Leo came back yesterday, so things are back to what passes for normal - it seems a lot noisier all of a sudden. He has crutches, and a large canvas shoes, which I have told him is a crime against fashion, so we are being very kind and getting him coffee all the time. Our taxi driver is making a fortune as she has to drive him to and from work. It is only about ten minutes walk in normal circumstances, but there are two roads that it is hard to cross, and worse of course if it is raining. Which it did again all day yesterday. Fortunately there is a restaurant on the ground floor of the building, so he will not starve, and actually it is a South African one, which is quite appropriate for an English South African Israeli, which is what he is. I've been there a couple of times, and the food is good.

I think he is going to ask the client to release me from full-time work on this project, I do not know what they will say. It is true that I have been under-occupied sometimes of late, that is why I could do Toccata 1 in three weeks! I am going to talk to the Resources Director about what I would do instead, I am not sure I really want to spend several weeks in Boulogne Billancourt sorting out everyone else's mess, which is I think what the plan is. I know they have a lot of problems, and Casey is very upset, she keeps on saying she wants to work on an English speaking project and one where everyone else is experienced. I don't think she has a prayer, but I know that the powers that be do want to free up at least one architect from this project, since we have here three of the most "mature and experienced" ones - Sylvain keeps on saying that Cyprus is the retirement home of EMEA.

If you asked me what I would like, it would be to go to Ireland and work on the project with Nicky.... I think David would like to go there as well, but not for the same reasons. He is getting bored here, I guess we all are.

My mother and my sister ask every week how long I will be here, they seem to think this is a hardship posting. I suppose in some ways it is, compared with Paris. I saw that France came top of a survey to find the country with the highest quality of life, I was quite proud of my adopted country for this. The reasons they gave were a stable economy, great infrastructure, great healthcare, low unemployment and reasonable cost of living. All of which I would agree with, but there are some other reasons why I like living there.

Paris is truly a beautiful city, the buildings are mainly old and not above six stories, and there is the river and plenty of open space, especially where I live, at Ecole Militaire. I am within walking distance of everything I need, and, if I wish to go further afield, there is a fantastic transport system that will take me to other parts of the city, to the country or even to other parts of Europe quickly and efficiently. Then there are the cultural amenities, I can get a yearly card for the Louvre for 50 euros and go every day if I wish, and that is only one of a hundred museums in Paris. There is cinema, theatre, ballet, music, and you can spend as much or as little as you want on these things. The rubbish is collected every day and the streets are cleaned and washed every day as well. I could go on and on about the reasons that I love to live in Paris.

Well, I had better go back to the testing, and Leo keeps interrupting me every five seconds to ask my opinion on various things. I want to go home and have a nap, actually, or do some stitching, I am in the middle of this eyelet alphabet still.