Back from a two day "holiday" in Ouistreham, clutching various wines and food. Greeted this morning by the arrival of a four CD pack of public performances by Sviatislav Richter, one of my top half dozen pianists. Interspersed with samplings of pâté de tête, museau de porc, côtes de veau, premières côtes de Blaye and other delicacies brought back in triumph from the shores of Normandy, I indulged in Richter playing Rachmaninov and Schubert (the Beethoven - Diabelli - disc and Tchaikovsky still await listening). It is quite ridiculous, and an indication of one of the many things wrong with Western society in 2009, that the four Richter CDs (Regis) cost me slightly less than one supermarket chicken.

Richter is my kind of musician. You sense strongly that he is playing what he wants to play, what he loves, and is playing the pieces in the way he thinks they ought to sound. The sixth Schubert moment musical lasts for nearly 12 minutes with Richter — something of an heure musicale; around five minutes longer than with anyone else. But when Richter is playing: you believe.

So a good Saturday, thanks to Normandy and Richter. The Normandie Wines shop in Ouistreham was quite a find, as was the Relais Routiers restaurant just a few metres from the port.