40% of women prefer Frenchmen.

While Wilf enjoyed an after lunch doze we set off to visit the new supermarket that has just opened in what passes for our county town. 'The font' was navigating so what should have taken half an hour turned into an hour and a quarter odyssey of wrong turnings and inexplicable diversions. Why is it that when a new supermarket opens the parking area is never ready? Just how difficult can it be to level and tarmac a plot of land? We finally found a place for the car on the far side of the universe and navigated a trolley with a woggly wheel across an obstacle course of concrete mixers, electrical cables and partially laid pavements.

Leaving 'the font' to check out the fish counter yours truly trailed happily up and down the wine aisles. September is 'Foire aux vins ' season and the supermarkets clear out their old stock with huge discounts. What combination of factors could make a Scottish male happier?

Sitting this morning at the cafe in the square two articles in Le Figaro caught my eye. The first heralded the findings of a survey showing that France is the best place to live in Europe. It has the earliest retirement age, spends the most on healthcare and has the longest life expectancy in Europe. Its workers benefit from 36 days holiday a year and it comes just behind Spain and Italy for hours of sunshine. The UK and Ireland according to this survey are the most miserable places to live - a fact the newspaper was only too happy to give star billing to.

The second altogether more serious survey purported to show that 40% of women worldwide consider Frenchmen to be the most intelligent and proficient lovers. 40% of all women - worldwide! I couldn't help but think that for a country of 60 million people those Frenchmen certainly know how to get around. Hearing my snort of derision Wilf stuck his head out from under the tablecloth with a look that said ' Four out of five people are more in need of rest than exercise".