Happy Birthday

Today is Jan's birthday and we have arranged with Bar and Geoff to take a walk, on a limestone plateau, high above Sauve, a lovely little medieval village about 15 minutes away. It turns out to be a fascinating area with a ruined castle and what the signs refer to as La mer des Rocher, the sea of rocks. After an indecently long hike, we retraced our steps and enjoyed a beer, sitting under a hot sun, in the village square.

After lunch, and not satisfied with the previous Herculean feat, the more insane ones of the party (that is everybody except me) then suggest a hike over nearby mountains not far from our home. I knew something was wrong when we passed sherpas limping down the hill in the opposite direction. You may gather from this that I am not a natural hiker (and you'd be dead right) but plod on I did, up vertical cliff faces, passing the sun bleached skulls of exhausted mountain goats, stopping from time to time to staunch the flow of blood from an altitude induced nose bleed and pausing only momentarily to look around for a taxi.

Dinner tonight night was at Mas de Roux in Bragassargues. A four course, 20 euros menu with a choice of 4 different meats cooked over an open fire, cheese and pudding. How do they do it? Very good value.

Visitors from the UK

Last night Harry arrived by car from the UK and today Bar and Geoff arrive by plane. This promises to be a busy week one way or another.

Another arrival was the new 19" screen that I first ordered nearly 2 months ago. I won't bother you with all the gory details, but suffice to say a certain online computer store has a great deal to learn when it comes to customer service. There are however 2 side benefits to the arrival of this screen:
1 I have to clear, clean and reorganise my desk and
2 I can see what I'm writing without having to use binoculars (it's an age thing!).

Davis Cup

Great Britain beat Israel today and thereby qualify, to play in the qualifiers, to play with the big boys. So far so good. The next match is later this year and we could have to play away against Spain or the USA. That far not so good.

Silence

A wise man once said to me, "If you haven't got anything to say, then don't say anything".
So I haven't!

I could talk about plumbing (the pool shower is running warm again, I have a new outside tap, all the pipework in the outside toilet is now hidden, I have lots of new stop cocks, the trench to another new outside tap is extended) but then we'd all get bored and I'd be saying something when I haven't got anything to say.
So I haven't.

Doctors and plumbers

Off to the doctor this morning to renew medication and discuss recent blood tests for my diabetes (Type 2 - controlled with drugs). Luckily he hadn't receive his copy of the results (and I forgot to tell him that I had received mine) therefore saving me a bollocking over the deterioration. At least it gives me another 3 months to get the sugar levels back in line.

It transpires that his son is our new plumber and the kind doctor refuses to charge me for the visit. What a nice man! I wonder if I can get the plumber to wave his charges because I use his dad as my doctor? Now that would be useful!

Catching up

Out of the several hundred junk emails waiting for me, I have some very nice surprises. Primarily from two ex colleagues (both very inspirational individuals) who live in the States. They both claim to read and enjoy this rubbish, which only confirms that we have now gone international.

The day was warm and sunny, the plumber continued to plumb, birds were in the trees and all was well with the world. Today was a good day.

Thoughts from the north of France

Last night we stayed in a Campanile just south of Rheims. In the good old days, when men were men, and I travelled on expenses, a Campanile would have been a bit too far down my sights. Now that I'm poor (but have a lot of love to give!) I've had to adjust my sights and recognise that chains like Campanile serve a useful function at modest cost.

I mention hotels because our favourite hotel is Les Champs des Oiseaux in Troyes about an hour away. If we had been able to arrive mid afternoon and leave at a leisurely pace the next morning, enjoy the beautiful rooms and wander through the town, then that's where we would have stayed. Arriving late and leaving early prompts us to bed down at the most convenient place, and a Campanile fits that bill.

If you ever get a choice, the A26 (between Calais and Troyes should only be travelled at night,
1) because it is flat, treeless and featureless and
2) because it will send you to sleep anyway.
In a nut shell it is flat and boring and now that I think of it , just like a girl I used to go out with!

We pick up Max, who goes crazy to see us, and arrive home to find the plumber hard at work fixing things. A welcome surprise. As ever, it is good to be home.

Going home via Boulogne

We leave Brighton on a cold, dull, drizzly morning and head for our first stop - Sainsburys. I think there is a medical term for compulsive shopping and will get back to you when I find out! We stock up with essential items like butternut squash, parsnips, chillies, pork pies and sausages. I've no idea how we have managed in France without these essentials - but I'll let you know when I've figured that one out as well.

(NOTE FROM JAN: Listen dog breath, when you're next stuffing your face with any of the aforementioned items, I'll make sure that you regret your sarcasm!)

Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted and as I've mentioned before, I'm not a good seafarer. In anticipation of things to come, I was prompted to purchase some wrist bands that help control transport induced nausea. They work by exerting pressure on an acupuncture point (the Nei Kuan Point) on the wrist. Now I'm not a big believer in mystical medicine and was not at all encouraged when we were told that it was going to be a rough crossing. Thank God I'll be exerting pressure on my Nei Kuan Point, I thought to myself.

Because it was so rough, I considered that standing outside would probably be a little dangerous, so inside it was for the first 40 minutes. Either the bands had slipped off my Nei Kuan Point or they're bloody useless, I'll never know, but outside I went. It was a case of either redecorating the cabin or taking my chances at being washed overboard. Being washed overboard had a distinct appeal. If the journey had lasted another 20 minutes we would have had the answer as to whether the bands worked or not, but as it happened we entered the calm waters of the harbour just as I stepped outside. Welcome to Boulogne.

Children's swings and similar equipment

Yesterday and today we mostly spend with No 1 granddaughter. She is delightful and a joy to be with, but then we are a bit biased!

A very good Thai meal tonight, then off we go to a pub quiz, where we came second and win the princely sum of £10 (that is £2 each). Not as profitable as drugs or prostitution but at least it is honestly achieved!

We will return to France tomorrow - and get back on air on Thursday, all being well.

London and Acorn Antiques

Up bright and early to see our No 1 granddaughter who, at 20 months, is a delight and who represents a major motivation for this trip.

Later that morning we take the train to London to meet my No 1 daughter and Jan's No 3 son. By now you will be getting the impression that there are quite a few kids around!

When I was lad, travelling on the tube was spent either reading or trying to catch a good looking woman's eye and always, in typical English fashion, in silence. Now it's different. I must have heard at least 10 different languages, many of them Slovak sounding and all at significant volume.

Talking of the tube, I'm reminded of this true story. In my early days in consumer finance, I worked with a bluff, gruff but very funny Yorkshireman. We were sitting together in the office and he was on the phone talking to our corporate lawyers from the then principal office on New Bond Street, London.

Lawyer - "We're easy to get to from where you are. Just go to the top of the road, take the tube, and two stops later you're there."

Yorkshireman - in pensive mood - "Nay lad, when I were 15, my dad tried to get me down t'pit, he didn't succeed, and neither will you! I'll get a cab."

Back to our visit. Remembering that we live in a small village in rural France and that for any serious shopping we would have to make a 1 hour journey to Montpelier, Jan's head swivels continuously as we pass each shop. If you get close you can hear her whispering oohs and aahs, clothes, spend, and other profanities. It's sad really, but also nice in some strange way. Bless!

With time to kill, we down a couple of Caipirinhas and some nibbles and then head off for the evening entertainment. We have tickets for a musical "Acorn Antiques" which we booked online a few months ago. It's a strange show, if you have not followed the television series, but we enjoy it.

Harrogate to Brighton

We leave mum in Harrogate and head south on our way to Brighton. We stop for a nice pub lunch in St Albans to meet up with some of Jan's relatives.

Back on the road, we get stuck at the latest roadworks on the M25. Great! This really is the world's longest car park.

In Brighton we pick up my No 1 son from work and later meet up with Jan's No 1 daughter and No 2 son, and have dinner at a small couscous restaurant complete with belly dancer. Great fun.

A great site for new tyres

I've found a great site for new tyres, www.blackcircles.com . We had achieved 40,000 miles on our Goodyear Wrangler F1's so decided to replace them when in the UK, and save ourselves a shedload of money. I ordered them online in France and told them that I wanted them fitting in Harrogate, England. It all worked perfectly and is highly recommended.

The rest of the day is spent shopping - AGAIN!

From France to England

We cross the channel on a huge, ex Australian navy, catamaran. Remember, I did say that this was cheap! I wondered, why the navy got rid of this boat, but hey, what do I know about these things? They had done a good job of patching all the bullet holes and it was well kitted out. The service was very good and in order to avoid redecorating their all new interior, I spent most of the short journey on the aft deck (I learn quickly don't you know) communing with the seagulls. At £50 return it is highly recommended.

The rest of the journey is uneventful (a total of 1513 kms and a driving time of 15 hrs 45 mins - you're going to be tested on this later, so pay attention.)

That night we treat ourselves to a heart stopping meal of fish and chips.

A new (cheap) experience

A new, low cost, channel service has started, called SpeedFerries www.speedferries.com . They offer £50 return crossings of the English Channel, whilst other services will charge anything up to £600 for this short journey. This makes it very expensive when calculated on a distance/speed basis and reminds me of the state owned airlines who charged fortunes for short journeys within Europe. Determined to try the new service, despite being a poor seafarer, greed wins the day. We join the A9 at Nimes, set the cruise control, and drive for 11 hours. We stop near Boulogne at a small hotel (Les 3 Fontaines in Marconne-Hesdin) with a good restaurant. Jan really knows how to pick them. We eat, drink and sleep well.