December

Blue sky, autumn leaves, a balmy temperature of 14C. It must be mid-December in the Languedoc. Also a choir rehearsal weekend -- it's always sunny when you have to be shut up indoors all weekend. I took this while lost looking for the new rehearsal location, and I don't have anything else to offer today.

This morning we said farewell to our épicier, Jean-François. He only opened the shop 18 months ago, but sadly severe eyesight problems mean he has had to give up and hand over to someone else. The shop is remarkably well-stocked and run for such a small village, and J-F is such a kind and helpful person that people travel from other villages to use it.

The mayor organised an apero (of course) for the handover, and there was a large turnout. J-F had prepared a speech, written on a piece of paper. There were long pauses while he struggled to read it, and also struggled with emotion. It was really sad; throughout the speech you could feel the waves of sympathy from his audience and he got a long and warm ovation at the end. The new épicier is young, enthusiastic, and very smiley; hopefully J-F's legacy will live on. Although Yann probably won't call every female customer under the age of 70 ma biche :)