When you bring a car into France from another country and intend staying for over 6 months, then the car must be formally registered with the French authorities.  Your registration plate (immatriculation) will be changed to a French one, bearing a unique reference together with the number of the Department in which the car has been registered.  The only exceptions to this rule are people who commute from a neighbouring country for work and EU students who are studying in France.

It's Recovery Sunday. Most Sundays in from May to October are. No, I'm not a seasonal Saturday-night binge drinker! I'm a gite owner, and most Saturdays and Changeover Saturdays.

Speaking as an English person, when one of my compatriots sees a few holes in a piece of furniture, their blood turns to ice and they hiss 'woodworm' through clenched teeth.

We in the South West are made of sterner stuff.  Woodworm are literally the small fry when you put them in company with termites and capricorns.  Woodworm, left to their own devices,  don't make houses unstable.

The 21st of June is World Music Day. Here in France it’s called ‘Fête de la musique’. This is a clever play on words. ‘Fête’ – as in festival, celebration – is a homophone of ‘faites’ i.e. you make. So as well as celebrating music, and the first day of spring, the occasion is all about making music too.

It is my birthday today.  Early morning heralded thunder and lightening followed by torrential rain.  Happily followed by cards and presents - Rick Stein's Coast to Coast (must start cooking something from all of my cook books or at my great age I am never going to get through them all) and chocolates.

Here are a couple of 'dictons' or sayings about June from the 1932 edition of La Prosperite a la campagne' magazine: