Animation .

The first of the new seasons strawberries in the greengrocers. €2.50 for a small punnet. The two ladies ahead of me in the queue tut loudly. '' Outrageous prices. Quite outrageous ". ' Local and picked this very morning Mesdames ' comes the response. They each buy a cauliflower. ' Picked this very morning? ' . Angus wonders how many strawberry pickers start work at four am . He keeps this thought to himself.

Off to the cafe under the arcades . Wilf settles down with his bowl of water . He's soon enjoying his illicit half croissant . As a matter of course the waitress stoops down, tears the dough into small, bite sized , pieces, and feeds them to him . He takes them gently. She chats away to him . He falls aleep. Angus reads the paper . This morning the beer and absinthe set are arguing animatedly . The French Presidential elections seem to be stirring deep passions . This is the first time I've seen them animated about anything. Even the man on the motability scooter is waving his arms . Perhaps the tax on alcohol is going up ? A sunny Monday morning with a small , trusting, happy , polar bear snoring at my feet .