As it was Thursday evening it was time for les rapaces nocturnes.

In my experience the French aren’t big birdwatchers so I wasn’t expecting too many people to be there.

The talk had been moved to la mairie in la salle des marriages.

There were 30 of us in there, watched over of course by President Macron.

Matthieu from LPO (Ligue pour la protection des oiseaux) Birdlife France gave a fascinating talk about owls.

It started with the key question – quelle est la différence entre un hibou et une chouette?

Now I had no idea and had always wondered.

Turns out un hibou has to have visible ear tufts.

I also learnt the French names of loads of owls.

• Effraie des clochers- barn owl
• Chouette hulotte – tawny owl
• Chevêche d’Athena – little owl
• Le petit duc scops- Scops owl
• Hibou moyen duc – long-eared owl
• Grand-duc d’Europe – eagle owl

I learnt it’s illegal to take home an owl feather you find on the ground, owls ears are at different heights to enable them to locate their prey more accurately.

We watched this BBC video which shows you how silently une effraie des clochers flies.

We examined some pelotes de rejection and then learnt there’s not much point looking out for barn owls en Provence- there aren’t many around.

All in all a great couple of hours.

Merci Matthieu.

Guess what? Cath heard some scratching noises in the loft so we had another visit from Monsieur Dératisation.

He went into le vide sanitaire under the house.

It was strange to hear him walking around underneath the living room.

Fortunately he found no evidence of vermin down there.

Next it was up into les combles.

He put down some more poison as the previous dose had all gone.

Unfortunately when I asked what it had been up there he was in no doubt.

Des rats.

He said they climb up the side of the building and into the roof through the gaps in the tiles.

And that they will be back.

That’s reassuring then.

Cath and I went for a walk along the canal de Provence to enjoy the most of the late November sun.

When we got back to the car we saw this sign.

What was it for? We drove down to have a look.

Turns out it’s a nudist camping site – less than three miles from our front door.

Interested? You can book a pitch here – although it’s shut now til May 2026.

I see they have une piscine – presumably not subject to the strict dress codes of other French establishments – bonnet de natation? Pas nécessaire.

I thought it was named after a golden GOAT – best footballer of all time Lionel Messi (although he’s no Geoff Horsfield).

But no, Messidor is one of the twelve months of the French Republic’s calendar.

It was the first one of summer and means harvest.

The months were named after elements of the different seasons.

The autumn months:

• Vendémiaire (vintage)
• Brumaire (fog)
• Frimaire (frost)

The winter months:

• Nivôse (snow)
• Pluviôse (rain)
• Ventouse (wind)

The spring months:

• Germinal (germination) Also a great book by Emile Zola
• Floréal (flowers)
• Prairial (meadow)

The summer months:

• Messidor (harvest) Also a nudist camping site site in Venelles
• Thermidor (heat) As not loved by les homards
• Fructidor (fruit)

I’m sure Maximilian Robespierre and Georges Danton would be pleased to hear the name Messidor lives on.

The third Thursday of November means only one thing – le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé.

To my mind the displays in the supermarkets were a bit more subdued this year. Christmas fare taking pride of place.

I did spot something different among the bottles of Beaujolais.

Macon Villages Nouveau. With some recognisable Lyon sites on the front.

So we bought a bottle.

C’était pas terrible.

The birds are back in the garden – chomping their way through the sunflower seeds at a rate of knots.

I spotted some old favourites but some new birds too.

In among les pinsons – chaffinches – I thought I saw un tarin des aulnes – a siskin.

And at the back of the garden under la haie un accenteur mouchet – a dunnock.

I didn’t get a photo of either of them so you will have to make do with this une sittelle torchepot. A beautiful nuthatch.

On the subject of birds my French teacher sent me a quiz on bird songs in French. I did all right (6 out of 8) and also learnt some new words along the way.

• La bergeronnette – wagtail
• Le moineau friquet – tree sparrow
• L’étourneau sansonnet – starling
• Le verdier d’Europe – greenfinch

I saw this in a tree outside Intermarché.

AI tells me it is most likely a hornets’ nest.

I think I will leave it well alone.

This panneau caught my eye.

I’ve always said that the French don’t seem to be avid bird watchers so this was somewhat of a surprise.

Les rapaces nocturnes! The only rapaces I’ve seen are la buse and la crécerelle

I would love to see some rapaces nocturnes so I’ll be there next week to get as much info as I can.

My first trip to Lyon

It’s getting colder but some of the views around Venelles are beautiful.

We also saw some of the great sights of Lyon. It was nice to be back.

And the chocolate shops were still as attractive as ever.

We even saw a red squirrel in Parc de la Tête d’Or.

And don’t forget this is just around the corner.