We've been a couple of days in Bayonne, a delightful place in which we've relearned it's possible to eat and drink without a blaring TV and the loud conversation of your neighbours drowning out your very thoughts, never mind your words. Where hotel doors don't slam at 3am. And where there's ne'er a builders' crane to be seen anywhere in the city. Bliss. The city is as Basque as anything south of the border, though we've yet to hear anyone speaking anything other than French. Very similar to Pamplona, in fact. Which, in fact, is one of Bayonne's twin cities. Would you believe another is Daytona Beach?

I mentioned the French keyboard yesterday . . . I read years ago that the makers of the first typewriters had to invent a difficult [qwerty] keyboard so as to prevent fast typists causing the keys to tangle up. Well, if there was a competition between Anglo and French manufacturers for the most difficult system, the French clearly won. With what I guess is called an azerty board. You even have to use the shift key for the full stop [period] and for numbers. Zut alors! But I suspect the French would argue exactly the same way in the other direction. I can only say the Spanish board is less troublesome, albeit as a modified qwerty version.

So, will the EU pass the test being visited on it by the financial crisis? Is there a limit to German taxpayer solidarity? Yes and no, apparently. Or no and yes, if you prefer . . . The Greek move puts fresh pressure on Germany to back the mounting calls for an EU lifeboat fund to shore up Europe's struggling banks, even though such a plans are anathema to Berlin. Chancellor Angela Merkel warned there would be no "blank cheques" for those who get into trouble. Berlin fears that any such fund is a Trojan Horse that could ultimately leave German taxpayers footing the bill for a massive bail-out of southern Europe as the region's booms turn to bust. Key ministers are now frantically trying to stop the idea gaining a serious head of steam. Finance minister Peer Steinbrueck said German citizens should not have to step in "to stabilize situations for which other countries are responsible. To put it mildly, Germany is highly cautious about such grand designs for Europe. Other countries are free to think about it. I just don't see any German interest in it," he told the Wall Street Journal. The comments are the clearest indication to date that Berlin will resist moves to create a pan-European treasury to back up the single currency, whatever the risk for the stability of monetary union. Confusion reigned across Europe as different capitals gave briefings and counter-briefings on the lifeboat plans. French finance minister Christine Lagarde backed away from earlier ideas for a €300bn rescue fund to help weaker countries cope with financial panics. "There is no such thing", she said.

I guess some will argue that all this strengthens the case for a European government that can take quick, centralised decisions in the common good. But the accent of these voices clearly won't be German. Or British, I'd guess.

Amidst all this, it's good to have President Zapatero's regular assurances that the Spanish banking sytem is the most robust in the world and that our savings are completely safe. The world's banking system will obviously be a much stronger thing when Banco Santander finally gets to own it all. Va por ellos, Sr Botín!