Last week Síle noticed that the village was looking for a posse of volunteers to spend a day cleaning up the village, we had the time and the inclination so we applied and so arrived at the Mediatheque at 9.am yesterday morning.

There were about 26 of us, of all ages and stations and we were furnished with yellow jackets, protective gloves and long tweezers to pick up the rubbish, and black sacks to put it in.

It was a tough days work, and some of it fairly disgusting (France has fly-tippers too) but it had its rewards.
One was we got to meet a whole heap of new people, all local and all delighted to welcome us in.
In the middle of the day we were given lunch, and it was a very good one, aperitifs, terrine, cous cous, grilled sausages and cheese-and coffee.
Plenty of wine was drunk by all, including the Mayor who joined us for lunch.
Without doubt the best part of the day for the Dwyers was when the Mayor addressed us directly and said “Well, do you think you made the right decision to move to Thezan ?”

Síle made the perfect reply; “We are delighted, we love it here ”
This was greeted with huge beams from everyone (including the Mayor) and a surprising round of applause.
As moments of integration go, this one was a definite winner.