The other day I was sure we’d witnessed an earthquake. We were walking up our drive when there was an incredibly loud crunching sound. Now, I’d heard that before, many years ago, when there’d been a very short earthquake in Washington, Tyne and Wear. I’d been doing an audit on a firm on an industrial estate there when it happened. Everyone came rushing out of the factory units to see what was going on. We found out later it had been an earthquake.

If you’ve been in France recently you can’t have failed to notice references to ‘la rentrée’ just about everywhere. So what is la rentrée? It’s the return to school, and it’s looming quite large on the horizon now with just over two weeks to go.

The week kicked off with a phone call from a former client.  A client who had seen every house in her budget range in the local area; and was still renting.  My heart sank - please God, she didn't want to start looking again.  Fortunately not, her sister wanted to sell her holiday home, which she had bought two years ago, refurbished and then gone back to Tokyo, never to return.  We met up and she took me around.  All of the furniture was covered in white sheeting.  Shades of Miss Haversham...  My client told me how much her sister had paid for the house and I was stunned into almost silence - a loss of E80 000 was easily achievable over today's property prices.  I promised to do an Analyse Comparative du Marche and we had a very jolly lunch.

August – the height of summer, but also the height of the biting season. Everything seems to be out to get you this month – mosquitoes, horseflies, ants, ticks – and the very annoying aoûtat. This is its nickname, taken from août – French for August – as it’s now it makes its appearance.

Why is French toilet paper predominantly pink? This question popped up in my brain today as I was doing the weekly shop in the supermarket. There were a few packets of white toilet rolls, but all the rest were pink. And, if you’ve been to France, you’ll know that it’s not a particularly nice shade of pink.

If you want to bring your animal with you to France from the UK, there are various rules and regulations which apply.