Anyone who has read A French Renaissance? will be aware that in early 2014 we were involved in the setting up a community café in the village where we live here in France. Well, I’m delighted to report that so far this little venture has been a roaring success. The reaction locally has been amazing and everyone has really got behind it. Lots of people have told me of how they had been waiting for something like this for many years. In a village where there are no shops, bars, restaurants or other services, there is a real appreciation of this, albeit modest, effort to bring some life back into the heart of the village.

For the moment the café, called La Gariotte, is open on the first and third Friday of each month (run exclusively by volunteers). During our most recent opening (Sept 5th), two local residents, Jérôme and Estelle, came long to play some music. La Gariotte abu!