The French are sad again........... I knew they would be, I knew they were not going to win this one. It is a great contrast from last Monday, when they were all talking about when they would win the World Cup. Yesterday, however, there were a great many hungover but happy-looking English people in the street. I went out to Le Bon Marche, as it was open yesterday, as a special exception, and encountered a lot of them on the way.

Le Bon Marche had 20% off Noro yarns, so I bought two balls of Silk Garden for mittens and a ball of Ganpi Abaka tape for a scarf. Also bought a travel iron, foldable, and with steam, as I don't always get to stay in hotels with an iron in the room, and I like to have one when I want it, instead of having to ring for one. Also I know this one is clean and will not wreck my clothes or my stitching.

On Saturday I did go out to La Defense to buy my ping-pong ball, except I had to buy six of them, you can't just buy one. After that I had to go and buy myself some Aerosoles suede ballet shoes in racing green, with patent leather toes. Yum. And I walked past the epilation place exactly when they were not busy and had my eyebrows done.

But I slept a lot, I was really tired on Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon, so I haven't done a lot of anything, apart from lying on my bed reading "Vogue", which is not very productive. At least this week should not be too bad, I am only at work three days, then three days of Susan O'Connor classes.

Sharifa the new trainee is back from her holiday in Mahgreb (I don't know exactly where she is from, it's somewhere in North Africa), and Gil - who has gone off to the USA for a week - has left instructions that she is to do two workshops with the clients this week, to present the system configuration to them. Of course normally I would do this, but, as I am leaving this project, I have been asked only to do the preparation and Sharifa will do the presentation. I will not even be in the room. I actually asked if I could be, as I don't think this is really fair on her, but got told to keep well away from it.