A wonderfully full and busy day. We were up early to breakfast together with Croissants and Pain au Chocolat from the Boulangerie. We then drove to the supermarket in Ornans to buy enough to feed about 40 people in the afternoon. We had a lazy lunch, Jeanne arriving just as we were thinking about coffee. Jeanne is my great aunt, an octogenerian full of vitality. Her husband, Georges, is my grandfather's brother and has Alzheimers. He no longer knows who anyone is and Jeanne continues to care for him with a dedication and acceptance that is really quite astounding. We would sometimes stay with them when I was a child and you could not have met a more welcoming and big hearted man. We had a lovely chat before Christoph (the owner of the gîte) came and asked if we would like to see his cherry harvest being received by the Cooperative de la Marsotte to make Kirsch. Nick, Kards and I jumped at the chance and followed his tractor through the narrow streets to the Kirsch 'headquarters.' There Nick helped to weigh the cherries before tipping them into the cellar below to age. Everyone's hands were deeply stained by the fruit and one of the men told me that it often takes weeks for them to lose the colour.

On our return to the gîte many of my family were arriving. Chantal, Gérard, Joffrette, Christine, my god mother Poulette and her daughter Manu with her family. Nadine, Christophe, Marie-Ange, Julien, Lydie.....and on and on. Nick manned the barbeque, Kards poured drinks, my mother chatted and the children ran about, threading their way through all the people gathered. It was a really special afternoon for me, to see so many of my family gathered together and I made the most of every moment. Everyone had brought food to add to the table and the variety of tarts was a sight to behold :)

I went to bed a very happy woman.