Cup Winners

The rugby league boys appear to have finally stopped celebrating. There was no sign of them today - I'm sure they were sleeping it off.

Carcassonne won the French Rugby League Cup Final on Sunday, beating local rivals Limoux 18-16 after coming back from ten points down in the final quarter of the match. The match was played in Albi and I almost wish I had gone up to watch it, except that I couldn't because I had new guests arriving.

On Monday morning they were all still in the square, with the trophy, outside Bar Felix in the rain - soaked in every sense of the word. Bar Felix is owned by a former Carcassonne player who lifted the trophy in the 60's - so it was a very appropriate venue. Well done to them - and the first cup win for 19 years so well overdue too.

It was a good weekend all round for Carcassonne rugby as the union team won their final game of the regular season and qualified for the quarter finals of the play-offs - three more wins and they will be promoted to the second tier of French professional rugby - just one step down from the big boys - or should I say, the even bigger boys.

The players were the only ones who didn't really care about, or notice, the ongoing rubbish weather - drizzle all day yesterday and this morning and some very heavy downpours this evening. At least the vignerons will be happy.

All the rain means that the jigsaw is still going strong. It's completely in the way on the kitchen table but I can't bring myself to break it up until I have finished it. A few pieces get put in every couple of hours. I'm halfway through completing the sea - just a thousand pieces of sky to go after that.

It has also been a good day for the Audi which has had it's exhaust sorted - hurrah - no more rattles, no more electric wire holding it together. You have to love a bit of 'marché noire' action too - €40 handed over for a solid welding and fixing job and no questions asked. The Audi lives on - long live the Audi.