during the winter. Fortunately we had been warned, so had dressed appropriately for the low temperature. The singers were not wrapped up quite as much and we could see their breath as they sang. At least it was upbeat and brief.
The walnuts we harvested in October have been washed and drying for a few weeks so I started to think about how we might use some up. The first job is to shell them without destroying the kernels. When we visited our near neighbour after the Jeep ‘incident’, Jean-Louis, the retired farmer was shelling some of his own walnut harvest using a very heavy duty vice like implement. We’ve bought a heavy duty nut cracker which shells the nuts pretty well but not as beautifully as Jean-Louis’s kernels. I wanted to make a nut tart but am not so keen on the very sweet tarts where the kernels are covered in a caramel or toffee like sauce so I found a recipes for a lighter, cake like tart made with ground walnuts and tried it out on a couple of local friends with home-made mulled wine. I’m going to need to go to commercial scale baking to go anyway towards using up all the nuts!
If you’re reading this we wish you a very Happy Christmas and exciting adventures for 2024.