We also managed to get a lot done, travel-wise. Sophie and I put all of our advanced passenger information into our bookings, took out annual travel insurance and I bought a year's worth of breakdown cover. We also chose an Airbnb for our journey home from Provence, in a Burgundy village. Let's hope there's space in the boot for wine! I also signed up for an account with the Dartford Bridge crossings so the fee will be taken automatically from one of my payment cards whenever we travel.
In the afternoon we went over to Halfords at Kettering to collect Sophie's new registration plates. The process to put them onto her car was easy and we were able to do this online. I remember, when I put my plates onto the Audi, I had to go to a building in Northampton and fill out all the forms, but then it was a while ago!
After Halfords, we ventured into Tesco and did a little shopping and then it was home to relax. We took the scenic route and the heavens opened again as we drove home. By now it was early evening so Sophie made us both a Negroni and we sat at the kitchen island with Keith and played cards.
We were talking about our travels and Keith mentioned the Airbnb in Normandy, and how we'd scorched the wall behind the log burner. I decided to have a look at the photos I had taken when we arrived to check the wall because I thought the mark was there when we arrived, and I was astonished to see a photograph of a bottle of red wine that Sophie and I enjoyed on the first evening...
This is the village we're staying in, in Provence! How weird is that! I hadn't even realised when we booked it!
Keith and Sophie carried on playing cards while I cooked dinner. Sophie was supposed to have been out for a late lunch with Vikesh and his family, but she had changed her mind so she was cooking leftover pasta from the freezer. We had bought steak for dinner, and the plan had been to barbecue it, but the weather outside wasn't really suitable for a barbecue, so I said I would cook it. I had seen Marcus Wareing cooking steak simply and I wanted to give it a try!
I'd already put potatoes into the oven to roast, and we popped mushrooms, black pudding and onion rings under the grill. I massaged olive oil into the steaks, seasoned them and left them to come up to room temperature before putting them into a hot frying pan. They didn't take long and after flipping them and then rendering the thin line of fat along the edges, I let them rest before we ate.
Keith was impressed with my cooking and the steaks were delicious. They were still pink but the outsides were lovely and brown. My potatoes - if I may say so myself - were a thousand times better than the soggy efforts I had last week at The White Swan! Crispy on the outside and fluffy within. Delicious! We drank a Californian red called Big Sur with the meal and it was lovely and very drinkable.
After we'd eaten we watched A Perfect Murder starring Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow, a re-make of Dial M For Murder. It was brilliant!
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