This one was in Lourmarin.

As the weather was lovely we went back to one of the loveliest spots we have discovered so far in our stay in the south – Lourmarin.

It is a very picturesque setting to have lunch and a stroll on a Sunday in October.

And the signs for sale in the shops let you know you are en Provence.

When we met a former BBC colleague in Aix recently he told us about a bookshop which had cats roaming around it.

It is called Mon Chat Pitre. So we thought we should visit it.

There were cats everywhere- both real ones and cat-branded products.

There were eight cats in total. They all seemed very happy with their life among the books.

I had to look up the word pitre which means foolish but, it dawned on me afterwards, there is some French word play going on here.

Le chat pitre = le chapitre. The chapter.

Very clever. Chat-peau!

À bientôt.

My elder son is coming for a few days later this month and wants to drive our car.

I rang the insurers to get him added to the policy and the agent was talking to me about la franchise. I worked out that that is the word for the excess.

Then I went to a bookshop and was looking for the last book in the excellent trilogy of crime novels set in Marseille by Jean-Claude Izzo.

The section of bookshops where you find crime fiction is called polar (m) – crime fiction.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have the book I was looking for

Today was the day that rendez-vous became available at the sous-prefecture d’Aix.

I need to get an appointment so I can change my titre de sejour to allow me to work as an auto entrepreneur.

The appointments go online at 17h00 on Thursday for the following week.

I didn’t get one as I’m not here next week so will have to try again next week – although this time at 18h00(?)

I also tried contacting them on X in the hope of finding a resolution.

*Un mouton à cinq pattes.

After buying some dolls, we went to the Pierre Bonnard exhibition in Aix. It was the last day so it was quite busy.

I wasn’t familiar with Bonnard’s work – a post-impressionist – but liked a lot of the paintings on display.

He was influenced by Japanese artists.

Bonnard loved to paint nature – particularly once he moved to Le Cannet en Provence.

This is the almond tree in his garden in Le Cannet – the tree is still there apparently

Afterwards we went for a stroll around the gardens of le Caumont Centre D’Art.

A lovely day out in Aix.

We saw another vide grenier advertised – this time in nearby Meyrargues.

It was on a different level to the one in Venelles and this time we came armed with cash.

Cath wanted to get some dolls and games for Alma and Iris when they come to visit.

This vide grenier had a distinctly Provençal feel to it.

We found some toys and dolls and a little pushchair.

Welcome to our family.

On an afternoon out in L’Estaque with Hanna and Alma and Iris, I potentially found a new job.

Don’t know if you need previous experience.

C’est une mante religieuse je crois.

This morning we had about 10 pinsons in our back garden, on the grass.

There were also a couple of mésanges. charbonnières

Now when you have a flock of pinsons it is always worth checking there are no pinson du Nord among them.

Malheureusement il n’y en a aucune.

And if you are really lucky there might be une cenelle.

Mais non, pas de cenelle non plus.

Bird glossary

Un Pinson – chaffinch

Un Pinson du nord – brambling

Une Cenelle – hawfinch

Une mésange charbonnière – great tit