les Davey de France

Yesterday afternoon I got home from a meet-up in the city centre to find a row of police cars, a trails moped and an ambulance parked on what we nickname bang-crash wall. Initial fears were fed by the fact that the ambulance seemed in no hurry as a stretcher was loaded up and its load completely covered before being placed inside. Still the vehicle waited before eventually driving off. "They placed the white sheet", said one neighbour, ominously. More extensive investigation (we asked the people who were moving out just as the accident happened) revealed that nothing quite so tragic had transpired: a young hothead on a moped was being chased by a police car alongside the Pape Clement vines. On our really dangerous corner he hit the pavement and came off his bike, appearing to have perhaps broken his arm.

I had an appointment at the bank at 3 to talk about insurance. To be honest, I wasn't very keen on going but I want the bank to be good to me so at present I'm being especially good to the bank. So I left the house to hop on bus 4 down to the Alouette where our branch is. As I approached the stop I saw bus 4 pull in so I speeded up on the off chance that I would catch it. It stayed at the stop and the driver put the hazard warning lights on. He let me on board and continued a conversation with the bus controller. "Ah no, the police are not here yet. Well no, but the way things are they'll be hitting each other soon." Two men at the back of the bus were having a very heated conflict while the rest of us watched and wondered whether intervening would help or inflame the situation. "Come away" urged some women to one of the chaps. After several minutes the police arrived, charged onto the bus with pistols drawn, and yelled at the main combattant to ...

It's working again! When I changed my mobile phone, probably through not following the correct procedure, I ended up with a band that was neither use nor ornament because it would not connect to my phone. There was a fix on the internet, which involved discharging the battery, putting the module in the fridge for a few days, then trying to connect again. It didn't work. So a few days ago I thought it was time either to sort it out once and for all or to send it off for whatever recycling is possible for these things. So once more I ran down the battery (it was already flat) and put it in the fridge for about a week. Then I tried connecting. "You need to factory reset your band" came the new message. I did that. Then with just a tiny amount of jiggery-pokery - IT'S WORKING AGAIN! I'm pretty sure that a few software updates from Xiaomi have made the difference.

Lawrence survived the surgery, but unfortunately the nature of the tumour demanded the removal of his front right leg. So he has become a three-legged rat. Not only that, but his back legs have weakened with time. So the poor old feller's days of acrobatics, climbing and charging around are well and truly over. We're awaiting his discharge from the vets.

The surgery might be too much for him as he's quite an elderly fellow now, but he's still quite perky so it's worth a go. If not the tumour will necrotise and become painful.

On Saturday we made a quick trip to Toulouse to visit a recent church plant called Saint-Cyprien. After a fitful and restive night I woke and considered calling off our trip. We hadn't booked tickets or accommodation and, more substantially, I woke with a raging sore throat - in France, une angine. I gargled with aspirin and got on with it. Some reflection : budget hotel or AirBnB? We opted for the former. Hang the 20€ extra expense! Train or coach? That was easy. Fares and timetables obligent, we went by coach and returned by train. We hurried to the station to get a train from Pessac to Bordeaux and waved it goodbye as we narrowly missed it. So Bus 4 then 9 it was. We were in plenty of time for our coach and settled ourselves in. Arrived in Toulouse I consulted Google Maps to see how to get to our hotel by public transport. "Search me!" said Google Maps, "but you could hoof it in half an hour." So hoof it we did. It was a pleasant walk through the br...