Haircut

It seems that the whole of the Herault is having a short back and sides at the moment. The council gardeners and handymen and women ('though precious few of the latter) are all busy tidying the villages and roads ready for the Tour de France which will blow through our neck of the vineyards on Friday.

The verges are clipped on about a No. 3, the hedges have been cropped so they look very surprised at having been made to stand up straight when they thought they were in for a long siesta. There isn't a piece of litter to be seen - although that's a fairly rare sight here anyway.

It seems to me that there is huge competition between the villages to look the best they can for national TV. When the cameras, strapped to cars, helicopters and motorbikes sweep through no mayor wants to left with egg on his/her face. And it's all very public. Present for the whole of the route is a chap in a helicopter, who gives a geographical and historical guided tour which goes out live on the telly, so there's no hiding if your village looks like a tip.

Personally, I love it and wish it looked like that all the time. In my childhood the verges and villages of Great Britain looked clipped and smart and pretty with flowers. Then some time during the 70s an edict went out that councils should no longer waste time and money doing that, so now they look much less kempt.

I don't know if this will work where you are, but you may be able to watch the tour pass through our bit on this website. We'll be the ones waving our arms and yelling (just like everyone else) on the bridge in Hérépian.