February ended with snow, unusual for the region, and March began with rain, launching a pattern of mixed weather for the month. February also saw the official end of the hunt until September, the last day actually on Wednesday the 28th, so, from March 1st, neither the dogs, nor I, had to wear hi-vis orange… but they still wore their bells, which didn’t seem to cramp their style, while helping us to keep an ear out for them. The wind returned, strumming the wires on the pylons, while rain made them fizz. The weather turned icy cold for days. Even so, by the middle of the month, it warmed up and we saw more signs of spring; wild roquette amongst the vines, blossom on cherry and almond trees. Flowers began to shoot; irises, appearing on the paths, daffodils, wild orchids, grape hyacinths. At the end of the month we saw the first signs of green shoots on the vines.
On the 3rd March, I reached the grand age of 59 (only one year from 60!), and Polly, dog #2, became one year old; that is to say, if her birthday is correct, as it’s an assumption made by the SPA (Dog Rescue). For my birthday, Ange took me and the pups to Arles to celebrate. We had glorious weather; blue skies and sun, for a change, to explore Van Gogh’s legacy. Arles is a beautiful town, with so much history; Roman, post Roman, and artistic.
In the vines there were still jobs to be done. I saw the last vines, opposite the tomb of Henri Bataille, possibly Mansenoble vines, being pruned over a few days. Meanwhile, many of the wine growers were repairing the wires, workers in ones and twos, then small armies, braving the changeable weather.
In the village, the café, under new management, went from a good start in reopening, to great success; lunches, evening meals, Tuesday pool nights, and, the succesful international nights on Friday nights. New hosts, Lionel and Magali renamed the café, la Calade, after their Moux road. Brilliant hosts, their efforts are really paying off.
Out in the hinterland of Alaric, spring awoke the dormant, hibernating insects and mammals. We saw more, unwelcome visitors; dog and deer tics, and nests of processionary moth caterpillars; the latter not hatched yet. But we saw diligent walkers cutting down nests and setting them on fire.
On March 20th we had another reversal in the weather; following heavy rain bursts, we had snow overnight, settling on the summit of Alaric. Flowers and plants suffered freezing temperatures, but it didn’t last long. On 23rd we went to Collioure. Lovely weather again; blue skies, very little cloud and, warm sunshine.
Finally, the last days of March brought out the March hares. I’m not so sure if they’re mad, or if there’s any question of their sanity, but I’m more certain that they drove our pups crazy. Manon and Polly chased them, losing themselves in the woods, in pursuit, getting lost in the process. On 30th, Polly disappeared for 45 minutes, I walked around and over the gorgouniou and the col du forty for all that time. Eventually, to my great relief, and probably hers too, she turned up, exhausted. From then on, we decided to rethink off-lead time and she hasn’t been off-lead since.
This month I’ll showcase another two wine makers in the village, our closest neighbours, Mansenoble and Domaine Georgina. I’ll also showcase the brilliant Cafe La Calade.
https://www.facebook.com/domaine.georgi/
Café la Calade
https://www.facebook.com/lacalade11700/
lemouxetaire 