I've been in the south of France since last Monday, at Hyeres, to be exact, this is between Toulon and Nice.......... I came on the TGV, and had another delayed journey, the train was for 10:15, but we eventually pulled out of Gare de Lyon at midday. I'd spent a couple of hours sitting inside Gare de Lyon with snowflakes falling around me, clearly their roof has holes somewhere. And the place was so crowded that I couldn't get into the shops to buy a sandwich and a magazine. Which was a shame, as there was an enormous queue for the bar car on the train - I watched when people went and came back, and it was a good 45 minutes to get served.

The train was packed, of course....... one really strange thing, though, I was wearing my Miss Marple shawl (which has been a lifesaver the last week or so) and just opposite me, there was another woman wearing hers!

By the time I got to Hyeres, we had got past the snow which was supposedly causing the delays (I couldn't see why, it didn't seem unusual to me, but my views on snow may have changed since I spent so much time in Tallinn), and there was only rain instead. Heavy, beating rain, the likes of which I have only seen in Bangkok in the rainy season. And Hyeres apparently has only one taxi and the line to wait for it is not under cover. I was quite wet by the time I got to this hotel, and dinner wasn't for an hour! I should have arrived at Hyeres Station at about 2:45 in the afternoon, but it was 6pm or so by the time I got there...... the taxi actually seemed to be driving through water, which was slightly alarming.

I'd love to say the weather improved and the week has been fine and sunny, but unfortunately it has rained most of the week, and the rest has been windy, about hurricane force, I think. What I can't understand is why there are still flamingos en masse in the wetlands opposite the hotel. If I were them, I would have flown off to Africa long before now.

But the point of the holiday was the thalassotherapy, and that has been great. Four treatments a day, either morning or afternoon, and the rest of the time I've just been eating or resting with a book and some knitting. One of the daily treatments is water aerobics in a poll with powerful jets, and I thought I would hate this, as it is with other people, whom one doesn't know, but it was actually rather a highlight, as I found I could lift my leg further out of the water than anyone else. The other treatments are a mixture of wraps in algae, massages and therapeutic showers and baths. I feel quite a lot better after all of this, and it has been quite good for my psoriasis (which is not terribly bad, but can be uncomfortable sometimes). Psoriasis is the only skin disease that you are allowed to go to thalassotherapy with, and I had to get a letter from the doctor about it. One of these days I'll get myself to the Dead Sea, that is supposed to be the best place for psoriasis, and in fact a Danish friend who has it very badly was prescribed a cure there - it did wonders for her.

My last thalasso session was this morning - water jet aerobics, an aromatonic shower, a massage bath and an algae wrap - and I actually slept for a couple of hours this afternoon after that. I have to say my skin feels soft after all the sea water, and I'm pretty sure my thighs and my backside are rather firmer after all the water aerobics and jets of water that have been directed at them the past few days. I would have liked to go out and walk a bit as well, but the weather has made that pretty much impossible.

Back to Paris tomorrow, and I think the trains are running normally again, so it should only be about four and a half hours, as opposed to all day horror. I've got a mountain of things to do before next Sunday, when I am off to the UK for a training course (what are they going to train you to do? asked my mother, sounding very worried).