I didn’t post in August – not once. Not because I am dead, or anything like that, but because I and my blog were on holiday in France (La Bréchoire, Charente) for the whole month… the whole blessed month! I was so busy doing nothing that I lost the will to blog. Once you stop doing something it’s so much harder to start again.

I have never managed to spend an entire month at our holiday home before, not in 20 years.

I have to say it: it was great

We swam in the lakes and went to the coast for a few days; we went on bike rides; we cooked and ate delicious food; Anne played the piano and I twiddled with my guitars; we visited friends and had guests to stay, we got invited to dinner; we read books and watched DVDs. We even managed to construct an enormous IKEA bookshelf without getting divorced.

One of the best things was our French neighbours saying that they actually liked us, and that they looked forward to our arrival (though admittedly not much else happens in La Bréchoire). That surely is an achievement!

On the ferry home from Le Havre on Monday I was already feeling a bit low. The journey was a bit further than usual. I was tired and a bit chilled off, even though the weather was pleasantly warm. The house in London was unfamiliar at first, but there were no problems, nothing new to worry about. And yet this malaise has persisted: a nagging unease that the good times are over, that this great summer spent in France is never to be repeated.

It’s mainly down to the political situation, which has appropriately coincided with the arrival of autumn. I don’t normally talk about politics, but how can one not? An already chaotic situation has been compounded by the arrival of (and do feel free to disagree) the worst prime minister in living memory. And that is saying something.

Hold on to your memories of summer

We are all going to need cheering up in the coming months.