Rural charm or a pain in the arse

We have never failed to be impressed about the state of roads in France and in particular the speedy, pragmatic way they dealt with repairing, major breaks in the roads after the floods in 2002. The other day a man knocked on the door to say that, from the next day, our road would be closed between 8.00 am and 4.30 pm, because they are digging trenches to bury the overhead power cables. This same tale was told to the other 3 families that would be affected. Not a problem we all thought and some of us dutifully moved our cars "to higher ground". It has now been three days and because of the huge holes in the road, it has been totally impassable at any time. Only because I couldn't be bothered to move the car before 8.00 am, I arranged to leave it somewhere else. Lucky me. A couple of other families are now stranded, unable to get out to the shops or anywhere else, under their own steam.

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Jenny and Martin arrive for a two night stay on their way back from Spain to the UK. They have known Jan from her time (two years) in Vienna and have therefore been friends for over 30 years. After a glass or two of our favourite fizz we eat out at Mas de Roux which manages to satisfy even vegetarian James.