Hello Everyone
Hark!  As the clocks go forward do I hear a deep grumbling sound coming from those who bemoan the mysterious loss of an hour of sleep.  To them I say come on – set your alarm for 6.30am, leap out of bed, pull on your thick jumper and step outside into the half-light.  Be the first to hear the birds and see the sunrise.  Lighter, longer evenings offer a more gentle way of tickling the senses when we can carry our aperitif outside and take in the scent of the Spring flowers and the trill of a blackbird.  We don’t ask much of our picture postcard part of France, only that it continues to astound and surprise us.  

This month’s Drop-Ins:

Wednesday 3rd April – Céret – 10.30-12
Pablo’s Bar in the Place Pablo Picasso. Come and join us for coffee and conversation. There are books and DVDs.

Monday 15 April – Laroque – 10.30-12
First of all many apologies to those of you who turned up at the Café last month.  I’m afraid we weren’t given any advance warning that they would be closed so we couldn’t let you know.  Circumstances beyond our control I’m afraid.
This month, business as usual.  Come along and have a browse, buy a coffee and take two books.  We have a large turnover of books and we encourage you to bring as many paperbacks as you can.

PLEASE…..

• No hardback books (unless they are brand new and up to date and can be used as a tombola prize or sold at a Vide Grenier)
• No CDs
• No paperbacks which are in poor condition or extremely old!

Wednesday 17th April – Ile sur Têt – 10-12
Frankie Ward will be at Lizzie’s this month.  She used to be a speech therapist and she is going to give a talk entitled « I ain’t going to teach you to talk proper ».  Should be interesting and fun.  Coffee and cake as usual. .

LOOKING AHEAD

Wednesday 10 April CSF Open Meeting Hotel Le Mas des Arcades Perpignan

Not long now before we assemble for our annual Open Meeting.  Quite a few of you have already signed up but please, if you haven’t and are teetering on the edge, here are the details again to help you decide. *

Our Open Meeting is a chance to meet up with people who are involved with CSF and who use this occasion as a good excuse to come and have a chat and get acquainted with all things national and local. It’s informal and friends and family are welcome to join us.

We will start with coffee at 9.45 and the meeting will start at 10.15. After a brief update on all the CSF news, there’s a talk from our guest speakers Alain and Monique Perrault who have worked for a long time for La Ligue contre le cancer. This is the 100th year that La Ligue has been in existence. Monique and Alain will talk about its history, what La Ligue does and about the research they carry out.

Saturday 13 April Spring Fayre Argens-Minervois – Aude 10 – 4pm

Forgive me if I don’t go into great detail about this Spring event in the far-off land of Argens-Minervois. It’s not on our patch but have a look at the poster attached and you’ll see that there’s mention of a fish & chip lunch which apparently is not to be missed! There’ll be stalls and games and music and fun to be had so take family and friends, have a day out and go and explore before our roads start to feel the Easter rush.

Sunday 12 May Vide Grenier St Cyprien
CSF will be at the Vide Grenier again this year. We’ll have books and DVDs of course, and you can certainly add to these, but we also need other things we can sell. Anything which is in good condition. Bring them on the day or to one of our Drop Ins or let me know if you need anything picking up.

Some of you have very kindly offered to help on the stalls and I’m putting together a small rota. We have had a good response but we could do with one or two extra pairs of hands just to give people a lunch or coffee break.

Wednesday 15 May – Sunday 19 May CSF NATIONAL CYCLE FOR LIFE 2019

In May 2019 our cycle ride will take place over 5 days in the Languedoc-Roussillion.

I know there’s a lot of information here but this is an important event in the CSF calendar.  It covers a large part of the south of France and events like this help enormously to reinforce our presence and validate the work we do.

Friday 24 May CSF Sponsored Skydive Ariège 11am

In 2017 a CSF member lost a dear friend to cancer.  This year as she reaches her 70th birthday, she is performing a skydive in his memory to raise funds for Cancer Support France (Sud).  This all happens at L’Aérodrome de Pamiers, Les Pujols, at 11am.  Sponsorship is easy.  All you have to do is contact Pam at pam.mercer@live.com

Thursday 5 September CSF SUD WALK FOR LIFE Prats de Farga Maureillas
Last year our Walk for Life event went very well.
This year there will again be two sponsored walks although they will be different from last year.

Also lots of activities, including pétanque, stalls with cakes, books, bric-a-brac and CSF products. There will be a licensed bar, tea & coffee. Also a barbecue where you can cook your lunch so bring a picnic and we can all sit and eat together. A good day out for all the family. There will be more details very soon.

Diana Eastaff