Radio 4’s Tweet of the Day which chooses a birdsong to talk about was this morning about the starling so, as I did my exercises, I listened to David Attenborough talking about the famous starling murmurations – huge numbers of starlings swooping around making fabulous patterns in the sky.  We’ve seen a lot of this each evening at dusk and marvelled at it.  One evening while Danny was here there was a particularly fabulous display right over our patio which we were raving about until we started to hear the gentle sound of bird poo hitting the paving slabs.  We ran inside to watch through the french windows and next morning it was a devil of a job to hose the patio and all the garden furniture down.  David Attenborough didn’t mention this slight downside to nature’s marvellous display!

A lovely mild, sunny day which we spend swanning about in our shirtsleeves.  We seemed to get a lot done today!

We did a supermarket shop at Intermarché  where notably the huge fresh fish counter was completely empty – obviously no one went fishing yesterday (New Year’s Day)

We did our third consecutive day’s circular walk from home up through the vineyards to the old church of Saint Simeon le Vieux.  The sunshine and views were splendid but also enjoyable is the dry ground – there just isn’t any mud in the south of France!  Our shoes are clean, the bikes are clean and the we hardly recognise the Volvo without its usual winter coating of Cotswold grime.

After lunch, Derek drove me round the cycle route he and Danny had been doing last week – up through Caux, Roujan, Neffiès over La Rouquette and back via Fontes.  Wow!!  It is a fabulous route with winding hairpin bends and glorious views.  We saw quite a few cyclists out enjoying the sunshine.

The reason Derek wasn’t cycling himself was that both his bikes needed a bit of TLC.  We had to return the yellow Cannondale we hired for Danny to the local bike shop Planète Vélos today so while we were there we asked the nice proprietor to look at Derek’s Trek and also the TriCross.  My French conversation skills struggled a bit to discuss technical bike matters but the chap was very patient and by 6pm we came away with two repaired bikes and not too large a bill.

Danny’s last day in Pezenas – early morning ride (20 miles) up La Roquette. Again the weather is fine and we decide to do the reverse climb. It’s excellent and we take a few photos. The run back from Caux was quick, taking it in turns to set the pace.

Lunch and then a good walk this afternoon.

The flight is a bit delayed but as I write Danny is now back in UK and driving back to Wimbledon.

Just a few of today’s photos.

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Oysters are on sale everywhere around here and Danny wanted to try them so we went for lunch at Meze on the Bassin de Thau.  The restaurant was very busy but we got a table in the sunshine and Danny tried oysters and bulots (whelks) while Derek and I played safe with salades aux crevettes.  For main course, Derek stuck to his favourite moules frites while Danny and I had some sort of whitebait.  It was a lovely long relaxed lunch though we were quite cold sitting outside by mid afternoon when the sun disappeared behind clouds.  A quick stroll around the harbour warmed us up before heading home for a cuppa.

The day’s other highlights included a visit to Nouri-Bio, the organic supermarket and the usual evening visit to the café and boulangerie.  Danny’s verdict on oysters – unimpressed, sadly.

December 29th – our second visit to see MHR

After a long Sunday morning ride (35 miles), we return to shower and eat and then head to Montpellier to see the game against Biarritz.

There are some big names on show – Harinordoquy, Yachvili, Trin-Duc, Nicholas Mas, and a few exiles – Jim Hamilton, Magnus Lund, Aled Brue and Takudzwa Ngwenya.

The weather is again excellent for fast open play and the game doesn’t disappoint. Lots of excitement, numerous tries and a great atmosphere in the stadium.  Barb even gets to do a Mexican Wave for the second time in her life!

We are even treated to a great view of Jim Hamilton’s bum in the closing minutes as they go for driving maul to secure 50 points.  Sadly the maul is pulled down – as were Jim’s shorts.

Back home via the tram and peage – we are all tired but still manage more food and a few beers!

Danny’s week here over Christmas has involved a lot of gadding about, a LOT of cycling and loads more cooking and eating.  It’s been lovely having him here and he’s told us all about his new job and living in Wimbledon.  He and Derek are off this morning doing their longest bike ride (a Sunday morning tradition) on what is a cool but sunny morning here in Pézenas.  This afternoon we are off to a rugby game – Montpellier v Biarritz at 5pm.

We’ve had some lovely walks and bike rides this week, including all three of us cycling along the beach path from Marseillan-Plage in the sunshine.  Danny also likes a walk down to Café des Arts for an evening beer or two before supper – good for people-watching and enjoying the Christmas lights.  He and Derek are getting to be regulars and now get free peanuts!

Danny flies home at 7.20pm on New Year’s Eve – unfortunately back into Gatwick where there are no trains (suspended for engineering works) and so faces problems getting home to Wimbledon. It is looking as though Britt, having worked a 12 hour shift, might have to drive to Gatwick to fetch him!  At least they’ll be together to see the New Year in!

Plans for Danny’s last few days are to maybe have lunch in Meze and to revisit Valras Plage for a walk along the beach.  It will seem very quiet when he’s gone!

Picked up Danny from the airport yesterday. He flew in from Gatwick after a chaotic few hours hanging around the airport as they struggled to cope with the aftermath of the storm. Fortunately he was delayed just a few hours and arrived in Montpellier around 3pm.

Christmas Eve we walked into Pezenas, had a few beers and wandered around, people-watching and viewing all the goodies that had been ordered for late pick-up. There were turkeys roasting outside the charcuterie, seafood platters wrapped in cellophane, large flower table centre pieces and a vast array of breads, pastries and bûches de Noel.

Back at the house we feasted on Bouillabaisse washed down with Picpoul de Pinet and later ate copious amounts of chocolate.

Christmas morning – sunny, warm, calm. Off for a brief bike ride – Danny on his newly rented bright yellow Cannondale. Ace!

Late breakfast of smoked salmon & scrambled eggs and then off to the beach for a walk.

Lunch is a buffet spread of pork, cheese, pickles, bread and Champagne (plus more chocolate).

An afternoon of quizzing, more eating and drinking and preparing ourselves for turkey paella.

I’ll keep this brief – but today was just a lovely day.

I had a long bike ride this morning – 35 miles around Lake Peyne – just awesome.

This morning’s ride profile and today’s weather.

Lunch at home and then a trip to the beach.

Back home for tea and cake – a bit of cooking and then a quiet evening with some local red wine and masses of chocolate.

Beat that!

After a morning of emailing, cooking, hoovering and mopping, we set off in the afternoon for a 10k walk for which we had a map and description to help us.  It started in nearby Castelnau de Guers and we headed off with a pocket full of sweets (we’ve run out of murraymints so now have French arlequins instead) to keep us going.

Derek loves a well marked route and took boy-scoutish joy in finding the right path.  It was a good walk – lovely views, lots of Mediterranean terrain and flora, pine trees, grape vineyards and some interesting geological rock formations all to do with the nearby Hérault river.

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It rained today! so we decided to do our shopping and headed for Montpellier’s out of town shopping area – Odysseum.  The biggest store there is IKEA so we did ‘the walk round’ and managed to find the placemats and garlic press that we were after as well as some festive red serviettes and some nutcrackers.  We had a salad and sandwich lunch at La Brioche Dorée, mooched about a bit and then entered the wonderful Géant Casino supermarket – Derek reckoned it was the best supermarket he’d ever seen.  It was like Harrods food hall but without the silly prices or crowds.  There was a whole sushi section with chefs thinly slicing raw salmon on the spot and the deli area was fabulous with all sorts of ready made everyday and gourmet treats – amongst them some mousse made into duckling shapes and some baby pigletty things that I didn’t care to look at too closely.  Derek succumbed to well priced champagne and I found the Patak curry paste and sauces I’d been searching for – we managed to spend 70 euros even though we’d been to Intermarché yesterday to do a big shop.

We couldn’t help comparing our easy day here to Xmas shopping in Stratford with all its traffic jams, parking problems, crowds, queues and bustle.  They just don’t seem to make as much fuss in France or maybe they’ve just got more space.  Anyway, we will try to be festive on the big day – we have a poinsettia, a panettone and too much Christmassy food to fit in the tiny kitchen – we’re having to store it in the spare bedroom – at least until Danny gets here, then he can start eating it!