Winter has arrived and Christmas is near….

The daytime temperature has dropped to 6 deg C and it’s zero at night so it must be winter. It is already colder than the last two winters here so not sure what to expect for January and February. 

even the bar on the corner gets the treatment

the lights are actually 'twinkling'

the commune has decorated our house for us..(ours is on the right)

The Christmas lights now decorate the streets at night and the shops are full of Christmas food – chocolate, foie gras, champagne- and on Christmas eve it will be oysters everywhere.

Enjoyed a long lunch today with our french language group for Christmas. Good food and good company – what more could one ask for.

Then off to a wine sale at one of the local co-operatives. It’s the first day and so, so popular even though it’s a work day. Well, you know the french and their wine. People were double parking outside and stressing over the few available trolleys – after all you can’t get all those boxes to your car in the rain without a trolley.

everyone is happy to queue for their wine

The queue for the checkouts was long and moving very slowly which just gave us more time to chat with friends that we had bumped into – as you do.  No rush here as everyone takes time over decisions, lots of tasting and discussing  the comparative merits of each choice.

a little taste anyone ?

just a tiny sample - there are two rooms full

just a little restocking of the cellar, back tomorrow for the rest

One more visit to the Saturday morning market tomorrow and off to a Christmas party in the evening. Then finish packing and we are off to Aus for Christmas with family and friends. It will be our first visit since the big move so looking forward to lots of catching up, but not to the hot weather.

We don't expect to be posting while we are en vacance , so....

Joyeux Noël à tous nos amis