30/07/2024 10:19 

I’ve just taken a photo that probably won’t be able to make it as the Instagram post.  But if it does, then just to let you know, there’s so much going on in it, it’s quite unreal. 

I’m back in the Magic Carpet Café in rue Prague, down in Bastille.  This is where I first met Oliver Gee, the podcast host of The Earful Tower.  I bought a painting off him of a set of walking canes.  This time around, I collected an envelope containing his latest children’s book, The Animal Games.  And like last time, I left Nev in bed whilst I made my way here.  Unlike last time, I also left the boys behind.  Yep, Dad’s going to work.  That felt great.  And who knows, maybe prophetic, too. 

In this photo, there’s a cup of tea.  In this cup of tea, there’s an open tea bag.  It’s filled with loose leaf Earl Grey and the top two thirds simply make their way to the opening.  Which means don’t dunk the bag.  Which I haven’t.  This time around, I asked for a little milk “un peux lait.”  It should have been “un peux du lait” and it’s fine to be corrected.  However, I maybe should’ve stipulated cold milk. 

Alongside the cup of tea and hot milk is my new camera.  It’s a CampSnap.  A very basic, lightweight digital camera.  There’s no screen, only a viewfinder.  And it’s amazing.  Nev has one.  The boys have one each.  Although mine is slightly different as I’ve added a ‘retro’ filter to the ‘film’.  Having no idea how these are going to turn out is apparently half the fun.  I imagine it’s also three-quarters of the heartbreak.  Blurry, fuzzy, dark, fingers across the photo.  Who knows? 

Finally, gliding past the An Englishman in Paris branded pen tin by Mr Ts Shirts (my main producer of merchandise) is my Je Ne Parle Pas Français black baseball cap by French Abroad.  This is the cap that Nev had made especially for me as a present for Christmas 2023 to mark the beginning of Coffee Pot Conversations that was to take place on January 9^th after the monumental November Interviews. 

It’s now that I think I remember a minimum price for card payments.  I believe I’m going to need to think on my feet and order something for take away for the scorching hot Metro ride back to Plaisance in a few moments after I finish my scolding hot tea and even hotter milk.