Happy is the head that wears the crown

Going into the new year like kings and queens, plus how to deal with your leftover oyster shells and a recipe for slow-cooked pork with honey and carrots.

The view from the old market to the tower of Eglise St Jean-Baptiste. Soon the lights and trees will be gone for another year.

I begin the new year with lists, rather than resolutions. They comprise the general and perennial – read more, worry less – and the specific – reupholster the little sofa I bought from a man’s garage in Roujan six months ago, put…