A clash.

Work has moved from outside to inside. Broken or uneven floor tiles lifted, relaid, and in some cases replaced. Wilf is kept downstairs to avoid the obstacle course in the upstairs hallway . The builders have brought biscuits so he is quite content to lie in the sunshine by the font door.

Madame Bay is in the kitchen when I return from the croissant run . Wilf has positioned himself on the floor his nose pointing towards the thick slice of buttered toast held in her right hand. '' It is simply impossible for me to work today M'Ongoose. I must be in the kitchen ". It soon transpires that Madame Bay means the salle des fetes kitchen .

It is the weekend of the village fete and our saintly cleaning lady and the ladies of the Village Fleuri Committee are preparing tomorrow nights dinner. Pouring a second cup of coffee she passes a xeroxed flier across the table to the font.

19.30 : A la salle des fetes - Mounjetade

Veloute d'automne
Terrine au foie gras sur son lit de salade
Jarret aux haricots de Soissons
Fromage
Pastis gascon
Vin, cafe et digestif

Bal Disco avec Best System.
Venez nombreux.

We'll see you at seven thirty she says before rearranging her lime green turban and heading out of the door to the gold metallic ' wild child ' voiturette parked outside. Amid the crashing of gears and the hearty revving of the two stroke engine she's off the full forty yards to the village hall.

" I wonder if she knows that France are playing England in the rugby tomorrow ? " I ask ' the font '. A battle royal over access to the kitchen between the rugby crowd and the Village Fleuri ladies looms large.