It’s new year’s eve and Caupenne is gearing up for its annual bun fight; a night of extreme eating, drinking and merry-making is in store for all those 120 people who’ve booked.

We’ve spent the afternoon preparing 800 “toasts” – little slices of bread, topped with all sorts of things. There’s ham, cornichon and pepper; anchovy butter, tomato and olives; tuna mayo, asparagus and prawn; and several other things too. They’ll be served as the aperitifs, with what I now discover is called “pousse rapiere”, the lethal mix of a local spirit and champagne that we tried on Thursday.

The meal probably won’t start till about 10pm; there are 5 courses and a different wine with each one; then the disco will start in earnest, going on till 6o’clock tomorrow morning. I suspect all the folks who live in the centre of the village will be there, since there’ll be no chance of sleeping tonight; you’ll be able to hear it from our house, a mile away!

The five long tables have been laid out by village, as big groups of people from the surrounding villages will be joining us. The two tables nearest the bar are reserved for Caupenne-ites, and with good reason; the folks of Caupenne certainly know how to enjoy themselves;-)

So for now we send all our best wishes to all our family and friends reading this; a happy and prosperous 2012 to you all. See you next year.