Mirabel-aux-Baronnies in southern France is a peaceful provençal village where the wisteria is in full bloom at this time of year.

However, the past few days have been eventful.

The first thing was that the village cash machine (ATM) became the target of an act of vandalism: during the night a stolen truck had been used to demolish it. It had been installed only last year after a decade of efforts to make this happen and had, as you understand, been warmly welcomed by villagers and tourists alike. The tragicomic thing is that the vandals left empty-handed: the cash box was buried under the crumbling structure it was housed in.

The second thing was a real Event (yes, I put the capital E on purpose because of its importance): on the day following the cash machine attack the whole village gathered for the reopening of one of its bars! Mirabel used to have two waterholes, but both closed, for very different reasons, one after the other, quite some time ago. And what is a village without a real bar? This has been a traumatic period.

But now it was time to celebrate the first reopening! And wasn’t it lucky that the village got this therapeutic event just after the cash machine attack?! The bar was thoroughly inaugurated in a ceremony that saw the mayors of the neighbouring villages as guests of honour and was led by the mayor of Mirabel, Mr Cornillac, who proudly cut the ribbon and helped pour the drinks – it was the aperitif hour.

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The bar will also feature a restaurant and a nice terrace, but we still have to be patient for a week or two before it opens for business: the infrastructure seemed to be in place, but the interior decoration still needs to be completed.

And in the coming weeks the second bar opening will follow! Village life can go back to normal.