Friday 2nd January

The weather had been damned cold.  And by the looks of it back in England too.  Well what did you expect – it’s Winter.  But we have been down the last two years and it was a lot milder.  We have had frost on the rooftops and even some ice on the river Dropt.  Add to that a quite biting wind and you have a very cold mix.  But even though it has been sub-zero most days there has been no rain, and so no snow either, just brilliant sunshine, which when you stand in it for a few seconds lifts the spirits.  No-one really minds cold weather s long as it is dry and clear.  The weather we hate is the stuff we get most Winters in England, rain, rain and more rain.  Cold, wet and overcast, that is the weather we usually get most years.

Last Christmas Day we were sitting outside the Café de Paris drinking hot mulled wine with no coats on at all, but now we are wrapped up in four or even five layers.   Bit still I would rather be here than back in London.  We were invited by some rather wealthy but not at all ostentatious French friends we met a year ago to have drinks with them on New Year’s Eve.  They are developing the Moulin over the river and have rented a gite just outside of town.  We met Anni and two of her daughters and assorted husbands, cousins and their children.  They are scattered all over the world, in South Africa, Cameroon, Corsica and Paris.  One husband works for the World Bank, helping developing countries in Africa, a cousin works for an Aviation company in Perigeux specializing in Aerial photography and the children were all multilingual and polite.  As they all spoke excellent English we had a good chat and drank champagne and felt really accepted by the French at last.

We had to leave early as we were also invited by some of our English friends in Eymet to a New Year’s Eve party, with lots of food and drink culminating in a lovely Paella.  At 11.30 we left for the square and had hot mulled wine and crepes before the fireworks above the Chateau.  And despite the very cold weather we had a lovely time and were back home again to watch Jools Holland bring in the New Year an hour later on the BBC.  Fantastique.