ORGANIST

This is Maurice du Plessis.
He's in his eighties, has had two knee operations, but he remains as fit as a fiddle.
He also plays the organ in St Jean-Baptiste, the amazing gothic church in the centre of the village, just a few paces from our front door.
Many years ago, when we walked with a group of French pilgrims from Conques to Agen, he drove the back-up car.

THE PAINTER

This is Mark, one of our neighbours. He used to be a painter. Of houses. I once told him that in a few years I'd painted more houses in Mezin than he had in a lifetime. He looked confused, so I showed him my painting of Mezin from a nearby hill. The composition consists of a view of the houses in the village that surround the church. I don't think he understood.
He also tried to give me a cage full of snails one day. I told him they'd eat my flowers. I think/hope he realised it was a joke.

JOURNALIST AND RUGBYPLAYER

Eric is a journalist with La Depeche, our local, regional, daily newspaper.
He covers all the sport in the area and used to play rugby at a high level.
He asked me to change the colour of his jumper, but that proved too hard - so he'll have to be satisfied with pink.

ARTIST

Hervé runs a rural gite near Villeneuve de Mézin, one of the villages nearby.
He is also an accomplished artist, and is always in charge of the exhibitions held in Mézin, including the annual exhibition held in the Salle d'Almeida.

M. LE MAIRE II

This is the second painting I've done of Christian Bataille, maire of Mézin.
He's kindly agreed to open my exhibition at the Tourist Office on 5 November at 6.30pm.
His portrait will be amongst about twenty other village personalities - plus some other portraits and self portraits I've done over many years.

BAKER (RETIRED) AND PETANQUEUR (STILL GOING STRONG)

This is Marcel Manaberra, the renowned baker, now retired. But he's still a formidable petanqueur or boules player.
Marcel told me that when he first came to Mezin in 1956, the village boasted a cinema, several bars where you had to book a table to play cards, two vehicle service stations, and, wait for it, TWO brothels.
They sure knew how to live in those days.

THE ENGINEER FROM MONTCRABEAU

Keith is an engineer (with lots of letters after his name) who spends half his time in France and the other half in the UK.
Keith's wife, Liz, produces wonderful pottery.
They live in a lovely house in the beautiful town if Montcrabeau in SW France. If you stand on tiptoe on the top floor, you can just see the Eiffel Tower in the distance.
On the first sunday of August the fête des menteurs, or "Festival of Liars" is held in their village. The competitor who tells the tallest story is pronounced Roi des Menteurs or"King of the Liars".
Oh, and yes, they both liked the portrait I did of Keith.
You now have to decide what parts of this copy are true and what bits are complete fibs.