I spy

At this time of year, as dusk falls the wisteria below our first-floor windows is alive with sparrows returning to their nests, fluttering just inches from the panes. In his youth Mystère used to launch himself from the window in his attempts to catch them (the main reason we invested in flyscreens). Now he has a more realistic view of his hunting abilities, but he can't help being captivated by all the avian activity.

A tough start to the day. Late on Thursday evening, a flurry of activity and an ambulance in the square made me think one of our frail elderly neighbours had some medical emergency. In fact it was her son C, having a heart attack which he did not survive despite the efforts of the paramedics. He'd had a near-fatal one five years ago, so his survival was already a bit of a miracle. He wasn't even 50. As deputy mayor and a true bon vivant he was popular in the village; the atmosphere has been one of shock and distress ever since. Today I stepped out of the door and met his partner J-M, who flung his arms round me and burst into tears. We went to C's mum's, where C is laid out in state in the best bedroom (normal practice here), and she too was weeping uncontrollably while visitors and family tried to console her. I had to borrow a hanky as I'd stupidly left the house without one. The square has been abustle with visitors all day; they've had to limit visiting hours to give his mum some rest. It's still hard to believe he's gone.

This evening, light relief at the launch of the season at the Centre Culturel. We are going to miss half the season as we'll be away, but I always enjoy this event as it's convivial and often the show that's put on as part of it is one of the best of the year. Tonight's was no exception: largely non-verbal comedy from Les Güms, who make fun of the disparity in their sizes and expressions. It's less verbal than this video implies and makes much play of clumsy acrobatics which I always think must be even harder to do. Very light-hearted and entertaining, just what I needed. The buffet afterwards was less lavish than previous years (despite the fact we had to pay for it this time!) but still very good. And I met a bunch of people I know, mostly members of my French book group which is meeting on Monday.