Nantes. Monday 8th June 2009.

We sleep soundly with the electronic shutters closed tightly across the bedroom skylights. We don’t wake until 10.30.

A small porcupine wanders across the lawn and seems unfazed by our excitement at the sight of him; Alex calls him ‘Muffin’. I hope he is a regular visitor. The garden is full of edible delights. Wild strawberries grow amongst raspberry bushes and mint. A few zucchini flowers keep their yolky colour a secret as their petals clamp tightly together, little zucchinis are beginning to form below the blooms. The cherry tree only has a few red fruits to show, they are not ripe enough to pick and I will make sure I get them before the birds do in the days to come.

The village of Zola is an amble away and has everything we need. We stock up at the supermarket, each of us researching our edible preferences. The butcher, Boulanger and most other small traders are closed today. Now that we are back in France we will have to get used to Sundays and Mondays being slow as is the French way.

We just beat the rain as we pile in the door at home towing our shopping trolley filled with provisions. The rain comes down in buckets and as we relax inside our converted disco home, the thunder crashes and lightning flashes, hail falls to the ground in small white beads. I just love a good storm. Alex is busy discovering the stash of X-Box games, he is off and racing before long. John and I settle on the nearby couch that is wide enough for all three of us, its seat is shaped like a wave and is upholstered in rose covered red velvet. We sit head to tail, sipping warm coffee until we give in to sleep, but only for a while.

The fooz-ball championships begin. It is clear that JR and I have some practice to do as AJ wins each and every round we play. AJ helps with dinner and cuts yesterdays bread into cubes and tosses them in fruity olive oil and salt and pepper, to be toasted for our Lyonnais Salad tonight. Boiled eggs chatter against the bottom of the pot as they gently bubble and the smoky aromas of lardons pervade the house as they brown in the pan, releasing their symphony of sizzles. It’s lovely to be eating good food, the lettuce is fresh as fresh can be and the tomatoes blush with full ripeness, they release their unmistakable aroma as I tear them from their calyx. Our plates are piled high and are topped with a mustardy dressing. Bon appétit!