I live on the Cote d’Azur in France — en plus, I live right in the middle of the prettiest town — one minute from the Market, the cafes, the Med…

I chose this life. I made it happen — but right now, I am really asking myself why!

Because it is August — the worst month of the year here. This particular August has been dragging on and dragging me with it like some infernal groundhog day of heat, blue skies, perfumed nights, yachts, heat, holiday revellers — heat. Did I mention heat?

Ok — relatively speaking — wild fire burning speaking — it isn’t that hot here — 30 degrees centigrade on average — but we do not have la clim!

I refuse to install air conditioning in our small apartment on principle — my gesture for the climate.

I mean — what is the point of giving up the car (check) and consuming in general (check) to do your bit for the planet, only to give into heating up the air outside your appartment for the sake of not sweating (or “sparkling”) for a month or two?

By August the old stones of our old building have absorbed all the heat and are now holding onto it so that the inside of our first floor apartment is hotter inside than it is outside…

Cold showers, morning swims, living at night — we try all these remedies and long for September. And we can’t go out. Tourists pack the streets and the beaches — the sea becomes a toilet…

So — the month has become a test of survival — mostly of our marriage.