Utility vehicle

You can get a lot in a convertible if you really try.  And the really trying causes endless amusement to those watching in the parking lot.  Useful on a day when France doesn't have a lot to laugh about.

The market seemed quieter, everyone seemed more considerate.  

Two of our three builders are from Morocco.  They were behaving a little oddly this morning when they arrived, and later - during a very long chat that tested my ability to be sensitive and subtle in French well beyond its limits - they confessed that they hadn't been sure whether I would still want them to work here after Paris.  Hopefully my astonished face convinced them otherwise.

So we chatted for an hour or so about what can be done, about the line between liberty and security, but in the end we all agreed that at the very least, everyone is entitled to the liberty to go to a restaurant in safety.  It was very interesting for me to have their point of view on all this.  And to see the differences in terms of 'communities' and 'ethnic groups' in France and Britain, in terms of the way they are perceived from outside and from within such groups.

Really fascinating.  And I applaud their openness with a somewhat gauche country girl who knows so little about them.  

Later, slow cooked lamb shoulder with prunes and tangerines courtesy of Mr B, and an early night for the kids courtesy of some bug or other.