As I walk around the village and the surrounding countryside, there’s a song that won’t stop playing in my head, “walking back to happiness”. 2016 was a difficult year, I have no intention of boring anyone with the details, but a walk is good therapy.

There are no shortage of good walks round here and they are kept up to scratch by a small but dedicated band of volunteers. The first “atelier” is next weekend and we will be kept busy for the season.

There is a very Aveyronnaise feel to these workshops. They start slowly with a good half hour of chat to “put things in place”. We are then divided into teams which must be carefully balanced so that there are enough women on each team to clear the debris left by the men with the power tools (the women are outnumbered by about 4 to 1). Then all back to someones house for a drink and a debrief. Nothing is ever done around here without plenty of discussion.