Well that was a surprise. It seems that the sky has been raining wet sand… There are reports all over France (and indeed Spain and Austria) of waking up to a yellow sky. Apparently, it’s something called ‘Sirocco’.

Sirocco occurs when a tropical, stationary air mass over the Sahara is found between a high pressure area vertically above the Tropic of Cancer line and a sudden area of ​​strong depression rapidly widening over the Mediterranean. The air is then sucked north and has been deposited across Spain, France and Austria.

All I really know is that the car looks a bloody mess!

It’s time for another trip up to St Gaudens today and that means it will be a long one. As you can imagine the queues for the carwash were pretty epic. [It’s apparently against the law to wash your car at home in France so that any chemicals/waxes etc don’t find their way into the water table].

While we stop at the petrol station however I see something weird. There seems to be an old couple filling their fuel cartons for their paraffin heaters… This requires further inspection. Ok, well that is interesting and something new. Apparently there is a separate place at the petrol station to fill these up – I guess that will help with recycling these and the very minor cost saving of doing it this way.

First stop – Noz. Random as always. Got a few bits and pieces but nothing special. Picked up an Argentianian Malbec for €2 though so happy with that. Picked up a couple more of the glass mugs with straws. Not sure if anyone else has seen or tried these ‘auto lightbulbs’ (sensor lights). We have no idea where we will use it but just generally interested if it works or not. Bumped into the Hutchinsons while we were there. I think I rather startled Elvina, but I did have the upper hand having also seen (most of) the rest of the family.

Action: Got the best vase/lantern – my plans for the pink bathroom are evolving and are not uninspired by the Villderoy & Bosch bathroom, a mint green will work well in a small space – it also needs some orchids and humidity loving plants to make a beautiful oasis.

BricoMarche – fail. No adhesive stuff for the walls in stock here.

LeClerc – Matt got a new cafetiere; don’t worry, it’s sized for visitors

Emmaus – Nothing much of note.

Troc – We’ve been looking at chandeliers for a while and he’s still thinking of this one. Sold. Still not convinced that it is large enough for the salon but we will test it and see. We can certainly find a place for it.

Heading to Super U we are already about 1.5hrs late for a FB marketplace pick-up so went down there before she left. €5 bargain and a bit of French practice.

Back to Super U – couldn’t be more over this being away from the house if I tried. Matt went to grab some stuff from the shop next door while I started the grocery shopping. I managed to get wine and beer before being slumped over the shopping trolley in despair. Eventually we were done and on the way home.

So, we have missed the France vs Italy game but we were at least back for the England Scotland game… Ugh… well that was a waste of time that we could have been working on the house (well done Scotland btw).

Having helped Matt get the second of the half boards in I pootle off to the shed to cut a new board all on my own. Not sure the boy was overly convinced, but I’m a pro. Obviously couldn’t then get it in to the house on my own, but neither could he, it’s definitely a two person job.

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We got the last one in but there was no chance of getting it up as we need to remove the old work surface first. That means all we can do now is go relax and recharge.

Night all xx

[6 February 2021]