Asian hornets, toxic gas and vintage cars.

Evening in the village. A gentleman and his wife park their white van outside the church and unload a variety of hoses and containers from the back. The man and woman, now wearing gas masks, shout muffled and unintelligible things at each other while pushing a corrugated hose high into a chestnut tree.The mayor arrives in his little Renault and chases away some village children who are intrigued by this strange activity.

The Old Farmer wanders out to see what is going on as does Monsieur Bay and two of his colleagues from the retired gendarmes society. They talk to the mayor. The husband and wife team continue to shout at each other while pushing the hose ever higher into the tree. Amidst all this two flatbed trucks arrive. Each has a vintage Mercedes on the back to be delivered to the German billionaire. The drivers circle the war memorial, pause to watch the strange  movements of the gas mask wearing couple and park by the village hall.

It seems there is an Asiatic Hornets nest in the tree. The hornets don't so much eat the local bees as decimate them. They have been known to kill humans. The couple in the white van are professional Asiatic Hornet killers - which must make for a limited social life. At sunset when the insects are dozy they pump the nest full of toxic gas. This explains the hose pipe arrangement - and the gas masks.

Asiatic hornets, cyanide gas, overly inquisitive six year olds and vintage cars. So passes a Saturday evening in a French village where nothing ever happens. Bob and Sophie have mightily enjoyed the show from the safety of the stump seat. As they settle down for the night their tails whack against the tiles on the hallway floor.