Seasons Greetings

December 13, 2023

On the last Saturday in November a walk was planned, starting at the ruins of the 15th century chapel of Castillon and following the mule track to Saint Agnes.

The town of Castillon was destroyed in 1887 by earthquake, rebuilt, only to be bombed and destroyed in 1944. The current incarnation was built in 1951. Hopefully it will be third time lucky.

We stopped for lunch in sight of our goal but with another hour's walk ahead and limited daylight, it was decided to retrace our steps. A visit to Saint Agnes saved for another day.

St Agnes perched on the mountain

Another Sunday and another beautiful day for a wonderful walk, this time from Perinaldo to Baiardo. Again we failed to reach the point we aimed for, again daylight was threatening to disappear. We reached Baiardo but didn't climb to the ruins of old church at the top of the village. When the 1887 earthquake struck, more than a hundred people were in the church for the Ash Wednesday service, the roof fell in with the first tremors, killing the congregation. What remains of the church tells the story but also offers spectacular views to the sea. I look forward to seeing it next time.

In amongst all this walking the kitchen is finally finished. It has been a bit of a long journey and at some points I thought that it would never be complete but the builder didn't give up, so neither did I.

I am very happy with the result, it's wonderful but I decided that I needed a dresser as extra storage and had the perfect spot for it in the living room. I found exactly what I wanted but failed to appreciate that it was flat pack. Just when he thought it was all done, Petrit had to come back and build the vaisselier. He is very patient!

A lot of rain in a short time resulted in lumps of concrete falling from the underside of the balcony. I was pleasantly surprised (and very impressed) when an email to the syndic responsible for the building, resulted in: a workman coming to look at the damage, within an hour of the email and the promise that the repair would take place, within the week (it did).

Nine lessons and carols is a great start to Christmas and a very special service was held in St Johns Anglican Church. It was lovely to see a full church, to sing the carols that we all know so well. The lessons (also well known) were read alternately in French and English, the last one by candlelight.

I was entrusted to help light the candles that each person had been given as they entered the church. As a fire precaution buckets of water had been positioned around the church—thankfully they were not required, as I hadn't had the full training in what I was to do with them. Also I certainly won't be asked to take the collection again. I started at the wrong end of the church, the vicar forgot to announce that it was the offertory carol, so I ended up flying up and down the aisle, as people fumbled in handbags, pockets and wallets. It raised a few smiles!