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The year started on a high .....my son Samuel received an OBE in the New Years Honours list for services to Law
and Jacqu and Leah joined us for a late festive break on the 2nd January. Strikes and travel restrictions meant a 2 day journey to get here from Lincoln. But a Beer at Barrys made it all worth it
and the first quiche of 2023 was prepared by Tercia
Juan then joined us for an action packed week. There are more pictures on the friends and guests page and also on the jardin pages as much digging, tree cutting and log splitting was done. But here you can share the amazing meals that were prepared and eaten. The first was cooked by Jacqu with Leah as sous chef. Abel and Sonja joined us. Tercia made the "left over" quiche
Steak and chips at Barry's
Juan was chef for the "official" Christmas meal with Jacqu as sous chef.
My christmas present from Tercia was a knitted jumper ....here being finished
On the last evening Leah unveiled the picture she had painted while staying. An interpretation of sunset over Ventoux. It was soon put up on the wall of the salon
The boys ran most days on the "Chicken Farm" route or to Faucon
with chess in the evening after dinner
Off back to the UK in 2 days so went to the vets to get the dogs their tapeworm treatment and also a booster vaccination. Not happy dogs, particularly Ceci but hopefully better tomorrow. Sam now back in UK so will meet up with him and Anna in London next week
Set off for UK on the 19th January. Despite snow storms in the Rhone valley and the Calais ports being closed by strike action (hence all lorries coming to the channel tunnel we had our quickest trip home - 14 hours door to door
When we arrived home the flat was 6 degrees and took 48 hours to defrost
We celebrated Sam's honours with a surprise dinner in the Cinnamon Kitchen two days after our return
The next day Anna and Sam and Alex came to Blackheath for a run in Greenwich Park and a Pizza brunch. It was sunny but pretty cold
The end of the week saw us travelling North to Richmond in Yorkshire for the funeral of my work colleague at NICE - Professor Sir Michael Rawlins. Rather than concentrating on his career it was a celebration of his life as a father, grandfather, and great grandfather. He would have approved of his coffin being brought into the church by his daughters and granddaughter. A celebration of his impressive medical career will take place later in the year at the Royal Society of Medicine. We met up with Professor David Hunter, who is my collaborator on the Public Health England book and the NICE book, and we walked around the lovely Richmond town and monasteries . I also had my first haircut in a Barbers for three years ( Tercia had provided my Covid Coiffure ). The walls were full of local Yorkshire cricketers. The dogs loved staying at the Fleece hotel where they joined us for dinner each night.
February 4th was the start of the 6 Nations Rugby Tournament and we went off to Wales for the Scottish match. We met Anna, Alex and John and Joanna there. A great day out despite Ireland showing why they are number one in the World rugby listings. Shalini and Nitin came over for supper on the Friday and stayed on to dog sit over the Saturday.
On February 14th St Valentines day we went to the National Theatre on the South Bank to see a Yorkshire Musical depicting the last years of the 20th century and the first of the 21st century through the prism of 3 families living in a high rise flat in the North of England ........brilliant . As was the Indian street food in the Understudy Craft beer bar.
February 23th was a special day as Ceci and Duci had their first professional hair cut . This was in Charlton next to the Park. Due to their matted hair it was quite an event. We arrived early and had a coffee in the dog friendly cafe - the dogs were even served with their own treats. The Park is the old garden of Charlton House famous for its Elizabethan origins..... as represented in the portraits on the wall of the cafe
February 25th saw me returning to Wales. I had 2 tickets for the Wales and England match and Sam jointed me for a father/son trip. We stayed over night and a lovely time although Wales lost again. However this time it was only in the last 10 minutes that Wales could not have won ( although they would have not deserved to). Now bottom of the 6 nations table they can only go up with the next match against Italy and then the big one with France (18th March when we will be watching back in France at Barrys)
Claude sent us a photo of the weather in Puymeras 4 days before our return
4th March returned to France and by then the skies were blue........even at night
At the beginning of the year I felt very optimistic that it would be a good year......that all changed when on the afternoon of the 2nd April one of our dogs Duci died in tragic circumstances. We reported it to the police and to the public prosecutor - see buttons for circumstances around her death and reports. There are also videos showing Duci at her best in the last 6 months of her life. We miss her very much.
This year my birthday was on Easter Friday but one week after the death of Duci we were not in the mood for celebrating. We had a quiet lunch in Avignon where the chef's dog met Ceci and I had traditional cod and whelks. Tercia made hot cross buns
In May I returned to the UK for a week to participate in a conference to celebrate the work of Professor Albert Weale. I took the opportunity to visit my daughter in Leeds, have dinner with my son and also hosted a working supper with Mercy and Shalini to discuss the challenges facing the NHS
July 9th was my daughter's Anna 30th birthday. She , her partner Alex, my son Sam and their mother Amanda came to Pumeras to celebrate. We had a dinner in the rampart garden one evening with Claude and Chantel and Sonja and Abel and a second dinner at Girocedre. We also managed a little cycling (see cycling page)
Anna stayed on for another week for study leave. She presented her poster at an international conference from the guest suite and won first prize for the best presentation (see video below). We also did some gardening and cycling
I returned to the UK on the 26th July for the first of my eye operations to prevent glaucoma. Deanna had been staying at the flat and she took me out for dinner at the Ivy, Blackheath. I also had dinner a the RAF club with Sam. I returned on the 2nd August
While I was in London I caught up with some Dr Whos. He was in a perfect place called "christmas" for a while.........the place looked familar
Juan came for a week's holiday mid August. We celebrated Terica's birthday and cycled up Ventoux
The end of August is fete time in Puymeras and the brass band from Belgium was back again
On the night of 30th August was an astronomical event. A Blue Super Moon. Blue because it was a second full moon in a single month. Super as it coincided with the moon being closest to the earth on its orbit and hence very big. Fortunately the night was clear and after a Pizza with Abel and Sonja at Barrys with live music ( a singer and guitarist who player all the greats of he 60s and 70s including Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton) we admired the rare natural spectacular from the Terrace. Next time it will occur is 2037 - we are looking forward to it.
Late September we returned to the UK. Our main reason was for Sam’s OBE investiture. It was a wonderful day. I went over to Sam’s flat in Mile End the night before for supper in a traditional English Pub - I did indeed have fish and chips. I stayed the night in-order to act as chauffer for the next day. At 7am next morning Sam and I went across London to Belsize Park to pick up Anna my daughter Anna and Amanda the children's mother. We then traveled to Windsor Castle. They only allow 3 guests for each person. Sam’s medal was presented by HRH Princess Anne. In the evening we had a celebratory dinner in a private room in an Italian Restaurant in Covent Garden where we entertained 30 of Sam’s friends and favourite work colleagues.
Before going back to Puymeras we did a bit of painting
We returned to Puymeras in October and settled down to the Rugby World Cup. As in previous years the intial promise of Wales did not lead to a place in the final. But South Africa did well to beat the hosts France in the quarter final and England in the semi final by 1 point to earn a place in the final to face New Zealand
On the 28th October South Africa beat New Zealand - again by 1 point. The match was tense, the only difference being that while both captains were given yellow cards for high tackles only the New Zealand captain's was upgraded to a red card so he was off for most of the match. The rain bow nation had won again and the whole country recognised the achievement. Even Puymeras showed its appreciation with a rainbow.
Returned to London in November to see friends and family before Christmas. II was as interviewed by Shalini as part of the KCL Health Improvement MSc. My Public Health book was published on 21st November and the NICE at 25 book was completed (with help from Ceci)
Even thoughwe were returning to Puymeras for christmas we put up christmas lights. Lovely walks in Greenwich
We had a lovely weekend up North, first staying in the Peak District to see Anna and Alex and then to Lincoln to see Jacqu and Leah
Back in London we visited Shalini and Nitin before leaving for France on Thursday 21st December
We were lucky crossing the channel as we left at 9 am and at 11 am it was closed due to a strike. Spent the night at Livenois
Juan flew down on the 23 rd December and we had a lovely Christmas day and then we hosted a Boxing day Apero with Sonja and Abel, Sue and Colin and Jenny and Steve.Juan flew back on the 27th and we had coffee with Sonja and Abel on the 29th with a book presentation
As the year comes to a close we go for our last walks with Ceci in 2023 - remembering Duci. The vines are dark and knarled but the weather makes the overall scene as beautiful as ever.
My phone gave me a pets 2023 video. The last compilation with Duci in
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