Cath took me to Cucuron – a little village 30 minutes away that she had been to while I was away on work.

It is very picturesque with lots of nice-looking bars and restaurants.

We had a drink but on the way back to the car I spotted this sign.

Guignol Lyonnais.

Lyon is never far away, as I’ve noticed before.

Can you tell?

I’ve just got back from two weeks working in Moldova and Georgia.

I find a France gripped by Olympics fever.

Particularly about this guy.

Swimming sensation Léon Marchand.

According to the local paper il a conquis le cœur des Français.

Now it was the turn of le benjamin to visit us.

Unfortunately for me his trip coincided with my being away for work.

But he kept his mum company and made the most of our, now, super clean pool.

Cath has kept it in tip-top shape while I’ve been away and Nathan got her to buy a couple of frites and a little bouncing pool ball.

I got to play in it with Nathan on his last night – at 23h30 after I’d been travelling all day.

It was great fun and lovely to see him if only briefly.

Come back soon.

This is a little unexpected. I’m in an area of Georgia this week helping a small newsroom with their election planning.

The journalists tell me about the town’s most famous son who sounds familiar.

Charles Aznavour.

There is even a star in his honour at Akhaltsikhe’s Rabati castle.

When I look him him up on Wikipedia it says he was born in Paris in the 6th arrondisement.

But his father, Misha, was indeed an Armenian from Akhaltsikhe.

His family then ran an Armenian restaurant in Paris.

So I guess that does make him a famous son of Akhaltsikhe.

Maybe not Georgia’s most famous son – but then the less said about Stalin the better.

Work has taken me to Georgia.

On my first night in Tiblisi there were still some reminders of France.

It’s just like Lyon!

I’m doing a week’s work in Moldova and have noticed that as well as saying multumesc for thank you – the Moldovans, who speak Romanian, also say merci.

There is even a supermarket called Merci.

Although I detect quite a few Italian words in the Romanian language they also say déjà for already.

Languages – they’re funny, n’est-ce pas?

As I begin my new life as a consultant and am flying out to Moldova and Georgia for two weeks work I spotted this ad for car rental firm Sixt at Marseille airport.

I’m guessing it’s a play on treize – the departmental code for Provence and très.

Pas mal.

We’ve been in England for a few days and when we got back and checked the post there was a letter for me from France Travail.

It was about my appointment on 4 July and was asking why I hadn’t attended.

Now, readers of this blog might remember that I did attend an appointment at France Travail on 4 July.

The only ways of letting them know this is via their website or by post.

The problem is my account is still in the process of being created and so I cannot send them any messages.

So it was off to the post office to send a letter as fast as possible to the job centre. It said I had only 10 days to reply so I needed it there quickly.

I asked the man at the counter how long it would take to get the 13 km to Aix.

Mercredi, I was told.

Les camions ne roulent pas le lundi.

Le facteur

I should have just delivered it by hand.

Here’s a great example of giving your audience news that is useful to their lives.

La Provence marking the start of the holiday period to talk to an expert on how to make the most of les grandes vacances.

The tips include breaking your routine, turning your phone off and having a siesta.

I must have been on holiday for the last couple of months!

But seriously this is the type of journalism I will be advocating to clients in my new – as yet – unnamed- business. Articles that are useful to their audience.

Colibri media already exists so it might become cigale media.