Crushingly hot.

'' It's going to be crushingly hot " says the weather forecaster. She's right. Bob and Sophie manage a twenty minute pre-breakfast walk in the valley before heading off for a refreshing paddle in the stream. You know it's hot when dogs lie down in the water. 

At the supermarket they're selling World Cup pillows at half price. There are a lot of unsold English ones. Leave it a week and they'll be down to a € a piece. 

Bath time. Sophie accepts this tribulation in quiet resignation. She's washed, shampooed, then toweled dry without so much as a murmur. Bob hasn't read the script. He's showered but when the satanic shampoo bottle appears he's off. A sodden PON leaps out of the bath, sprints along the corridor, up the staircase and into the drawing room. This is where he shakes himself dry. '' That was a great success " says 'the font'. Bob beams.