Galets

It was hot hot hot this weekend. 34C upwards ... too hot to do much apart from laze around. But after lunch today we set out to Ornaisons, a nearby village that was advertising an art weekend on the theme of water. Maybe we could pick up some tips.

The first tip we could give them is, have some signs at the entrances to the village indicating where the event is. The streets were deserted, but sounds of amplified voices led us to the school playground. The voices turned out to belong to two pre-pubescent girls who should have been warned off going anywhere near a microphone. "They liven it up, don't they?" said one of the artists brightly, as we winced and clapped our hands over our ears. "Frankly, I'd prefer silence," I muttered, hoping she wasn't the proud mum of one of the tone-deaf darlings.

Most of the art was barely worth a second glance. But we did stop to admire these pebbles from the river, so delicately and skilfully carved with ancient-looking reliefs. So the second tip is, choose your artists carefully. We lasted 10 minutes before escaping to the Muso in Fabrezan for cold drinks (there were drinks on offer at the exhibition, but we didn't want to risk our ears being assaulted a second time). Later, reading and dozing in the garden, and yet another barbecue.