Life in a small village

Our village is small, about 300 people, a church, a hairdressers, a boulangerie that is also a post office, a long-ago-closed-down bar/restaurant/shop and a library. The library is only open a few days a week and is run by volunteers of which I am one. It is lovely to spend an afternoon there and see so many people from pre-schoolers in their pushchairs, to primary school children popping in when the bus returns them to the village, to the older generations, some of whom have an enormous appetite for reading. Hooray! In a society where electronics are taking over I think a small village with an active library is something to shout about.

Last weekend we held a little exhibition displaying some of the talents of the villagers. I was speechless when I first walked in after the transformation from small village library to art gallery had taken place. In typically French style, curtains and fabrics had carefully been selected to enhance the displays; colour coordinated, artfully draped and very pleasing to the eye. For a small village we have some talent! Oils, watercolours, photography, origami, sketches, embroidery, poetry, jewellery making, music and food were just some of the talents on display. Cake and coffee were served to welcome visitors during the day and the final evening saw a small music concert with exquisite (and very arty) amuse-bouche aperitifs served. Ed was part of the musical talent on show and we were very proud of his guitar performance, but BIG parenting fail, we forgot to take our camera! He even played a rock number requested by a lady of a certain age who told him she wasn’t really too keen on classical music. There was also a lot of foot tapping and clapping to the Vielle (Hurdy-gurdy), not something I have ever seen being played before.

Sometimes life out of season in a small village can feel quiet and empty, but last weekend we rocked! Here are a few photos of the art displays.

This post has been linked to Paulita's Dreaming of France weekly meme.