It's voting day in St Etienne de Gourgas

M. le Maire and his adjoints must have risen early this morning, for when we got to the mairie , shortly after 8a.m. , they were already in position in the maire's office. The bust of Marianne had been removed from the large polished table to make room for a large transparent ballot box which now sat centre stage, while the maire's adjoints were seated in position to check voters' identities, and ensure correct procedures were followed. Outside the mairie, different political parties had pinned up posters, while political literature and personal political 'bulletins' have been arriving in all voters' letter boxes over the past week or so. These same bulletins were now arranged on a table to the side. The procedure is such that one takes a small selection of these, then enters a booth in order to place one's chosen party into an envelope , which is then posted in the ballot box.

B., now a French citizen, was one of the earliest to arrive to cast his vote. Elections for the European parliament have been taking place this weekend all over Europe. Sadly, although I was once able to cast my vote, after Brexit I am no longer entitled to vote in France.

Every political party has a list, for which one votes. The percentage of votes cast for each list, determines the number of candidates from each list who will become M.E.P.'s

My blog is strictly apolitical, so I could not possibly comment on the election posters that we saw posted outside the Cathedral in Lodève yesterday!

But let me just say that I am holding my breath that Europe will remain united and fair towards every single one of its residents.