A few French oddments with a lot of bigger things to think about

There are big things happening - Brexit and xenophobia affect us both as UK nationals and as French dwellers.  But this is about more immediate or certain things.

This is the time of year when we have the Tour de France beguiles us with its brilliant aerial photography, not to mention the cycling.  And of course incredible cycling, with British champions coming out of our ears.  To top it off, Chris Froome, the ultimate climber won with a stunning downhill finish this evening and added the maillot jaune.

Then there is Wimbledon, and you can't really ignore the incredible Williams sisters, nor the British successes (to come, perhaps), Murray and Watson  in finals tomorrow.  But today we had an inevitable French success in the men's doubles with Mahut and Herbert beating Benneteau and Vasselin.

Tomorrow we shall perhaps miss the end of the men's tennis final as we head for les arènes de Lunel for the course camarguaise .  It's the Fête de Lunel and a week of hi-jinks in town, which we mostly avoid, but I am delighted to add this link to the sight of the bulls running through the town today.  But tomorrow evening we certainly shan't miss the football final as the French team take on Portugal - we'll be sharing hopes with our neighbours as they bring their tv into the garden for a grand party, win or lose!

This week I went to England to support my sister following an operation, and so ran the gauntlet of the current French obsession - for strikes.  In fact the air traffic controllers only delayed my outward flight from Avignon by an hour, but people who have tried to travel to work by train have had far more difficulties over the past few weeks.  I see that commuters on the southern region in the UK have had almost as many problems, but overall France seems to have overtaken the UK as strike centre of Europe.  But my travel was almost trouble-free, and my sister thankfully seems to be recovering.

So finally, the weather.  We live in a hot place, and I am thankful to have found a fairly simple watering system to keep our few vulnerable plants healthy in daytime temperatures nearing 40°.  At night is not much under 25.  We shall be seeking opportunities to cool off this summer.