It tends to be fairly quiet in our area of rural France during the winter, but most of the small towns do have their own marché de noël in the weeks before Christmas. Earlier this month we went along to the market in the village of Lavaudieu, which is a short drive from us. It was an overcast day, which was a shame, but the car park was full, and lots of people were wandering around the stalls and sampling the vin chaud, and there was much greeting and chatting.
All the houses and other buildings had been decorated.
It was a small market, but it had a lovely community feel, with people making the most of the last social event of the year. Lavaudieu will be fairly quiet and sleepy again now, until the summer brings visitors to its abbey and church.
