It seems to be a custom round here to 'faire les voeux' - in other words,wish one another a Happy New Year - and make an evening of it.

My neighbour announced that she and her husband would be coming round at about seven, and remembering last year, we put champagne in the fridge, CC made mince pies and Jay went shopping for blinis, cream cheese and smoked trout. I did toasted slices of baquette topped with foie gras.

When they arrived everyone greeted each other with four kisses - or a handshake for two men - then Bear hid behind a book and Whale came through to try out his French. The youngsters escaped to the kitchen to 'do the catering' and left me to make most of the conversation. After a couple of glasses of champagne we all relaxed a bit but, I must say, none of us was sorry when they got up and took their leave just before nine o'clock.

But it wasn't all over. Last week another neighbour telephoned to say he would like to come round on Saturday with his wife. It was very difficult to say no but this 'self-invitation' was met with sighs of dismay all round. CC refused to make more mince-pies, Jay did the shopping but announced he would stay in his room and Bear was not at all pleased.

I misheard the time of arrival and  expected them at 7.30 but they turned up at 6.30! CC took over the nibbles, I got out the champagne, Jay found some whisky for Pascal and then disappeared upstairs. The Whale took to his bed claiming a sore behind and Bear produced a newspaper.

It seemed that Florence never ate anything in the evening (that accounts for her slim figure) and so we didn't even use the blinis. After a fair amount of whisky, Pascal became quite vociferous and political and seemed to be very much in favour of Le Pen for President. CC and I were pretty horrified but didn't get involved in a debate.

Thankfully, Florence was sober enough to steer her husband in the direction of home by 8 o'clock.

We are all crossing our fingers that it's too late for any more visits of that nature now that we're more than half way through January.

We welcomed in 2007 with a long meal 'a la Francais' last night - lots of small, well-spaced courses - which went on till 11.30. Then we gathered round the fire and the television with a panetone and champagne to toast the New Year.

For the first time, Bear joined us at the table and even went so far as to compliment Jay on his cooking! While clearing away CC dropped a dish from the hostess trolley containing left over potatoes and he helped clear up saying, 'Don't worry, we know where we can get a replacement.'

Today, however, when we were invited to 'dessert' with the friends who came here for Christmas Day,  Bear decided that he was ill and took to his bed.

This was the second invitation we have had to go for dessert and it's a custom I hadn't met before. The first time, at our friends in the next village, we found she had made a chestnut and chocolate log - delicious but very rich - which was accompanied by champagne and followed by coffee. Today, we arrived to find a beautifully elegant table laid with an array of  sweet things, mostly homemade. There were marzipan delicacies, macaroons, chocolates, tiny biscuits, marrons glacés, walnuts from her garden and even crystallised ginger and, of course, champagne served with little pink biscuits called langues de chat (cats' tongues).

After we had nibbled our way through this selection it was time for the 'Galette des Rois'. I thought this custom took place on January 6th but, apparently you can do it anytime around Christmas and New Year. A token is hidden in the cake (made from puff pastry and marzipan), the youngest child present is expected to hide under the table and say who is to receive each portion but the said child wasn't prepared to play the game so his mum hid the cake under the table and he deigned, after some persuasion, to allocate the pieces. He cheated anyway and got the piece with the little toy so he was given the paper crown. He then had to choose his queen to wear the second crown and he threw it towards his grandmother with rather bad grace. 

It seems as though both the boys are becoming 'difficult' and my poor friend was tearing her hair out because they had been making candles in her kitchen and making a terrible mess but no-one seemed prepared to clear it up. I get the impression that although she loves seeing her daughter and grandsons she will be relieved when they go home. All the same, it was nice to meet her daughter and son-in-law and we all managed to converse in a mixture of French and English. It made a nice change for the Whale to visit friends and he was keen to try out his French.

Now we have to try to settle down to 'normality' - whatever that is - and begin to eat more sensibly, maybe even restart the diet and stick to it this time.