It was King’s cake time again and guess who found la fève this year?

Which meant I got to wear la couronne again.

I know there has been a cold snap in a lot of places but it must have been cold here because when I got up this morning I was greeted with this site:

The swimming pool had frozen over. I had never seen that before – not once last winter as far as I’m aware.

Ignore the leaves at the bottom of the pool, I hadn’t got round to cleaning it.

To see how thick it was I prodded it with a stick. I don’t think it would hold my weight but it was certainly a full covering of ice.

Apparently I need to run the pump a bit more to stop it from breaking.

At least someone was enjoying the ice.

Our regular grey wagtail a fait un peu de patin à glace.

While having breakfast this morning I heard an ominous thud. It could only mean one thing. Another bird had flown into the window.

Sure enough when I went over to the window I saw this.

Last time it was a smaller bird – un roitelet triple-bandeau – a fire-crest.

As before, I kept watch in case the neighbour’s cat put in an appearance until the robin had recovered and flown off.

To celebrate the new year Cath and I went for a meal at L’Incontournable in Aix-en-Provence.

There was a set menu for St Sylvestre and we kicked things off with une coupe de champagne.

After a couple of starters we had a palate cleanser – a granite. I liked the way the French for palate cleanser is une parenthèse glacée.

The desert was based on the famous local sweet un calisson.

A lovely evening. We will be back.

This Christmas we have started our own crèche featuring santons made in Aix-en-Provence.

All the usual figures are there – meme si les trois rois sont un peu tôt.

But there a couple of extra, more local, visitors.

One of our local wild boars has joined the animals in the stable.

And of course..

Emile Zola.

While in London I also saw my first ever bécasse.

However this woodland bird, normally seen at dusk, was not in an ideal setting. Rather he was in the bright lights of Liverpool Street station in the middle of the day and the Christmas rush.

Not an ideal location for a Woodcock.

I hope the little bird found its way to safety.

What does this remind you of?

I spotted it during a Christmas visit to London, near Tottenham Court Road.

And it reminded me of my former workplace.

And just like at Confluence there is an orange cube to keep it company.

A little bit of Lyon à Londres.

As part of Christmas celebrations chez mon père we brought along une bûche de Noël from the French pâtisserie Aux Merveilleux de Fred.

After a traditional Turkey dinner we forewent the Christmas pudding for a white chocolate bûche.

It went down very well.

Joyeux Noël à tous.

There was a storm last night rattling round the house and when we woke up this morning it was to the sight of another fallen tree in the garden.

This one had been blown down by the wind but the slight problem was we were flying to London for Christmas in a couple of hours.

As Cath pointed out, if it had come down a few weeks earlier we could have dragged it inside and draped it with lights and tinsel.

I didn’t want to leave it as it was so dashed out with my trusty saw and cut in into a few smaller pieces to deal with on our return.

Comment va notre blé de la Ste Barbe par rapport à l’année dernière?

Je dirais beaucoup mieux de l’année dernière.