Happy New Mayor

One of January’s highlights (mainly because there aren’t many) is the Cérémonié des Voeux held by the Mairie.  This is where they present their best wishes for the New Year and invite us to share a ‘moment of sharing and exchange’.  No it’s not one of ‘those’ evenings (the village hall is far too cold!) but there is food and wine, so we went.

There seemed to be a particularly good turnout this year and our village is increasing in population every year so it is always good to see the arrival of young families but, as ever, perhaps 70 - 80% of the people there were over 70 or 80 years old.  

The evening started as it always does, with the microphone not working, then working at 70 decibels with a cacophony of static and feedback, and then at last all was sorted and our new Madame Mayor could begin her welcome speech.  She gave us a review of what she had spent our taxes on last year, and what she was going to spend them on this year, and then thanked her team for helping her spend our money.  (To be fair, the village now has an excellent new school, revamped ‘youth club’ and a new washbasin in the village hall so they seem to be doing a good job).  

This was followed by a tribute to somebody called Helène who had just retired from the primary school.  After several false starts when we saw what seemed to be the entire contents of somebody’s personal computer, a video was projected on a screen and we watched pupils and ex-pupils delivering messages of thanks and appreciation. We all applauded at the end, expecting to see the obviously much loved Helène arrive to receive a handshake and a bouquet of flowers from the Mayor.  But nothing happened.

And finally it was the moment we had all been waiting for - Madame the Mayor announc
ed the end of the formal part of the evening and invited us all to participate in the ‘glass of friendship’.  It seemed only natural that we ‘young ones’ helped to stack the chairs vacated by the ‘old ones’.  Big mistake.  This gave them a head start towards the buffet and despite their age they all seemed capable of moving at very high speed and surrounded the tables like a flock of greedy seagulls.

There was some food left by the time we got there and it was delicious.  In previous years there were perhaps a few crisps, dried up bits of meat, tepid wine, but this year there was a wonderful spread of mini canapés, charcuterie, terrine, bread etc and lots of bottles of wine from the local Cave - and not the cheap stuff either, but the ‘La Reserve’!  And just when it looked as if the food was nearly finished, the ‘Galettes des Rois’ arrived (the traditional frangipane pastry cakes), which meant that the flock of seagulls immediately surrounded the tables again. And to accompany this, they produced bottles of excellent sparkling wine.  

Unfortunately, thanks to Brexit, I am no longer allowed to vote in local elections but if I could, this Mayor would definitely be re-elected - if only for her excellent choice in ‘refreshments’.

Integration, Integration, Integration

Many people who dream of moving to france talk of wanting to live in a village where they can integrate, make friends and become part of the community.  It can definitely be done and I have just experienced the sort of weekend which proves it:

On Friday evening I experienced my first “Ceremonie des Voeux du Nouvel An”.  This is an annual event held in the village hall to welcome the new inhabitants and the new babies.  There are now 1100 inhabitants of this village and it seemed that everybody had turned up.  The Mayor gave one of the longest ‘short’ speeches I have ever heard, accompanied by a powerpoint presentation on a large screen behind him, outlining their spending budget for the forthcoming year and showing photos of last year’s purchases – the highlight of which appeared to be a shiny new street sweeping machine. The majority of the audience managed to stay awake, mainly thanks to the small children hurtling around the room and the screams of disgruntled babies.  There was then a roll-call of all the new babies and they (and their parents!) were invited up on stage and presented with a young olive tree to be planted in their gardens – a lovely gesture I thought.  We all then applauded and the babies, startled by the noise, burst into tears again.  The Mayor then announced that the meeting would be concluded with an ‘apero’ and within seconds we had all stacked our chairs, tables were laid out with quiches, cakes, sweets and wine – and within nano-seconds the elderly widows of the village began filling their faces and handbags with as much as they could carry!  I started talking to a gentleman who had been introduced as one of the new inhabitants of the village, who just happens to be English too, but before we had a chance to chat we were inundated with locals who were fascinated to talk to us and all wanting to try out their version of English – and I left with an invitation to visit an elderly  couple who want to practice their language skills. 

On Saturday afternoon I went for a walk in the vineyards with my neighbour – a lovely lady who manages to look ‘chic’ even dressed in walking boots.  The word ‘walk’ may be a bit of an exaggeration as we spent most of the time sitting on a grassy bank on the corner of the vineyard enjoying the sunshine and chatting – much to the dog’s frustration.  We went back to her house for tea with her husband and I had my first experience of the Galette des Rois.  This is a cake made of puff pastry with a frangipane filling and is a tradition for Epiphany – it contains a small ‘favour’ and whoever gets the slice with the favour in it is King or Queen for the day and gets to wear the paper crown that is sold with the cake.  Sadly/luckily none of us won that day but there was plenty of Galette left and I keep expecting to see JC or Francoise wearing a crown in their garden one day.

And finally, on Sunday morning the dog and I were on our usual ten minute stroll to the village to buy the bread and we fell into step beside a lady who was also on her way there and although it was only a short trip, by the time we reached the bakery we had exchanged life stories.  We stopped off at her house on the way back (which just happens to be for sale) and she showed me all around it and even offered to look after the dog if ever I needed help.  During our conversation I mentioned how pleased I was that everybody in the village seemed so friendly and that I had been a bit nervous about moving to such a Catalan village as they might not have welcomed English people and she mentioned that actually she thought there was another English couple who lived just up the road and she had heard that they were nice; I was baffled at first and we went through the list of who lived in the houses further along and then I realised, she was talking about my husband and me!    

New Year, New Resolutions!

One of my many resolutions this year is to get to grips with this blog. I started with the intention of providing regular, informative, informal updates based on my experiences of France, the French, life in general and the property market in particular but last year I got side-tracked by the purchase of a new house and I’m ashamed to see that my last posting was in October!

And talking of being side-tracked, as I sat down to write this I started playing with the ‘tools’ on the website instead and found this new widget where readers can subscribe to receive updates by email – so here it is, at the top right-hand corner! I would love as many people as possible to subscribe – and it will encourage me to write more often (and hopefully with better content!)

Finally, the main reason for writing today is to mention that next weekend is The France Show at Earl’s Court, London. “You can expect top-notch tutored wine tastings, inspirational cookery demonstrations, a lively French market and live music to indulge your love of France. Get information on buying property, learning the language, holiday ideas and hear about real life experiences of relocation in our enlightening talks. Those interested in making the move to France will love browsing through the thousands of properties for all budgets in the UK’s largest French property exhibition. There will be so much to see and do at the show that one day there may not be enough!” (OK, I pinched the last bit from their website at www.thefranceshow.com but as I see they are using an article I wrote (albeit buried on page 2 of the property section) I am sure they won’t mind!). I’ll be on the FrenchEntree stand on Friday 13^th & Saturday 14^th Jan and look forward to saying hello to anybody who is passing.

Happy 2012 - and don't forget to subscribe!