What time

You would never have believed from the weather on Sunday that there could have been so much devastation the day before - but the trees lying in the canal and alongside and across the roads told a very different story.

I think the decision from on high to order all businesses to close in order to keep people off the streets was probably a very sensible one. A consequence was that the supermarkets were allowed to open on Sunday morning until midday - which won't have pleased the Catholic church, who have a hard enough job getting people in through the doors these days.

I popped down to Monoprix because I was short of milk and was astounded by the number of people - the queue from the tills went nearly to the back of the shop. I've never seen so many people in Monoprix. I've never seen so many people on a Sunday - not in a shop anyway. I decided to go elsewhere for the milk.

My new guests arrival time kept changing by the hour as the train system gradually came back up to normal-ish service. They eventually pitched up at about 4.15pm, feeling weary, of course. I cooked dinner for them all last night which went on a bit, had 5 hours sleep after the clearing up and before breakfasts and prepping a picnic lunch for the late arrival guests to take to a friend who lives near Limoux.

Their catalogue of misfortune and error continued when they couldn't get hold of their friend, decided not to both go to Limoux only then to find that she was expecting them but her phone line was down so couldn't call. So they had separate lunches, one saw the friend but the other didn't and their picnic lunch was re-packed yet again and taken with them on the train to Bordeaux this evening. Quite remarkably for this day and age neither of them was carrying a mobile phone which didn't exactly help their communication.

At least their late Sunday afternoon arrival allowed me to take my other guests out to the truffle fair at Moussellens. Last year I bought a truffle and I noticed that the price had come down this year by 20% - even so, I kept my cash in my pocket - actually, I didn't have any cash in my pocket.

Beyond the donkey rides and the wine tasting, beyond the fallen trees and the clearing up operation, the snow-capped Pyrenees glistened in the sunlight and floated above the hazy skyline - magnificent in their glorious grandeur. Breathtaking.

Madness over for another weekend.