Victory Day ~ La Fête de la Victoire

Early morning in Ceret ... May 8th 

Today is a holiday in France.

WWII Victory Day (la fête de la victoire, le jour de la libération) is a holiday to celebrate the end of World War II and the French people's freedom. 

It is the anniversary of when Charles de Gaulle announced the end of World War II in France on May 8, 1945. (from timeanddate.com)

The ceremony was very touching and moving ...

                         

Midday ... Madame M. and Msr. Guy arrived in Ceret for a mini vacation.

We toured the immediate neighbourhoods and later enjoyed a delicious meal of shrimp salad, grilled chipolatas, lamb chops, oven roasted potatoes and carrots at the apartment. 

An evening stroll ...

See how tall the trees are ...

                    

Tomorrow is Market Day in Ceret ... I wonder what that will be like here in the South of France?

Prayssac Postcards!

On our last days in the Lot we walked through the countryside into the village of Prayssac; viewing the growing vines, beautiful flowers in full bloom, a little window shopping and a café stop for coffee.

                   

             

 

A mural down a side street...

Msr. Honey says we were singing in the rain but really it was just a misty drizzle making everything fresh and green.

The skies did threatens to do worse!

Our last day included lunch at La Venus for "Steak/ Frites".

     

La Venus restaurant is another of our favourites.

Delicious lunch with the company of friends followed by a visit to Belaye to say hello to some other friends ... who moved to France from Holland.

Arie & Ineke love their French life. 

Sorry we missed you Ineke, and a big "Merci Arie for your hospitality"!

Ineke's garden is something my father would have been proud of / thankful for so early in the Spring!

Here we met the newest addition to their family L'arry.

And of course ... a "Bonjour" to Douce

Rest of the day was spent packing up for our journey tomorrow morning to Ceret.

Thank you very much to our French Connection friends for your hospitality and catching up with you!

Postcards from Ceret.

Thursday May 7th we left the Lot Valley heading southwest to our rented "pied a terre" in Ceret very near the Spanish border.

Ceret is a commune in the Pyrénées Orientales situated at the foothills of the Pyrénées mountains. 

We arrived with a half hour to spare before our checkin time to the Apartment.  A quick walk around the corner from our location we found a busy tree-lined street with restaurants and cafés.

A cool refreshing glass of rosé at "Bar Le Pablo" to celebrate our arrival.

Tomorrow being a holiday, we did a quick pickup of supplies at a local grocery and butcher shop ... back to the apartment to get settled in.

I hope you don't get tired of all the photos in Ceret ... the views are magnificent with the magic of the changing light during the day.

                       

                    

                                    

Activity in the square below our window tonight ... preparation for tomorrow's VE Day celebrations.

Come back tomorrow to see what's happening in Ceret!