Lights off, lights on

Brigitte rang the doorbell on Friday at lunchtime.

"Peetere, we 'ave a problem with ze electricite" she said. She went on to say that she was working and had only come home to find the EDF invoice to give to me so that I could phone them and arrange for someone to come out and fix it and that she didn't have time because she needed to eat a 'leetle something' before rushing back to work.

Manipulation! - you bet it was. How hard would it have been for her to call. rather than me with my imperfect French negotiating a telephone answering system and a faceless voice in the call centre.

I knew we had an electricity problem because when I came home the previous evening the courtyard and the stairwell were pitch black and with a dark brooding sky above it was impossible to see anything. I edged my way in through the main door and up the stairs using the light from my mobile phone. All the power was out in the common parts but fortunately not inside the apartment.

On Friday morning I did my best to see if I could find the problem, but anything other than checking fuses and re-setting the meter is beyond me and the meter absolutely refused to re-set.

Imagine my surprise then, that I not only called EDF and got through 6 levels of answering system to reach the correct department and managed to give them the correct reference numbers but they also turned up within two hours, changed the meter and restored the power. Sometimes I surprise myself and sometimes the French surprise me too.

It's officially Christmas here in Carcassonne. The mayor switched on the lights on Friday evening and the market and the ice rink and the big wheel and the luge are all open for business - and doing good business judging by the number of people in town last night - far more than usual for a Saturday evening - the 'vin chaud' stall was exceptionally busy.

But you can't change all the habits of a lifetime. I had heard that the meat market was opening on Sunday mornings in the run up to Christmas but the reality was that two enterprising stalls, my favourite pork butcher and the Basque Deli, were open and the rest firmly shut.

Both those open were doing good business - they were offering tastings and aperitifs and in return were selling quite a bit of stuff. I had only had a coffee this morning before looking into the market and in no time at all I was sharing some oysters and charcuterie and a glass of wine with stall and bar and restaurant owners and their wives, all before midday - that's the proper alternative French way to start a Sunday if you haven't gone to mass!

I picked up a couple of things for supper this evening, went to the boulangerie and returned home feeling perky enough to decide to make a prune and almond tart.

The lights in the Place Carnot and the Place Gambetta look fabulous and with the ice rink and the music you can't help but feel in a festive mood. It's all very kitsch but also very infectious - so it's a shame that we weren't able to tempt any visitors out here from the UK to sample it.

I did take two bookings yesterday though, so maybe things are looking up.