Travels with a donkey

I've been looking forward  to my first swim in the pool (open in July and August) for days. So I was a bit miffed when I showed up at ten o'clock on  the dot to find that the pump was being repaired :( However, on my return to the square I found  this chap with his donkey and two dogs resting in the shade. He's set off from Vernet and is  walking  to the Ardèche. When I asked him how long he thought it would take, he shrugged: "A couple of months maybe?" He can only do about 10 km a day because his elderly dog can't manage more than that. S fetched a map to help him plan the next part of his route and asked, "How do you decide what roads to take?" "He does," indicating the donkey. "He just doesn't like some tracks, so I let him choose."

Apart from that, a visit to the market, tapas and some refreshing Albariño chez Maria, and a frustrating afternoon's work trying to implement a ridiculously complicated client request involving three different VAT rates in a seemingly infinite number of random combinations. I gave up in the end -- maybe I'll feel brighter tomorrow. I may have to throw what I've done away and start again ...