French Escape

  A brief trip back to England revealed to me the things that I have missed while living in France.   As I sat on the bus from Heathrow to Cambridge, I was mesmerised by the autumn colours. The sun was shining, the sky pale blue and the trees were spectacular, as if putting on a show especially for me.  How could I have forgotten, so quickly, how lovely autumn is in England? I was so taken by all the loveliness that I didn't  take any pictures.  You'll have to take my word for it.  (The photograph above is one that I took last year, on Stourbridge Common, Cambridge.) I hadn't  realised that I missed the changing of the leaves. There are few deciduous trees around Menton and of the tress in my garden (two lemon, one orange, two kumquat, one fig and one persimmon) only the fig and the persimmon tree, lose their leaves.  The leaves on the persimmon had turned a lovely pale reddy orange before I left. When I returned  just seven days later, all b...

  Another obstacle has been successfully overcome, in the journey towards residency in France.    After three months in Menton, two letters arrived by email summoning us for a medical to assess our fitness to remain.  The first part, a chest X-ray (presumably to exclude TB) took place in a very smart radiology department in Nice. Our X-rays were undertaken at lunchtime, so as not to disturb the paying customers.    It was a short distance to the Prefecture and we parked easily—surprisingly, for a government building, there was plenty of parking (and just 1€ per hour). However delight turned to dismay when we arrived at the end of a very long queue snaking towards the entrance of the building.  We presented our appointment letters to the security guard, ready for a long wait.    I didn't know whether to feel smug or embarrassed, w hen we were whisked past the  barely moving line of people, which continued miserably inside the building and...