Farewell to Paul Sabatier

Term ended, the academic year ended, not in the usual swelter of June/July heat, but on a bright april day, with the Vent d'Autun reaching it's peak strength, and rain announced for the Easter weekend.
There was still a sense of tiredness in the classroom. 120 oral exams over two weeks, and the last being wrapped up. 120 scientific subjects in various levels of English, powerpoint presentations, the video projector light whirring in the gloom of the room.
Sophie brought her Ghekko in. She produced it from her bag at the end of the last exam, touchingly like a primary school child, and allowed me to take a photograph of it. She fed it a cicada, which we watched sliding down it's almost transparent neck.