my village

It's been a while I know - I've been working flat out on the edits for Tout Soul - but when I woke up this morning it felt as if everything had fast-forwarded six months to spring.

The sky was hyacinth blue with a few swirls of white cloud and my neighbours were heading up to the market minus their duvet coats.

Several of the shopkeepers on the square meanwhile, have been busy sprucing up their facades.

As I walked Biff around the village yesterday afternoon I was treated to a scene straight out of Chocolat.

A crowd had gathered in front of the boulangerie where the new baker was perched on a ladder painting the letters above his shop. Meanwhile his lovely wife was busy painting the interior in a mix of fondant lilac and chocolate eclair.

My friend Pierre-Antoine, the owner of a fashion boutique on the square, has spent two weekends updating his wooden fixtures with silver metallic paint. 'C'est beaucoup plus moderne,' he declared, admiring his own handiwork.

And not to be outdone Félix the local artist has also had his paint brushes out. Since this picture was taken yesterday he has also painted his shutters bell pepper red, thereby flaunting the local regulations, which state that buildings on the square must be painted in tasteful blue and ton de pierre (literally 'tone of stone').

Every time I walk past the 'boho corner' as I call it, it brings a smile to my face. For all the talk about its brain-numbing bureaucracy, one of the things I love about France is that officials know when to exercise discretion.

The French treat their artists with indulgence and the mayor I'm quite sure, will turn a blind eye to Félix's eccentric decor and look instead at the bigger picture and the jolly bolt of colour that he brings to the village.

I've even been doing a little redecoration myself, having suddenly been hit by a pressing desire to paint the side doors to the garage earlier this week. It had nothing at all to do with avoiding the aforementioned edits.