I walked into the lobby of the Redwood Shores Hotel Sofitel expecting the charm of the small French café which served as the lobby restaurant, the warm scent of baking bread from the bakery behind the café, and the unflagging surliness of the French staff. Imagine my surprise when I was greeted civilly and with a smile, without the usual sneer and grumbling. I was even offered an upgraded room with one of the coveted lagoon views.

This new attitude put me so off step that I barely noticed the transformation in the surroundings – a blue and green art glass sculpture as the entry chandelier, sleek white leather banquettes lined with lime green pillows, blue and brown retro-ish carpet, gauzy white panels dividing the spaces, a series of swooping blue booths making up the dining area. The lobby would be at home in New York or Paris or London, and somehow looks as if it wants to crawl back to one of those locations, rather than sitting on the fringes of Silicon Valley.

One can only expect so much change, however; when we asked to be seated for dinner, dressed in serviceable if somewhat rumpled travel clothes, the one-who-seats-the-guests informed us in a chilly voice that he was sure we’d be more comfortable in the back room. Against the wall. Where no one else could see us. So as not to spoil the lines of the beautifully designed public spaces. Those French, still dependable after all these years.

Books: Night Watch by Terry Pratchett. Sam Vines becomes the personification of the warning “be careful what you wish for” when he muses that in his management position as Commander of the City Watch he misses spending time on the streets. A confluence of time, space and magic combine to transfer him to a past in which he meets his younger self (and concludes, as we all would about ourselves, that he could never possible have been *that* young and naïve), destroys the storm troopers who terrorized Ankh-Morpork in those days, transforms a rebellion into a citizen-led celebration, and lives a few days in the life of his hero. He returns home just in time to greet his new son and capture his through-all-time enemy, remaining an honorable man in all times. It’s sad to come to the end of the story of The Glorious People’s Republic of Treacle Mine Road, and all that it stands for – Truth, Justice, Freedom and a Hard-Boiled Egg; plus Reasonably Priced Love).