My sister and my cousin were on holiday in France and they stopped by to see us.

We met them in Marseille and went up to Notre-Dame de la Garde, known locally as la bonne mère for the best view of the city.

And then we went to Puyricard for an apéro before dinner back at ours.

There was even time for them both to try out the pool.

We have been thinking recently about selling up in London and buying a house in France.

Today we went to look at our first one.

It was in Bras – a property we had seen on Facebook.

It comes with a hectare of land and un poulailler – a chicken coop.

It also had the most amazing pool.

Which could be heated in the winter.

But I think it was a bit too big for us. The search continues.

*I know you don’t say it like that in French. C’est on recherche une maison.

We went for a drive to the seaside and once again encountered a herd of goats – or in French un troupeau de chèvres.

On a day trip to Arles we bumped into an old friend.

Lord Byron, river cruise ship. Often to be found moored at Confluence, Lyon near Euronews.

It takes people from Lyon to Arles via Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Avignon and Maçon to name but a few stops.

If you look closely it has a putting green on the top deck.

Two years ago, I saw a man practicing his puts here:

Un peu du golf sur la Saône?

It might not have been the Lord Byron but certainly one of its sister ships.

Like the William Shakespeare – also often seen in Lyon. This time from my old office window.

Anyway, it was nice to see her again.

We went for a day to the beach at La Londe-Les-Maures.

I learnt a new word in French – one I was surprised I didn’t know.

Le transat: a deckchair. And somewhat surprisingly you pronounce the final t.

At least I know for next time.

I read in the Times that France’s Prime Minister François Bayrou wants to clamp down on the country’s level of sick leave.

According to the report:

^{The French absentee level is one of Europe’s highest and about double that of Britain and the United States. The cost is estimated at up to €80 billion, more than the state education budget.}

I know from my time at Euronews that l’arrête maladie was a system that was easily abused.

In my two-and-a-half years working there there were at least two employees who I never met because they were on un arrêté maladie.

So there are definitely some loop holes to close.

And this is despite the fact that if you are ill and off work for even one day you have to go to the doctor’s to get a sick note.

The PM also wants to do away with two bank holidays and reform the unemployment benefit system.

The other thing I remember from my time at Euronews is the strength of les syndicats.

Alors M Bayrou, bonne chance.

Coutheron is the neighbouring village to ours. It seems to be the producer of vegetables par excellence.

Last year it was aubergines and then Swiss chard.

Now it’s:

And:

What a productive little village.

We have just come back from a lovely week in Santorini.

Coming home they were a few jobs to catch up on – la piscine évidemment.

I went to open the skimmers to put some new chlore in them.

Imagine my surpirise to find this:

They were full of aiguilles de pin.

Last year it was these little devils that blocked up the pool and stopped it working properly.

But I cannot believe this many of them have fallen into the pool in eight days – especially after a couple of the neighbouring pine trees were chopped down last year.

I’m going to have to keep an eye on these needles.

French President Emmanuel Macron came to the UK on a three-day state visit.

King Charles spoke of the need for the two countries to grow closer and Macron said that when France and the UK “come together around one table everything is possible”.

He also offered a toast:

Long live Franco-British friendship

It made me wonder – could that mean an easing of some of the post-Brexit bureaucratic slowdowns?

Might there finally be some movement on my application to change my visa status?

After eight-and-a-half months of no word at all, I will clutch at any straw.

Then again, President Macron also announced France was loaning the Bayeux Tapestry to the UK for the first time in 900 years.

So maybe I’ve got a little bit longer to wait.

As you may be experiencing, Europe is in the grip of an extreme heatwave – une canicule.

Une canicule is a period of high temperatures by day and night that lasts at least three days.

Well, it has been roasting for a number of weeks now and there seems to be no end in sight.

Eighty-four of 96 mainland regions are under an orange alert which has never happened before.

Having a swimming pool is essential at times like this. And two portable aircon units are keeping the temperature in the house just about bearable.

In fact next week we are heading off on holiday to Greece to get away from the heat – a nice balmy 30 degrees. Sounds like bliss.