After Don had played golf in the morning yesterday, we headed off to Perth for an afternoon of lunching, gift shopping, attending a civic reception, and then grocery shopping on the way back to Comrie. The civic reception, as I mentioned yesterday, was given by Perth's Provost, Bob Scott (pictured with his chain of office) in honor of the visit by the mayor of Cognac, France. (I am embarrassed to say I cannot remember or find the name of the French mayor.) In the photo, the Cognac mayor is holding a statuette of the Maid of Perth, a gift from our provost, and the provost is holding the cognac cask, part of his gift from the mayor. (The rest of his gift was the cognac to fill the cask and a glass to drink it from.)
We had lunch at a French creperie. It turned out to be a 2-hour long affair. The food was really delicious. We had a frogslegs starter, followed by crepes for our main course (Don's was l'Ecossaise which was filled with haggis with mushrooms and a special sauce; mine was Popeye which was filled, predictably, with spinach, goats cheese, and a light bechemel sauce). Then came an apple, caramel, and flaming Calvados crepe served with ice cream, which we prudently split, with cappucino to cap it all off. It was a lovely meal in a very nice new place which we certainly will revisit.
Our gift shopping was fairly successful. There always are a few items one cannot find the first time out, but we made a good start. At least we now have gift items to take to tomorrow evening's Friends of Cognac Christmas party. (By the way, we are used to using the term "holidays" or "holiday time" to include all peoples' celebrations at this time of year. In Britain, however, "holidays" are vacations so using the term "holidays" can be confusing. Don noted that the operative inclusive phrase hereabouts seems to be "the festive season." I think that's a splendid phrase, don't you?
Appropriately (but totally coincidentally), one of the occasional French markets was on in Perth. The pedestrian area outside of Waterstone's Booksellers was filled with booths and merchants with their wares: Provencale tablecloths, napkins, aprons, and other fabric items for the home; cheeses, breads, sausages; jewelry, clothing, and handbags; and various craft items such as carving, leatherwork, and porcelain. The market was frestive and colourful, especially on a dreary, drizzly December afternoon.
After we had done our shopping, we actually took our parcels back to the car and sat there in the carpark for about 45 minutes listening to the radio. It was good to get off our feet until the 5:30 reception in the city chambers.
We were greeted on the way in by the provost himself, a friendly, open man with a ready smile. As we entered the reception room we were handed a glass of wine. It was a treat to see some of the Friends of Cognac whom we hadn't seen since getting off the plane from the October trip to Cognac. We all mingled and chatted for half an hour or so until the official ceremony began. It was short and sweet with no translations needed as both men spoke in English. After the exchange of gifts and the taking of photographs, we were intived into an anteroom where a buffet (or "BOOfee" as they say in Scotland) had been laid on. Part of the evening's events included a concert in the nearby concert hall and so free tickets were available to that. Most of the folks were attending but we still had our grocery shopping to do and were anxious to get home, having been gone for the whole afternoon. 
This photo of lights was taken as we left the reception and headed back to the car. These are some of the loveliest "festive season" lights we've seen anywhere. The centers are like chandeliers with smaller golden lights all the way around. Aren't they lovely?
We both slept like logs last night. I'm sure I don't have to tell you where Don is this morning. We are having a couple of days of sunshine but crisp, cold weather before it turns rainy and warms up again on Sunday.
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