Holiday? What holiday?

The good news is that Wenge and I had 10 wonderful days in the south of France. The sun shone relentlessly, with the mercury by the pool reaching 47 degrees one afternoon and a sea temperature of 25 degrees, so it was a holiday for relaxation rather than activity.

Since we were in the foothills of the Pyrenees, we had planned to spend some time walking, but it was too hot and frankly more enjoyable to spend it by the pool or just reading a book. Or cooking, which I did a fair bit of.

We treated ourselves to a couple of days in Collioure, and found ourselves in the most beautiful sanctuary of a hotel just a few hundred yards off one of the main streets - a real oasis of elegance and calm in the throng of holiday crowds.

I had my own treat - my annual visit to the local wine merchant who gave me a guided tour around his selection of local wines (I swear he knows every winemaker personally) and helped me get my credit card bill to a respectable level. Our neighbours, who let us use their house, arrived as we left and are going to bring my purchases back in the car with them when come home - now that's what I call good neighbours.

There was a slight hiccup on the way home, when we had to get off our plane on the runway due to a technical fault and wait 5 hours for a replacement plane. Still, as it was Ryanair we were expecting them to just refund the £29 fare and tell us to f*#k off and make our own way home, so it wasn't too bad.

A long bank holiday weekend and it was back to work - my first week in my new position as Head of Internet. As I write it's Thursday evening, 3 days in, and I can't pretend that it hasn't been tough going so far. I'll be glad to get the week over and make a fresh start next week. Thank goodness for the weekend.

Melvis has definitely left the building

So, I'm sitting at the computer in our next door neighbours' house in Foix, that they've let us borrow for a couple of weeks.

I know it can get irritating hearing people go on about their holidays when you're slaving away at work, so I'll skim over the details: a beautiful old stone farmhouse in the foothills of the Pyrenees, overlooking a gorgeous valley; 38 degrees outside, the sun blazing on the crystal clear swimming pool; a fantastic kitchen and a Bang & Olufsson sound system. Ever the company man, though, I'm doing my bit right now by listening to the original Ministry of Sound 'Chilled' album.

Tomorrow, we drive to Collioure on the Mediterranean coast for a couple of days by the sea, then back here. I'll stop at my favourite Caves and let the owner guide me through some of the best of the local wines with a view to trying some out in the remainder of the holiday. Forgive me if I don't blog very much until I get back.

The glass is more than half full, by the way; a Minervois fresh out of the fridge to be precise...