Old chap sticks it to Arundel

My god, the sun came out and it was quite warm. Global warming must be worse that I thought. This is a real problem up north as the tundra which should be beginning to harden up for the long cold winter, is still a glutinous mess. Talking of glutinous mess, I am reminded that Peachy Butterfield will be with us in Valbonne when we escape from the UK in a couple of weeks time, I do hope he is enjoying his current northern diet of tripe, road kill  and fried meat in cardboard which is all you can get up there.

Yesterday, shorts were donned, the seaside was visited, and it even looked nice in the morning walking on seldom seen sand at low tide at Rustington. Now, tides. Those are a comparatively new or long forgotten phenomenon for us chaps who have spent the last eight years living in the Cote d’Azur. The Mediterranean is largely non tidal, which makes it easy to put a nice restaurant close to the sea, and whilst I understand that in the UK a restaurant must be set back a bit from the sea because of the tidal ebb and flow, but 3 miles? I have yet to find anything that is not a beach cafe or a fish and chip shop, certainly nothing decent where you can get a glass of wine that is nearer to the water. For an island race we do seem not to be able to make the most of our seaside resources.

When it comes to making the best of ones resources, Arundel is far more developed. For instance, I went across the road to take a picture of the classic Post Office building against the backdrop of Arundel Castle, the seat of the Duke Of Norfolk, and as you can see, I have also been able, at the same time, to capture a chap using a walking stick, a theme that has had some resonance in this column over the last few days.

Arundel basking in sunshine and walking sticks to the fore

A new discovery has been made by that nice lady decorator. Due to the prices of wine over on the UK, we took the precaution of cramming as much of our favorite tipples into the car for the trip back. For her that means prosecco, but keeping it cool is an obsession. Today though, a breakthrough was made.. Frozen grapes.  Yes, she has discovered that frozen grapes work brilliantly as ice cubes, but far more importantly they do not water down the drink, just keep it cold. A triumph for the enquiring mind.

Talking of enquiring minds, I think it takes such an animal to seek out the best foreign exchange rates, and eventually the best minds will congregate around Currencies Direct.

It seems we are about to have 4 warm days on the trot here in my enforced exile in lovely Arundel. They have a large heated swimming pool close by called the Arundel Lido, but when one is used to having ones own pool this is somewhat less alluring. It seems it is heated to 27 degrees, a temperature that we could only achieve in our unheated pool in Valbonne by the addition of copious amounts of cold water.

If you want a Cote d’Azur link to the Olympics then we now have one. Lisa Dobrisky has qualified for the women’s 1500 metre final tonight and her mother attends French classes in Mougins, meaning she must live in the area. It also means there is another potential client for Currencies Direct that I must see out and  convert.

Chris France