Wrapping up

I got back from a hot Nice to a cold, grey and wet south coast Friday.

I am definitely in the school of ‘rent not buy’ when it comes to overseas property but it took 3 hours to pack everything up and another one to unpack sandwiched by a flight in a compacted easyJet flight with screaming babies. So at various stages I thought how wonderful it would be just to leave everything behind you which you could do if you owned the place. Mind you, despite lists and utmost care I still contrived to leave 3 items behind.

France is till gripped by strikes by workers anxious to protect  their historic rights. Jacques Chirac had to abandon his labour reforms in the face of industrial action so little expectation is attached to Emmanuel Macron achieving this. French people seem to accept strikes – and the corruption of their politicians – with world-weary cynicism.

As I did my weekly shop at Waitrose yesterday to be confronted by neatly wrapped in cellophane vegetables. I missed the colourfully set out produce of the Cours Saleya market, the cheerfulness of the stall holders and the flavour of their  fruit and veg. I do admire the French in protecting all of this as we have so few greengrocers left in the face of the creeping supermarkets. I also found an excellent man’s shop, reasonably priced with shirts and shoes my size and would not know an equivalent in London.

The Easter trip to Nice is fixture in the Rust calendar and long may it continue …