Hello Everyone

As things start to sprout and bloom it isn’t difficult to name the flower of the month. She doesn’t have a lot of competition at the moment so surely the magnificent purple/pink/creamy Magnolia has to take first prize.

If you take a minute to find a spot where the hum of the traffic is well out of earshot and sit and listen to the tweeting and chattering of birds preparing for their spring renaissance, you can imagine a world without pollution clouds, where coughs, colds and flu have been wiped off the face of the earth and where No-Deal is just an old-fashioned card game.

This month’s Drop-Ins:

Wednesday 6 March – Céret – 10.30-12
Pablo’s Bar in the Place Pablo Picasso. Come and join us for coffee and conversation.

Monday 18 March – Laroque – 10.30-12
At the Café des Artistes there are paperbacks, English and French, and DVDs too.
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. We are very grateful for your support and it’s always good to have them.
However we must now be a bit fussy and say:

• 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 20 March – Ile sur Têt – 10-12
Lizzie is opening her kitchen again this month. Please come and see us. There’ll be coffee and cakes as usual.

LOOKING AHEAD

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

By now, you will all have received the official invitation to this meeting. It has all the details of the meeting and the lunch so please let me know if you haven’t received it.

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.

Please let me know, as soon as you can, if you would like to come. The lunch is €22 which you can pay by cheque or cash on the day. Full details in the Invitation E-mail.

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.

Participants will cycle through some of the most diverse landscapes, cycling from Mazamet in the Montagne Noire to Bedarieux (Haut Languedoc national Park) and then from Beziers to Perpignan.

The route distances will be between 40km and 50km per day suitable for novice cyclists and families. If you are interested in riding then please drop Sasha a line at admin@cancersupportfrance.org

https://csfcycleforlife.org
This is an excellent website which tells you exactly where all the stages take place. Whether at the first two stages or here in the P.O., we need people to lend a hand, particularly on the final 2 days, 18th & 19th May, as the race nears its end in Perpignan.

On the last but one day, Saturday 18 May, the cyclists will be riding the stage between Gruissan and Le Barcares. CSF members have lent us their home in Port-Leucate for the afternoon tea/beer stop and although P-L is technically in the Aude, help there would be gratefully received.

The last morning, Sunday 19 May, the stage is in the Pyrénées-Orientales, between Le Barcares and Perpignan, and if anyone can help with a small amount of marshalling we’d love to hear from you. This is our home turf so cheering and supporting along the route would be lovely.

Around noon we will need to be cheering people home in Perpignan. Here there’ll be the celebratory buffet with cakes and quiches and drinks all round.

Please contact Penny (sud-penny@cancersupportfrance.org) if you would like to help. Many thanks.

Friday 24 May CSF Sponsored Skydive Ariège 11am

This is a very worthy event. A 70-year-old lady is jumping out of an aeroplane to raise money for Cancer Support France! Would you like to know why and how you can support her? Please have a look at the poster attached.

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