Marigolds

The self seeded marigolds are out in the street. They seem to find any small cracks and crevices to grow. I was in town this morning and collected my new glasses after doing the usual market shopping. We had a good tennis lesson but no one turned up for French conversation. This did not disappoint me as I have a very busy week with meetings and other activities so a quite afternoon was appreciated. The oil delivery arrived with the tanker blocking the street. I had cleared it with the local police. A car had to wait so I explained it would only be two or three minutes. The driver was not happy saying he had an appointment in three minutes and backed all the way up the street. The tanker driver told me I should have told car driver it was his fault for not leaving five minutes earlier! I think that advice might have earned me a punch in the face! Last night three of us made another attempt to submit the correct paperwork for the painting Association which has been rejected three times! Our numbers have dwindled so when we submitted last year's paperwork, the Prefecture said that it did not comply with our original 2004 statutes because we can no longer muster five people for the organising committee. To allow us just to have a president, a secretary and a treasurer, we have had to change our statutes and this has been very complicated. Any trivial mistake means the paperwork is returned and we have to start from the beginning again. People here are used to French administration and just give a a smile and a Gallic shrug of the shoulders if you complain!