Provence is currently full of Parisians and Londoners dreading le grand retour. From mid August onwards the roads clog with tourists heading home. We've just done the opposite. It's a little weird doing holidays in reverse, arriving from rainy England back to sun-drenched Provence is so disconcerting because everybody is enjoying themselves and for us, despite the weather and the full cafe terraces its back to work, which means a car full of magazines to distribute (still 5,000 left out of the 15,000) and a couple of new book proposals to send to publishers.
There was one great surprise on our return: together Tanya and I had managed a feat which unless I am mistaken has eluded every resident of Provence for the last century or so. What's more the work happened without us knowing about it, on the initiative of a local company who were so keen to get on with the job that they started before we had even signed a contract. Most importantly they ignored the fact that it was August, a month when it is traditionally impossible to achieve anything....
I wish I could post photos but unfortunately our camera is broken so instead you will have to take my word for it - the building site to construct our house was officially opened!
Congratulations on the groundbreaking. My DP and I have been following your progress from the US since we met you in May of '07. Hopefully you'll get your camera fixed soon. (Though in the early stages, building sites are not much more than a hole in the ground...only the kind you pour money into. ;)
Posted by: S Brian Walters | August 17, 2009 at 01:45 PM