Weather and work

The ongoing summer of mad weather continues. Watching the internet reports of flooding in the UK is pretty scary as are the equally disturbing reports of 40 degree temperatures in south eastern europe, which makes me think that we have got off pretty lightly down here in the Languedoc. That's not to say that the weather here has been normal or expected but it has at least not been extreme in any way.

It has still been a bit of a shock for the locals who have been donning cardigans and coats and moaning about how cold it is for the time of year. It is all relative, of course. It hasn't been the weather that usually accompanies a Languedoc July and I suspect a lot of people taking their two weeks holiday here will have been disappointed. The wind has blown and the clouds have come and gone and come and gone and the showers have swept through on the back of the strong wind which seems to swing from east to west on a daily basis - when normally this would be a month of unbroken blue skies and 30 plus degree temperatures. Well, today we got just that - a clear blue sky from dawn to dusk, no wind and a fabulous Carcassonne summer's day.

Our extra stolen days in France are great, partly because they feel a bit naughty (even though they are certainly not) and also because we both seem to be able to get through so much more work and still have time for lunch and each other, which we wouldn't be able to do working miles apart in London. So for the last three days we have both been staring at our computer screens and manning our phones and yet enjoying coffee together in the morning, lunch together either at home, or as today just down in the square. We work the same if not longer hours but have more time together. We get everything done we need to achieve as long as the technology is working. How smug do we sound? The only thing we can't do is face to face interaction which can be a problem from time to time - I guess we will have to return to the big city at some point.

In the meantime, the decision to stay a few extra days was a good one. We both had work deadlines that wouldn't have been met if we had taken out 24 hours to drive back to the UK and we have had some good time together after spending many weeks apart earlier in the year. Isn't that nice? - well yes it is actually.