Spring and official mug shots

The sun is out and spring is clearly springing out all over Cruzy. The bland cement pots on the bridge are full of the colours of the season. The new cement paving over the bridge is big improvement over the loose stones which have been negotiating each day on route to the boulangerie. Along with the new flowers this spring, comes the new candidates for the local mayoral elections all over France.

To ensure true equality during the elections each party is allocated exactly the same amount of billboard space, alas, those in power have an A3 printer, and those seeking the keys to the office... do not. Those in power used their passport photos for their publicity and manage to look like mug shots rather than people viying for power, with the other side opting for a "family shot".

The old gard are predominantly vineyard owners and those knocking at the door have mixed backgrounds. Word on the street is that the old guard may win the day as many of the manifesto pledges of the other side have already been implemented, if not yet delivered, by the current administrators. The networking and campaigning has been rather gentle with most activity taking place at the village bingo or at the local bar.

On Sunday the 9th and all will be revealed.

Spring

Spring is in the air and the flowers are beginning to show off.

We uprooted a number of plants over the summer and dumped them into our composter, thinking they would breakdown and disappear. How wrong we were. Our compost pile is the best part of the garden with hyacinths and daffodils shooting out all over the place. You can hardly spot the rotting cabbage or old tea leaves.

The fields of vineyards are full of colour too, but none of it from the vines. The fields are full of white flowers, we have no idea if they are weeds or planted to help the vines. The fields look like they are covered in snow from a distance as the flowers are everywhere. Its all rather pretty.

With some friends, we walked along the Canal Du Midi to a point where the canal floats over a river - its very cleaver engineering. We took our camera and managed to capture 20 images, mainly of ducks on the canal, all looking to be fed.

The courtyard got is spring clean, with Alan shooting up the trees like Tarzan to crop of branches to allow the light to bounce around the yard. We were a little more server that we intended to be, but we get to see a great deal more sky as a result.

With two friends over from London, we had an excuse to visit Montpellier again and for the first time, visited the little village of Lagrasse.
http://www.le-guide.com/lagrasse/index.html
The road from Carcassonne to Lagrasse was very picturesque and it is a rather nice little village, which is popular in the summer. Our friends kept asking us where all the people were. It was half term here in France, but not a sign of a tourist... just us.

With all the restaurants and shops closed in February, we had to make our own entertainment. This month we met a lot of new people living it the area, and we intend to take them all up on their invitations to drop in as we pass through their villages.