If there is one thing guaranteed to ruin the calm of a Corsican evening it is the sound of relays of planes scooping water from the sea to put out forest fires. People acquainted with the area say that the fires are usually the work of feuding neighbours, criminals or firefighters. I had not taken the last option too seriously until the local news reported that two firefighters ha been arrested.

The dryness of the woodland does get you thinking about global warming. Sarkozy’s government has been thinking about it too. Their elegant solution is to make working class people pay. The idea is that for every tonne of CO2 you emit you pay 32 euro. This will rise to 100 euro by 2030. The money comes from taxes on petrol and an increase of 15 percent in domestic gas prices.

One TV report showed that this would cost a community nurse an extra 150 euro a year. It all adds up to a major redistribution of money from the worker to the state. If you wanted to make people hostile to state action to prevent climate change this is a good way to do it.