Not long, is the answer to the last question I asked. This time, I managed to find an English-speaking technical support number for Orange. And in case you’re reading this in France, and need to call Orange, it’s 09 69 36 39 00. Anyway, as I was listening to the “on-hold” music, the Livebox cut off again. It came back on, I called again, listened to the “on-hold” music, it cut off. It came back on, but by then I’d lost the will to live, so didn’t bother trying again. Ten minutes later the phone rang. And it was the English Orange technical support! They informed me that the engineers who visited on the 11th had NOT in fact finished their task, and would be returning on Friday 15th. Would I be at home? Yes, I’ll make a special effort.
The morning was spent in the middle of a cloud of mosquitoes, cutting up the larger of the two fallen aspens. However, I’m currently using a lotion containing 50% DEET, and only have one horsefly bite. The wood was brought back with the tractor, and I spent a couple of hours in the afternoon with the axe.
In the evening we went to a barbecue at Friend E. We then went to the Mairie, where the traditional pre-14th of July event was taking place. All the children were given cardboard lanterns containing candles, and a procession took place, winding through the village to the local football grounds. We took a shortcut, instead of going the long way round with the procession. When everybody had gathered at the football grounds, there was a firework display.