Day 297 (Saturday)

Last night we had a massive electric storm again and the thunder even woke me up. We sat outside and admired it for a while and I think it was the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard – it was quite dramatic. Early this morning it was still a bit cloudy so we had a bit of a lie in. I got an email from Chadwick saying that one of his gym buddies is interested in having English classes so I thanked him and wrote to the potential student, it looks like my work is really picking up now and it’s a great feeling. The weather cleared up by mid-morning and I sat in the sun in a summer dress for a few hours; it was bliss and it was great to see another humming-bird hawk-moth and it was early, it’s March 31^st and according to the following article it’s not due until April!

Scientific name: Macroglossum stellatarum

April to December. An immigrant from southern Europe and Africa. Resembles a hummingbird as it flies rapidly between plants and hovers to feed over tubular flowers such as Viper's-bugloss (Echium vulgare), during the day.

Similar to Bee hawk moths in flight but the Humming-bird Hawk-moth has orange-brown hind wings, which are evident in flight. It has forewings that are greyish-brown and a black and white chequered body. The caterpillars can be found from June to October, but most frequently found in August. They overwinter as adults in unheated outbuildings and in crevices and holes in walls and trees, pupating in a cocoon spun close to the ground, among the foliage of the food-plant or in leaf litter.

While I was enjoying the sun Huw walked to Carrefour to get some supplies for the two upcoming picnics and took some lovely photos. The first one is of the clouds and the aftermath of the storm.

Earlier this morning we saw that tourist boat from here to Monaco is back and taking tourists out and also the Big Red hop-on, hop-off buses are also back and they were pretty full of tourists.

In Carrefour he spotted this spa that can hold four people and the water can be heated – food for thought

When he got home he told me that I’d just missed Andy. He had rung the doorbell but because I was outside I didn’t hear it. Luckily Huw saw him on our street and gave him some shopping he had done in Antibes. He was working in Antibes today and knows a shop called So-Siq (in French that sounds like sausage) that is run by a woman for Lancashire. She has created a very specialist business catering for the expats off the boats and the Anglophiles who have learned the benefits of a full English breakfast after a few too many glasses of wine the night before. She sells French bacon that is cut into thicker than usual slices and also scotch eggs, sausage rolls and all the trimmings for a traditional Sunday roast. Andy bought us ten rashers of bacon and three scotch eggs for Huw. I had been hoping for a pie but they didn’t have any. We had a delicious bacon and chicken sandwich for lunch and very soon after, some huge clouds came over the bay again. We were gutted; we’d thought we’d have a few hours sunbathing! Ah well, the forecast for tomorrow and Monday is great. At around about 3pm the sun came back so all was well in the world again. I got all sorts of outstanding tasks done today, like my timesheets for Guillaume, some photocopying for next week but most importantly of all my new French phone. I have no patience whatsoever dealing with things that are made more difficult than they need be and this phone is not at all logical. Huw, who most of the time has the patience of Job (unless he is waiting to do something or waiting for someone) got stuck into the phone and taught himself the basics so that I can give my new number out. It had taken him ages to suss it out and he taught it to me in no time. Thank you Huw! So that’s it now; I have a French bank account, auto-entrepreneur status (and if I ever work out what that actually means I will let you know) a Carte Vitale (health care card), a social security number, a work contract and a French mobile phone. Je suis arrivé.

As usual we tried to watch the 7pm news during dinner and I was chuffed to bits to see my hometown of Llanelli has made the French news because they beat La Rochelle in the European rugby quarter-finals last night and I was further delighted to see our glorious moon rise in all its glory again after being hidden by clouds in recent days. Spring has sprung – well almost.