Today another new bird put in appearance in our back garden.

It was un pinson du nord – a brambling. Only the second time I had ever seen one.

Then, before you knew it there were four of them.

They really are a lovely bird – similar to the pinson des arbres but a bit more eye-catching – particularly the males with their black heads.

I managed to grab a photo of un pinson du nord, un pinson des arbres and un verdier d’europe in the same picture.

Today is Ash Wednesday and so it was time to go to Mass. I don’t think I’ve been before in France – I’m guessing work meant I always missed it.

So today was my first experience of getting ashed in France while the priest (Père Noel) said:

Souviens-toi que tu es poussière et que tu retourneras en poussière

Turns out French cendres are quite a lot lighter than their U.K. equivalent- so much so that you can hardly make out the white splodge on the top of my head.

I’ve had worse.

Cath has been ill for a while so we had to go to the chemist in Aix for some anti-sickness medicine.

As we drove through the city we saw this advert partout.

Cath, who is better at famous faces than me, told me it was Australian actress Margot Robbie – of Barbie fame.

But maybe less well-known is that she is a Fulham fan – thanks to her husband Tom Ackerley converting her to his love of the Whites.

So, as we were playing Manchester United in the FA Cup in the evening, I took it as a good omen.

Turns out I was right.

Allez les blancs! Merci Barbie.