Satan rejected my soul and the bin men rejected my rubbish

The recycling procedure here is nothing short of impressive, as is the rubbish collection service. Rubbish is taken from outside the house every morning except Monday. You get two types of bag. One is yellow and is for recyclable stuff – paper, card, packaging, cans and plastic bottles – and the other is for general waste. Glass bottles you have to take to the bottle bank yourself – and I am well due a trip! Well, they took my recyclable stuff but my general waste bag had been opened up and inspected and left behind. Is there something I need to know? However, isn’t funny how quick we are to assume that the French are not bothered with any of this green agenda stuff, when in actual fact, even in a relatively small town like Bergerac they are running a better system of recycling waste than London! We should hang our heads in shame. (That should provoke some comments – Ed.)

I got up at 7am and waited until daylight before taking Mr Rusty out for a spin. This time I headed up into the vineyards of Pecharmant and found a myriad of lanes to explore and some great long downward hills to blow away the cobwebs. Given the opportunity of a steady slope Mr Rusty can reach some quite breathtaking speeds, despite my concerns in the stopping department. There’s always a grassy ditch to tumble into should the need arise. The sun broke through the clouds and lit up the countryside, and I chose myself a house to buy – in my mind. Anybody want to invest some cash in French property? With the sun and a warm breeze behind me I kept on going until I eventually came across a sign which pointed me back in the direction of Bergerac. One of these days I am going to get hopelessly lost, but so far so good. Anyway, there are worse places to be lost.

Back home for a hot shower, a vat of coffee and some writing before an appointment with lunch. I came across M&A already sitting outside the little restaurant on the old square which serves excellent salads and ice-creams – but not on the same plate. Fortified with a glass of kir we set about demolishing a delicious lunch and all the rosé they had. So we moved on to red.

It was such a glorious sunny day André took me on a guided tour of Bergerac, walking along the banks of the Dordogne and taking in his old school, open-air swimming pool, and other landmarks. Appetites reactivated, we stopped off at the fishmongers behind the cathedral where we bought a platter of oysters, prawns, shrimps and langoustine. Whilst that was being prepared, we looked around an antique shop and inside the cathedral itself. Picked up a bottle of Chablis and then back to the place I call home for champagne on the terrace.

Good food, a steady stream of champagne, excellent company and Maria Callas warbling in the background (I don’t know who invited her) and a good time was had by all until the wee small hours of the morning.