A Cariad Life

Today was Carnival in our small village with all kinds of activities and food particularly for the children, and best of all there was a parade right in front of our house with a band and tons of children, wearing costumes and face paint, loaded onto floats. They threw confetti instead of candy, and there does not appear to be the same regulations for parades as in the US, as I saw an 8 year old girl driving the tractor with a trailer full of children (she did have the guidance of an adult next to her, but it took me back to NC where 16 olds drove school buses when I was growing up!) Later today, there will be a “soirée crêpe déguisée” or a costume crepe party (bien sûr!) I think it is kind of interesting that we are celebrating Carnaval now as we are now fully into Lent, but that’s how we do it in Southwest France! (check out the photos below from today:)

The carnaval spirit is catching…this past Thursday an area restaurant brought in a Fish and Chips truck (lots of Brits here in this part of France) with live music. This evening there is a jazz concert at a local wine bar and a garage that is opening up here in Ribérac is hosting a big shindig with food and beer trucks that is supposed to be going on until midnight–it appears their specialty is American classic cars, so those will be showcased. Now and into the summer there are live music fêtes all over our area and during the second half of April all the area chateaus will begin opening their doors and hosting events, festivals, and soirées for the public. All this to say, this little corner of Southwest France is waking up from winter.

When we first arrived in December, we were told this is the hardest time to move here. As it is in many places in the winter, things have been shut down; the days are short, cold, and dark, and everyone is hibernating. Coming out of this dark winter has been even harder for Ribérac. Not only did they endure COVID like everyone else, but just as we were all opening back up last summer, Ribérac and a few neighboring villages were hit with a devastating hail storm in June–the worst many have ever seen here. The 20 minute storm, which sounded to many like being in the middle of a battlefield, shut down businesses and restaurants (one is just now opening next week), flooded homes causing some entire roofs to collapse, and left the village with the need to cover at least half their roofs in tarps. I learned today that one man who reached out his window to close a shutter during the storm, had his arm crushed by a hailstone and that sadly, our agricultural village lost many of it’s cows and horses as they were pummeled by the hail. I know there have been horrific tragedies all over the world recently and currently, and for this little village, this storm and its impact were very difficult (though thankfully, no human died). Hearing the children and adults today laughing and waving reminded me of resilience of the human spirit amongst personal tragedy and pain.

Also, slowly but surely, Ribérac is recovering. Every week, more new roofs go up–beautiful orange clay roofs. When this is all done, Ribérac will have the prettiest roofs in France. New and shuttered businesses are opening their doors and with the increasingly warmer weather and sunny days, people are venturing out–gathering to chat on the sidewalks or in cafes.

There is also a lot to talk about in France. There is another nationwide strike of train workers and other employee groups set for March 7–we’ve all been told, don’t plan to travel. It seems the French government will vote soon on whether to raise the age of retirement and other pension cuts as the President of France is recommending. We all continue to watch the war in Ukraine and certainly feel the energy and gas crisis occurring across Europe. Food prices have risen here as well (though we still pay so much less than we did in the US). I bring these things up because I know from my posts it can seem that I only see our experiences here through rose colored glasses. So let me say it clearly, France is not perfect–there are issues and rude people (we were reminded of that at least twice this week). Yet, standing outside my front door today waving at French children loaded onto a float and waving while throwing confetti, I fell in love yet again. I hope you will join us here for a few days or a week–I think Carnaval in Southwest France, especially Ribérac,is going to last for awhile!