Been on our summer hols, as you may have twigged, in Brit'ny, growers of asparagus spears. Returned to Blighty after a l-o-n-g drive the weekend before last. Fully intended to post an EDitorial last week, best of intentions and all that. Have been going soft and getting used to going to bed at a reasonable time, the lure of a Douglas Coupland novel proving strong. Nearly missed this week too, but I was strong. Grrr. Now I am returned.

Some random good points about life in France:

• the bread: they sure know how to make a French stick
• the roads: you pays your peage and drive at 130kph
• the parking: plenty of it and nearly always free
• the cafes: un cafe equals one zingy hit of espresso, and take as long as you like
• the civility: bonjour and au revoir every time
• the ice-cream: full-on fruity flavours, and pistachio too
• the opening hours: ideal for picking up a baguette on the way home from work

Some random not-so-good points about life in France:

• the doggy-dirt: tread carefully through city streets
• the post: took an epoch for cards to arrive back in UK
• the road signs, or lack of: can be a lottery
• the opening hours: not too clever at lunchtimes

Off to a poor start, admittedly, when we discovered that the hotel had only one room for our overnight stop, leaving seven of us jostling for beds in a single chambre. And I can't recommend spending hours on the road with three young children slugging it out in the back of the car: I want a drink; she hit me; I need the toilet; are we there yet?!

But cottage was fab with lots of local highlights:

• local towns Lannion and Treguier both appealing
• chapel at Kermaria-an-Isquit (if you can find it): Dance of Death!
• swimming at the Begard Armoripark: don't know why, but got free admission
• Perros-Guirec generally: top Trestrignel (sp?) beach, miniature ferry boats and mini-golf too

A bientot!

Ed