Day 85 (Thursday)

First thing this morning the sun was as bright as usual and all was well in the world. Huw had to go into the office in Nice and spent a few hours doing my French online course. I am happy to say that I’ve now gone up from 37% to 48% and I achieved this by doing a test. I’m ashamed to admit that I did cheat a bit but I was determined to pass the test as I’ve failed it quite a few times – surely I’m going to start speaking soon?

Ever since we got here there has been a really sad little Citroen 2CV6 parked on our street. It looks like it hasn’t moved in years and they are such wonderful, fun cars – what a waste.

I’ve never paid much attention to cars but these I love, I just someone would do it up and put it back on the road. On the other hand on the road below us there is another Citroen in immaculate conditions that is used every day and it’s beautiful. And I love these hedges!

Near the flat there are also two beaten up Renaults but at least they are on the road unlike the poor green Citroen. It has never occurred to me to take pictures of cars before but I’m hoping to get enough photos of Citroens and Renaults in nice typical French surroundings to make a very French poster.

After lunch the sky clouded over and we actually had a few drops of rain – incredible! Not enough to wet my flowers or the parks but it was very odd to see rain after all these months. By 4pm the sky was blue again so all is well in Villefranche again.

While the Brits are famous for queuing it is the total opposite in France. The main times I’ve noticed this is waiting for buses, they don’t even pretend to queue, they squash together towards the end of the stop where the driver is likely to stop and open the doors and then they (mostly the women) just barge ahead regardless of who was there first. As I’ve said in this blog I have been physically shoved out of the way twice and on both occasions the pushers were women. Stephen Clarke has kindly explained this phenomenon to me.

The French think that queues are for people who have time to waste, whose lives are so boring that they have nothing better to do. Waiting in line is an admission of defeat. At bus stops, taxi ranks, cafes or almost anywhere where queuing is not imposed by barriers, the French will not wait patiently. Queuing barriers have only been introduced in the past few years and the depressed look on the faces of Parisians who are obliged by little plastic posts and lengths of polyester to wait their turn proves how tough it is for them to give up their habit of pushing in…it’s all about moi, my life, my lifestyle. If yours were important, you would be trying to push in front of me instead of standing like a cow waiting for its turn at the abattoir. France’s real motto is Liberte (freedom), Egalite (equality), Get out of my Way.