A modern day Sisyphus.

While the rest of Europe enjoys balmy, sunny weather the south of France remains shrouded in rain and drizzle. Today the maintenance man has come to open up the swimming pool. What cruel irony of timing. The maintenance mans sidekick - morose lad in blue bib overalls #2 - is currently fishing frogs out of the pool with a net. No sooner does he fish them out than they hop back in again. A sisyphean task if ever there was one. No wonder he's morose.

'The font' has gone back to London to see 'granny font' leaving Wilf and yours truly to fend for ourselves. With no pressure of time we were able to have a second cup of coffee with the bibulous pre-breakfast crowd at the cafe before starting our shopping for the day. Wilf was hopeful that he might get some boudin blanc from the butcher but with me in charge of the kitchen we both thought better of it . Had better luck with the macaroons in the cake shop - no preparation needed there. Onto the fancy garden shop for some box for a new hedge - €60 each! - scandalous.

Home to find the insurance on the flat in London has gone up 20% in a year. Phoned to ask what possible reason they could have for raising the premiums so much. The young lady at the other end of the phone answered my question with the disarming response " Oh, we're using a new underwriter. They'll let you rent out your flat to asylum seekers". Well that's ok then.