Three decades after graduating with our first degrees, several of my peers were once more taking rooms on campus. I had two sets of accommodation to organise: (1) at the University of Birmingham; (2) in France.

In Birmingham I showed off the large mounted diamond that DT had given to me in 1985. It was one of my most precious possessions – until another graduate asked me why I had been carrying a shard of back-lit glass around with me for all these years.

In France I discovered that university admin staff now speak English, but are still rather rude.