Bonjour,
Hope you had a great week.
I’m sitting in my pigsty office, where it’s toasty warm (it’s a tiny room so it’s easy to heat up!) looking at the pansies growing in my vertical wall garden in the courtyard. They’re still flowering even though they’re covered in snow. Actually, everything is covered in snow here which is the cause of much moaning in the village.
I always thought Brits were the most obsessed lot when it comes to banging on about the weather. We seem to be in permanent shock that it’s either “too hot”, “too cold”, “the wrong kind of snow”, “too much rain”. I am constantly surprised to find that French people are just as bad, in fact, they are possibly worse! This week I’ve seen Jean-Claude every morning and our chats start the same way: “Cold out here isn’t it” he says. I resist the temptation to say “yup, it’s winter”.
We chat for a while outside his little farmhouse, it’s shutters firmly closed against the chill. My dogs slide up and down the hill outside and run amok while we talk about how we hope the sun comes back soon. Secretly, I don’t mind the weather like this. I love to sit in front of the log fire at night, a glass of red wine, reading a book or watching telly (I’m working my way through Lucifer and Game of Thrones).
Then Jean-Claude runs through a litany of disasters caused by the bad weather. So and so fell off the step and hurt herself clearing the snow away, Madame Lepont phoned the Mayor to insist that the roads be cleared so she could get to work this morning, Julien the farmer skidded in his tractor clearing the roads at the insistence of the Mayor. I smile as he chats on, thinking to myself how very lucky we are if these are the only winter problems we get here in this very quiet part of France…
Next week I am off to Paris, where apparently it will not be snowing! Come with me via Instagram (I’ll post as I go – from the Paris Opera, Fouquet’s restaurant and the Philarmonie de Paris)…
Wishing you a very bon weekend,
Bisous from France,
Janine
Editor
ps I’m delighted to have made someone happy this week by emailing Dee Cottingham that she has won a week for 2 in a gorgeous gite in Carcassonne!
pps Last shout out to David Wingfield who won return tickets on DFDS. I’ve emailed several times – if I don’t hear by end of next week, I’ll do a redraw.
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