Earlier this year I received a push notification from The Economist about Europe’s most walkable cities.

Lyon was in fifth place.

Then today I got another news alert to this piece in the Mirror.

I guess it’s the same story as Lyon was France’s most walkable city for The Economist too.

But it’s nice to see Lyon getting some attention. Well worth a weekend break. It is gorgeous and the food ain’t half bad.

Cath spotted a recommended walk in our excellent local paper La Provence.

It was at a place called la Source de l’Infernet.

We tried to go a week ago but torrential rain broke out five minutes into our walk so we reattempted it this weekend.

And I’m glad we did. The red rocks gave it all a Martian feeling.

Compared to the nearby Mt St Victoire which has a lunar landscape it felt like we were on a very different planet.

We went for an apéro in nearby Le Puy St Reparade.

I was struck by how typically Provençale it was.

I felt like we were in Jean de Florette, having a drink with the Soubeyrans.

I saw my first ever Roller 365 days ago.

A blue and orange crow-sized bird.

I’ve seen one or two since but, in a strange coincidence, today Cath spotted one flying off.

They really are striking, exotic- looking birds.

I couldn’t get a photo as I was driving so here is last year’s one.

Today marks one year since we moved into this house on the outskirts of Venelles.

With a nod to the late, great Peter Mayle our year has been more about learning how to clean a swimming pool, dealing with the unemployment office France Travail, trying to get a visa changed and regular catch ups with French great nieces rather than discovering amazing food in the little backstreets of towns, dealing with visitors from the UK or overseeing house renovations including marble tops for tables.

It’s hard to beat the restaurants of Lyon so while the food we’ve eaten en Provence has, by and large, been great, we were already spoilt in that regard.

But we have, like Peter, visited a lot of the south of France and discovered delights like Lourmarin and Moustiers-Sainte-Marie and St Raphael.

We also agree with Mr Mayle that Aix-en-Provence is unmissable.

We have also now passed the three year mark en France. Two more and we can apply to become French citizens. Just need to brush up on the number of départements.

I stumbled across this post on a Facebook group for foreign entrepreneurs in Aix.

So I thought I’d go along and say hello. I was particularly interested to hear if anyone else had any visa issues or tax advice.

Café Lille is a lovely spot in Aix with nice coffee and it was a nice opportunity to meet a few people in the same boat.

There were about 15 of us altogether ranging from tour guides to wine tasting specialists, from wellness experts to web developers and designers.

It was really interesting to hear how everyone was making a living.

And there was some good advice re taxes. You have three years to correct mistakes apparently so it can wait til I have my visa.

On that front, I emailed la direction générale des étrangers en France to ask how long the visa change might take.

They replied to say there is currently no time-frame and that I should get an email after each stage.

I’m am yet to be contacted about any stage!!!

Eeek!

This morning I heard a cuckoo near our garden. Its onomatopoeiac call rang round the kitchen.

I went out into the garden and could hear it had moved further away.

I had never heard a cuckoo in France – actually that’s not true – I saw one in Guadeloupe, technically France. But that was a Mangrove cuckoo. This one was a common one.

And then I thought – I wonder what the French call a cuckoo? In the UK it is named for its song. But I bet the French have some weird name for it – like the noisy fool we saw in our garden – un bruyant fou!

I dashed to the dictionary to look it up.

C’est un coucou, évidemment!

It’s that time of year to start getting the pool ready for the warm days ahead.

I’ve kept on top of the little jobs throughout the winter – adding chlorine and emptying the skimmers and cleaning the filter every so often.

But as the days heat up, so does the pool – it’s around 20 degrees now. And when I tested the water to see the levels of chlorine and other factors – I was in for a shock.

The ph level was non-existent and the alkaline level wasn’t registering either.

The only thing for it was a trip to everyone’s favourite piscine place – Cash Piscine.

I took along a sample of the water in a mayonnaise jar and the man behind the counter tested it too.

Yes – I needed some treatments to raise the ph and alkaline levels.

Then it was the simple matter of reading the French instructions, working out the capacity of our pool then mixing up and adding the treatments.

Then I just have to repeat it every day until the levels are correct.

It’s not all plain sailing in the south.

Our younger son Nathan came for a flying visit over the weekend.

The weather was not kind but he managed to catch up with his cousins in Marseille.

Unfortunately Alma and Iris weren’t very well but we enjoyed an apéro together.

Afterwards we went to a famous Marseille pizzeria where the waiter – on seeing Nathan’s shirt – asked if that was his team.

Yes I replied, we are Fulham fans.

Ah, you lost today he said.

Oui je le sais mais merci de me l’avoir rappelé

Sheeesh!

On Sunday we Moustiers-Sainte-Marie – a beautiful village with the best croque monsieur in France.

But it was still hosing it down so we had to retreat to the house.

At least the snooker was on.

*

A son in the south

Last week I read about the Dubai chocolate craze sweeping the world – and the UK in particular.

Bars limited to two per shopper reminded me of toilet paper in Covid times.

Then today while shopping in Aix les Milles, I saw this:

So obviously we bought one.

And then did a taste test.

And it was quite nice – but certainly not worth flying to Dubai for.

Think I’ll stick to French chocolate.