Church emerges from darkness

With the sun out and the Christmas market underway in the old village of Valbonne, the temptation to sit in the sunshine at lunchtime at the Cafe Des Arcades in the old square was hard to resist, so we decided not resist and instead commenced the Christmas festivities a few days early by taking lunch at the Cafe Des Arcades.

Last night we had seen a tantalizing glimpse of the light show that is enveloping the village, which I hope my picture today captures. It will continue every evening until Christmas Eve. the light show is part of the festive activities surrounding the Christmas market that continues daily until 5pm on Christmas Eve. There is also the prospect of the commune offering free vin chaud both tomorrow and on Saturday and as a Valbonne tax payer it will be my duty to drink back as much of my tax as possible.

Valbonne church in the limelight

Whilst we were enjoying the sunshine outside in Valbonne Square, still incredulous after seven years here that on a sunny day one can lunch outside even on the shortest day of the year, suddenly beside us was Currencies Direct customer Master Mariner Mundell with a women other than his godlike wife Zillah in tow. It transpires that the lady in question was his mother which turned out to be a source of amusement for me but not for him and material for this column.

The Master has a growing reputation as a potential naughty boy, always up for a long lunch and with a prodigious appetite for consuming copious amounts of rose wine and looking for adventure late in the evening, even leaving that other great bon viveur the Wingco in his wake on a recent night out in London according to the two accounts I have heard, one from the Wingco and one from the Master.  Thus the presence of his mother allowed me gently to question him about recent activities which, given his body language of folded arms and his constant squirming gave me some indication that his mother was under the impression that butter would not melt in his mouth, and his discomfort as stories of his excesses unfolded in front of his matriarch was clear for all to see. Having fixed him with an icy stare as his true nature was unveiled she made an attempt to change the subject and made the mistake of asking about my occupation and when I told her I was an author (the term writer received some abuse yesterday in the comments section of this column) she asked what I had written, and when I told her about “Summer In the Cote d’Azur” she demanded a signed copy on the spot taking sales to 112. This did not amuse the Master who is notoriously tight, and not a fan of kind of literary genius that is evident in all my work.

The lovely thing about mothers is that universally they love to talk about their children. This one was no exception. Also universally, children the world over are often embarrassed by their parents, particularly when the parent reveals what they think are sweet stories about their offspring. So I now have some currency on the bribery bank, which will be withdrawn at some time in the future, if necessary.

So today will be your last opportunity to secure that signed copy of my book for Christmas, well this Christmas at least, so hopefully see loads of you who have not yet done the decent thing and purchased a copy later this morning at the English Book Centre in Valbonne.

Chris France