Yes, it's definitely been extremely cold. But, according to the gossip amongst ex-pats and local French alike, we are being told that it is much colder than normal for this time of year. Apparently, the low temperatures we have been having are more typical for January than the end of November/early December (and then only for a few days). So, it seems we have been freezing our butts off in an atypically cold winter here. Still, the sun has been shining, its been day after day of clear blue skies, and we haven't had any rain in weeks (in fact we've only had about three days of rain since we returned from Provence in September). The days really have been pretty magical, with snow on Canigou as the backdrop to our view from Céret.
Regardless of the cold, the council workers are still out in force by 8am each day. The job of blowing all the fallen leaves into piles and sweeping them up is a real mission, and there are still quite a few leaves left to fall from the trees. All the planter boxes have had a new round of geraniums planted in them, and they make a lovely show of colour. We have woven some red Xmas tinsel around our balcony rails to add a splash of colour to our own building.
The Christmas decorations are also up around town - lots of lights, lots of small real pine trees spraypainted white are tied up against rubbish bins, signposts and other street furniture around the main streets, shop windows are adorned with all things Christmassy and generally the place has a wintry Christmas glow to it. I'd love to get up to Montpellier or some bigger place to see their Christmas decorations but we might just run out of time before the 25th.
The days are racing by at a ridiculous speed. We are hoping to do a 2-3 day loop trip around the Foix/Ax-les-Thermes area towards the end of next week if we can. Everyone says it is just spectacular country, and you can also jump in the open air thermal pools in the main street of Ax-les-Thermes. There is also the odd Cathar castle we would love to check out while in the area.
We are keeping up our long walks and are just back today from a short walk (2 hours) from Le Perthus on the nearby border with Spain to Fort de Bellegarde. The fort is extremely large. It sits right up on the ridge between France and Spain, above where the large viaduct now funnels traffic between the two countries. It saw plenty of action when the border was disputed between France and Spain over the last four centuries.
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| Fort de Bellegarde, looking from the military quarters |
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| Looking down on the military quarters from the fort, and into Spain beyond |
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| Gorgeous watchtower nearby. The only access is by ladder into a high window you can see. |
Last Tuesday we had gone on another walk up our own valley. We peeled off the valley floor at Amelie-les-Bains and walked straight up (emphasis on the 'straight' and the 'up') a track and arrived an hour and a half later at the gorgeous little village of Montbolo high on the side of the valley. Its one and only restaurant/bar was open so we plopped down in a chair in the sun outside and supped a very welcome glass of red vine (or two). The manageress came out and had a chat. She is a Catalonian, born in a village nearer to the coast but had lived in England for nearly 30 years. She came back here when in her late 40s and now runs the only commercial outlet in this little village. It's a beautiful place, with a permanent population of perhaps 200. We will be sure to visit it again and book in for a lunch at her place. After a great chat we set off back down hill and back to the car. Yet another really interesting and different kind of walk.
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| Montbolo, looking down to the plains of Roussillon |
With the walk we did today, plus the walk on Tuesday and the big walk up to the tower last weekend, we are definitely getting into the habit of doing long walks. It is just too hard to stay inside for more than a few days at a time when the skies are so gorgeous. I even went for a run last week, though well togged up.
Having said that, when we are home we are both working pretty hard. John has had lots of work on, though thankfully not the really stressful changes to databases like he had been implementing the week before. Last week we went to a new Norwegian friend's (Siri) place for apero, where we met another Norwegian (Mariane) who is also a permanent resident here. Last Sat we had apero with an English woman (Liz) we have met and who had lived in NZ for many years. She has now been a resident of Céret for the last 13 years and intends to live here fore the rest of her life. Siri was also at Liz's for the evening and we will be having all three friends around to our place this Tuesday. We all go our separate ways from next week onwards for Xmas (Siri to Norway, Mariane to live in South America for 3 months), Liz to NZ for 3 weeks and John and I to Barcelona for 3 days with Alastair before coming back to Céret. We also had coffee during the week at Bar Pablo with one of the French couples we have got to know so we feel as though we are 'mixing it' quite well at the moment. Our first French friends have just rung and asked us to come to dinner when Alastair is with us. They are keen to meet him.
The photo below shows the typical damage done by sangliers (wild pigs) rooting in the hillsides. We have seen this everywhere on our walks, some very very close to the edges of towns or villages, and many very fresh. There must be a massive sanglier population around here, even with the annual 'La Chasse' when every man and his dogs head into the hills to hunt them down.
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| Ground dug up by sangliers |
More news - yesterday was also a goodie because we sold the scooter. We've had it advertised in the French version of classified ads and have had lots of nibbles but every one fell through without anybody actually arriving in Céret to see the bike. However, the guy who turned up yesterday came up trumps and went away a happy fellow. We now have cash in hand instead of a scooter in much need of a good home. It's been really odd how the French don't bother to follow up, and won't even respond to emails or texts asking if they are still coming. Face to face, or in cars, they are so polite.
