La journée du cochon – village life in France

It’s true to say that most people think that those of us who live in France are truly ‘living the dream’ – that life is always great and we spend endless days eating fabulously fresh, locally sourced fruit & veg, munching our way through deliciously crunchy baguettes and sipping our way through endless bottles of ridiculously cheap wine.

Life of course throws up its challenges and you are less likely to hear about the problems we encounter (no don’t worry I’m not looking for sympathy here).  We don’t want you to know about them – moaning and groaning about the difficulties of settling in, getting to grips with the language, launching a business.  We don’t blog about them because we want you to hear about the great times and for us yesterday was one of those days when we felt truly  glad to be living here.

Our neighbours had killed a pig and we all joined in for a communal lunch in the garden.  The butcher, the guy that supplies our wood for the fire, the local beekeeper, us, a sprinkling of friends and plenty of simple food and wine.  It was just a day to remember.

Our neighbour has just been voted mayor for our commune and I’m lucky enough to have been elected one of his conseillières municipales (councillors).  He didn’t put himself up for the job but circumstances changed and those that had put themselves up for mayor didn’t get voted on.  He’s the right man for the job though – open, honest, fun, exuberant and kind.  Here are some photos of the day – you can see why we love it here – these old fashioned occasions are still part of village life and we were truly happy to be included yesterday.