A light went out at Beauregard today and we have stumbled around in the dark all day.

Agen Hospital phoned this morning to say that Mum had died in the early hours.

Diddy has come home from school today with a page full of French tongue-twisters.

I thought I would share some with you…..you won’t be thanking me!

Now, with your best French accents, say the following, as fast as possible…..

• Six souris roses ont suserre que seize chats siamois ont chuchote cent six secrets chaque soir sans sourciller
• Pepin part pour Pampelune prendre perroquet pour Penelope
• Croc le croco croque la queue de Keke le criquet
• J’ai le houquet bilboquet passe la rue je ne l’ai plus!

This one has to be learnt by heart for Thursday…

• Tas de riz tas de rats, tas de riz tentant tas de rats tentes, tas de riz tentant tenta tas de rats tas de rats tentes tas de rats tentes tata tas de riz tentant

Not sure what they mean, (Google translate hasn’t helped much), so if anyone can throw some light on it….

FYI…in my English/French dictionary there are two translations of ‘tongue-twister’ into French: 1) ‘une phrase difficile a prononcer’ (’a phrase difficult to pronounce’ )….nah…boring!…. and 2) ‘une phrase a decrocher la machoire’ (’a phrase that dislocates/unhooks your jaw’)….much more interesting!

Have fun!

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Diddy had a girly day out on Saturday, with her friend, Hannah. They went to Bergerac, shopping with Hannahs Mum and did what girls do on tenth birthdays. A fun time was had by all.

Diddy did say though, that the clothes shop had a strange name for a clothes shop…Tati. I can only assume it is a subsidiary of Shmutters and Rags.

During my shop at Intermarche yesterday, I noticed a hair conditioner going by the name of ‘Bad Creme’….don’t think it would go down very well on the shelves at Sainsbury. Plus, a bright orange fizzy drink called ‘Diablo’….which is probably what our little angels turn into after one sniff. As for ‘Pshitt’….still going strong.

And on the way to Intermarche, I pass Mutant. I haven’t yet plucked up courage to do a shop there….the name’s just too off-putting!

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I nearly forgot…on the way through Tonneins, the town is decorated with, well, I’m not sure really. Lots of toy-art/paintings/sculptures. They are scattered about, on roundabouts, verges, central reservations, on the front of buildings. Little sack people, made of toy parts.

A good idea for rainy days and restless children!

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It was cold yesterday. Cold and windy and miserable.

And what does any self-respecting English family do on a cold, windy, miserable day? We go for a picnic.

It was all part of our visit to see Nana. She is at the Agen Hospital, quite a distance away. So we packed some eggy sandwiches, a flask of hot chocolate and some Agen prunes.

After the visit, we made our way to the canal that runs through that part of the city, found a bench, pulled up our hoods and started our picnic. We did get some funny looks from the passing joggers and cars, which we found highly amusing. We could imagine them saying….’Bet they’re English!’. And we didn’t disappoint. We finished just as the errant pigeons arrived to polish off the crumbs and set off for Aiguillon.

Aiguillon is at the confluence of the Garonne and the Lot. Stunning it is too. As you cross the bridge over the Lot, there is a spectacular view of the weir and two derelict mills. With the rain swelling the river recently, the level is high and the river wide and fast. Quite breathtaking.

 And it’s possible to get quite close!

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