But one festival remains: la fête du vin. The stage is back on the square and the lights are in place. The festival celebrates les vendanges or wine harvest (which seemed to finish up in this region a month ago)  and the first bottled wines, red, whites and rosés are brought into town with great pomp and ceremony and then opened. I think this weekend will be another hooley.

Last weekend the weather broke. We had a downpour. In Montpellier they had 20cm of rain overnight, or one third of their annual rainfall. Now a chill has set in and the smell of wood smoke on the streets gets stronger every evening.

Update: Good wines, excellent prices – €1 per glass, terrible music.

A plumber has been booked to fit our shower, bath and a sink in a couple of weeks time. They are going into this room believe it or not:

This used to be a lovely room:

the old lab

Today we drove to Rodez to pick up Bernie in what was probably our last long car journey before D-day.

overlooking Millau

We took in the viaduct of Millau which is a pretty amazing feat of engineering when you read about it but was not as dramatic as the surrounding high hills of the Massif Central poking through the dark rumbling clouds.

On the return journey we stopped in Albi which is beautiful. The cathedral  stands out because of its size - it is 70m tall. And it is unusual that the cathedral is not in a cross shape – it is rectangular. The cathedral was built just after the end of the Albigensian crusade and the Church wanted to build a fortress-cathedral instead of a regular cathedral. A rectangular shape just happened to fit the defenses better. There is no conspiracy theory.

Then we crossed the Black Mountains to get home – the ones we never got to cross in wintertime.

With the impending arrival of la bebe, we decided to bring Fizeau for some training. Much needed training. It involves a training lead, weekly classes and lots of shouting. But it’s working. After only one session, his listening skills have improved dramatically. Now he actually sits every time, not just when he feels like it. It’s not cruel at all, it just shows him who’s boss. And at the moment, it’s him. We’ll soon change that

Although when the baby arrives, we’ve no doubt she’ll be boss.

… Fizeau found some new best friends. And here is the evidence:

exhibit A

exhibit B

The pound where we got Fizeau had an open day this weekend so we called in to drop off some outgrown dog paraphenalia. They were delighted to see Fizeau and they wondered if he had eaten our shoes – either he had been showing shoe-eating tendancies in early puppyhood or our shoes looked bedraggled.

Dogs are popular in Carcassonne and consequently the pound is a very busy place for this size of town. Apparently even puppies are hard to get rid of now:

www.ladepeche.fr/article/2009/10/05/686806-Carcassonne-Les-portes-ouvertes-a-l-adoption.html

Rubrique has arrived safely in San Francisco for Sinead and Teferi’s wedding. As it’s a short trip, the body clock will most likely explode upon return to France next week. Moisette, meanwhile, has engaged in numerous dog walks, games of fetch, bouts of pastry-eating and heartburn (possibly related).

Carcassonne is having a rainy weekend, the first in a long time. A much welcomed break from the heat for someone carrying approx 13 extra kilos, damn pastries. 10 weeks to go…

We’ve had a lovely few days of unexpected guests… old school / uni friends passing through, others coincidentaly holidaying in Carcassonne… Rosie, Sarah, Alan and Mairtin. It’s been great.  Flowers, chocolates, wine, dinners out and a fresh supply of Barry’s Tea

Buying for baby has officially begun as we’re in the final third… lots to get organised so best to start it now rather than later. In keeping with the apartment recycling etiquette, Moisette made a baby changing unit from some old shelves, left

After

over wood from the kitchen units and some drawer knobs.  A few screws, a lick of paint and voila!

That’s Little Miss Sunshine painted at the bottom

Before

10 months after the details were finalised the window guy has completed his tasks. The guard railings were finally installed yesterday morning. At last we can open the windows without worrying if Fizeau or anyone else topples out.

Moisette has been to see a obgyn every month and had an ultrasound each time! This is way more than in Ireland and England where it’s usually 2-3 times over the entire pregnancy! Or even worse, they may not get to see the doctor at all. Having a scan so often is very reassuring, especially for a first-timer! And it’s been great for Dad too. Luckily, my obgyn has some English which makes things a bit easier too.

Here’s our 13 weeks scan…