Christmas is coming.......

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Although we haven’t been having the most idyllic of times lately, what with waiting for plumbers and other workmen who fail to arrive, deliveries that aren’t on schedule, and weather that’s been, frankly, shocking for much of the time, there’s one thing that’s been a real pleasure.

Here in Laroque, Christmas is only just beginning to make its presence felt. Over the last couple of days, shopkeepers have started to decorate their windows, and - great excitement - the Christmas lights were erected in the streets this afternoon.

It’s been wonderful not to have Christmas imposed on us every time we go out shopping. Now that Christmas is only a couple of weeks away, we can enjoy getting ready to enjoy the day without feeling frazzled, fed up and a failure for not having already written-and-sent-the-cards-and-bought-and-wrapped-the-presents-and-ordered-the-turkey-and-decorated-the-tree-and-made-lists-so-that-everything-is-perfect-on-the-day. Not one person has asked me if I’m ready and organised, because it hasn’t occurred to anybody to get preparations under way so long before The Day itself. One day during the next week or so, we’ll go to the Christmas market in Toulouse which is always good fun, and then I think I shall start to feel properly in the mood, without feeling that unhappy mixture of bored and frantic which seems to go with the long drawn out pre-Christmas preparations in England

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Photos

...and are fixed into place.............
Father Christmas and team are put in place just outside our house

Our newsagent's shop
This winter scene is the standard style of decoration in most small shops. Seeing several in the same street- different scenes in the same style, seems to pull everything together: simple but attractive

M. Samora's shop.....
..has got the lot. Father Christmas, a toy train, elves, a winter wonderland

The flashiest house in town..
...belongs to George, a lovely man who's anything but flashy. You can see the bright lights on his house from several streets away