Mercury in retrograde?

Keith took me to work this morning and went to Tesco after dropping me off. I had a busy shift dealing with emails and had to jump on the phone, as eleven calls were waiting at one point. Shirley couldn't get onto our booking system, and Sara was tearing her hair out! We have had some real issues lately. Could it be down to Mercury in retrograde? If so, I will be very glad when it ends on the 11th of August!

At 2pm, Keith and I sped to Kettering hospital and I saw Mum for an hour. She looked a bit better today, and the care home called to say she would be allowed back as the occupational therapy equipment had been installed. I sincerely hoped it was true and we wouldn't need to visit her in the hospital over the weekend! 

Keith and I did some chores at home, and I booked a speed awareness course in Corby for a Wednesday in September. It was a few pennies under £100, but it means I won't get three points on my licence. We also did another exciting job: sorting out our electricity tariff so that sent me into raptures of ecstasy...

Sophie texted me at about 4.30pm to say she'd heard that there were problems on the A45, and she was absolutely right. I looked at Google Maps and could see three accidents on the route she takes home. The road was then closed, and Sophie had to travel home a different way. She was supposed to be going out with Laura for dinner, but had to postpone until next week as she didn't get home until after 6pm.

She had already taken out a Bolognese sauce from the freezer, and Keith and I enjoyed gammon steaks with new potatoes and pineapple for dinner. After we'd eaten, Keith and I started watching a new series on Amazon Prime called The Assassin starring a very feisty Keeley Hawes. It was brilliant!

I lose my temper...

I deeply regretted agreeing to go into work today, and even more so when Sheila started to explain what she wanted me to do. She's lovely, but she does include a lot of unnecessary fluff when she explains procedures! In the end, she gave me a simple task to do, and it kept me occupied for the six hours I was working (thankfully, not an eight-hour shift today!).

At 2pm, I drove home, collected Keith, and we went to the hospital. When I arrived, the curtains were closed around the bed, as Mum was on the commode, and when I eventually saw her, I was shocked. She looked terrible, could hardly talk and seemed more confused than ever. She had awful staring eyes, and I truly believed that she wouldn't make it. I went and found a nurse and demanded to speak to someone in charge. I was furious. What a terrible deterioration in just twenty-four hours. Next to Mum is an elderly woman who has both her daughters in all the time, caring for her, and they were angry as well, as they'd been keeping an eye on my Mum and had noticed she hadn't eaten or drunk anything all day. She was obviously dehydrated.

Of course, no one came to see me, so I had to go and find someone again, and this time I really let rip about how she was to one of the nurses. Ten minutes later, a senior nurse came over and said she'd see me with a doctor when she finished a meeting she was having. A little while later, I went into an office with the senior nurse and the doctor, and they had answers for all my concerns. They made me feel like I was overreacting, but I told them I'd never seen her like that in the care home.

Back on the ward, there was a definite air of militancy about as the two daughters told me what was happening, and another visitor complained about her Mum and her swollen leg. It was a most unpleasant experience. I kissed her goodbye and said I would see her tomorrow. While visiting, I'd made her drink a bottle of juice I'd brought in and some water.

I re-joined Keith, and he suggested a meal out tonight at the pub in the village, which both Sophie and I readily agreed to. We went home, I did the usual chores and even managed half an hour on the bed in front of the fan with my book before we left. You've got to grab those small moments of joy when you can!

We had a lovely evening at the pub with good food, a bottle of lovely Chenin Blanc and a natter. It was heaven to get home, though, and relax before bed!

On the set of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest...

Sophie didn't go to the gym this morning, so we sat with a coffee and watched the first episode of a documentary about the Jesus Army. This religious sect was formed in Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire, in the 1960s by a man called Noel Stanton, who sounded like a complete loony. Growing up, I would regularly see the Jesus Army minibuses on the roads in the town, so the documentary had a personal resonance with me. The group also took over one of the cinemas in Northampton and had a real presence locally. We had to wait to see the end as it was time for showers, but it made for interesting, if very disturbing viewing.

Work today was especially noisy, and Sara, who was trying to book meetings for our MD, resorted to wearing a pair of headphones to shut out some of the noise. Jo was in a foul mood as well, which didn't help, and constantly moaned and complained, which brought all of us down.

I had asked Sara if it was OK to leave at 3pm today and go to see my Mum for the last half hour of visiting. Keith and I sped over to Kettering and he queued for a space while I dashed inside the hospital. My Mum seemed a little brighter today, which could have been due to the blood transfusion.  I sat with her and chatted, but one of the patients opposite, an elderly lady, kept asking me to go over and talk to her. The first time I went, she asked me in a very strident voice who owned the hospital, who was running it, and why she didn't have any keys. She was obviously confused, so I told her to speak to one of her family members when they visited and returned to my Mum. She kept asking everyone who was in charge, and with my Mum sitting rambling away next to me about showers, I felt like I was in a madhouse!

I stayed until 4pm and re-joined Keith. It was then home to catch up with chores and feel regretful about agreeing to go into work tomorrow to do some extra work for Sheila! If I had known Mum would break her hip, I would never have agreed! I could really have done with Wednesday morning to catch up with myself!

Keith went to see Sileby play tonight, and Sophie and I cooked jerk chicken pasta and drank vodka and tonics. I certainly needed one, I can tell you! We watched the end of the Jesus Army documentary, a fantastic episode of Fake or Fortune (riveting) and then the second Jesus Army episode. We were horrified by what went on over the years, and thankfully, the sect is no more, but there were a lot of people forever affected by the sexual and physical abuse that went on.

Keith returned home from the football, with Gomez, who had run across the road in front of the car! Little monkey!

Mayhem!

I walked in this morning to find we were still having problems with our booking system. Only four people managed to log on, so I spent the first two hours answering all the emails and getting them out of the way. Just before 10am, the problem was partially solved, and I was able to log on, albeit in a different way than normal.

The office was busy and hectic today, as the school holidays are now in full swing. At least we had an extra bod answering the phones, though, Nicola's daughter Macey, who is such a sweet little thing!

At 4pm, Keith collected me and we went home to face the usual evening chores. I wasn't going to the hospital tonight, but had called the care home to see if they could arrange for Mum to go home. I learned she had needed to have a blood transfusion, which may explain why she was so pale.

It was bliss to sit and play cards with a drink before dinner of cottage pie and the world's supply of vegetables! What a treat to have cabbage and cauliflower for a change!

We watched the last two episodes of The Shadow tonight, and the ending was very satisfying, thank goodness. It's a "Walter Presents" programme available on Channel 4 and I heartily recommend it!

We decide!

It was grey and overcast again today, and we had a busy Sunday ahead of us. We drove to Tesco at about mid-morning and bought the ingredients for a paella tonight. The supermarket was busy and we couldn't wait to get out! 

Back home, the kitchen was a hive of activity as Keith prepared the chicken and vegetables, I sorted out an early lunch by heating up the leftovers from dinner last night and making porridges, while Sophie pootled about sorting out the lunchboxes. She then ordered herself a new lunch bag and a couple of bento boxes on Amazon. 

We sat down to enjoy lunch and had a window of about half an hour to make a decision on the houses for next June. However, the deposit for the houses was around £1000, more than we had expected to pay eleven months before the holiday! We disregarded a couple of the houses and scrutinised the others a little more, sending messages to the owners with a couple of questions. We weren't taking anything for granted! One gorgeous house was on booking.com, and it looked like you could rent parts of it, which was a bit worrying! We certainly disregarded that one! We wanted the house, the whole house and nothing but the house!

We drove back over to the hospital and parked easily again. We spent another hour with Mum, but again, she looked pale and didn't make a lot of sense, crying about being incarcerated on the ward. It was a most depressing visit.

When we arrived back home, we cleaned the house, and Keith started a shopping list for tomorrow when he will go back to Tesco. By 5pm, we were able to relax, and I had another look at the houses and realised that if we went to the Dordogne, it would make more sense to take the ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo. It was an overnight crossing, but the cabins looked lovely! I put the idea to Sophie, and I could tell she was nervous. It meant we would have fewer miles to drive and save on Airbnbs on the way.

Eventually, after a lot of discussion, we picked a gorgeous house in a tiny village in the Dordogne near Bergerac, and booked a Brittany Ferries route from Portsmouth to Caen, which was a daytime crossing. Sophie just couldn't get over her fear of sleeping on a ferry at night! We have booked cabins both ways so we can relax on the journey. We will have to stop one night on the way down as the ferry docks at 3pm and I won't want to drive all the way in one go!

Sophie cooked a delicious paella with the spices we bought in L'Escala, and it was smoky and earthy. Thankfully, there was enough left for lunch tomorrow.

Our viewing pleasure was The Shadow again, and another episode before it was time for bed. It had been a busy weekend!

Decisions, decisions!

We awoke to another grey and drizzly day and spent the morning searching for Airbnbs for our holiday next June. We whittled the choices down to five, but in three different areas of France: the Atlantic coast near Bordeaux, Bergerac in the Dordogne, and Provence. This time, we scrutinised the photos and made sure that they had everything we wanted in a house! Our experiences this year have taught us a lesson!

It was lovely looking at houses and planning the trip, but which area of France would we choose? At lunchtime, we showered and changed before heading to the care home to collect my Mum's reading glasses. I briefly spoke to my Dad and found what I thought were the correct pair in the bathroom. 

The hospital car parks were virtually empty, and we were able to park easily. As we were early, we had a coffee in Costa and then walked up to the ward. Mum looked very pale, still, and wasn't at all happy about being in the hospital, saying she wanted to go home and be with my Dad.

We stayed for an hour, but conversation with my Mum was difficult as she wasn't making a great deal of sense. I said we would be back tomorrow, and we walked back to the car, deciding to have a Chinese takeaway after all for dinner tonight, as it was gone 3pm and neither of us fancied trekking around Tesco in search of ingredients for a meal.

On the way home, Sophie called Keith and asked if he wanted to go to the pub for a drink, but he declined, so we went anyway! We ordered drinks and some food as neither of us had eaten lunch, and the cheese on toast we had for breakfast was a long time ago!

Sophie enjoyed an Aperol Spritz while I treated myself to a Warner's rhubarb gin and tonic. We ordered two starters and a portion of skinny fries to go with our chicken and falafel. Delicious!

It was lovely to relax after being at the hospital, and I paid for the meal as a thank you for Sophie coming with me. She hates hospitals about as much as I do!

Back home, we relaxed in the kitchen with Sophie's version of an Aperol Spritz (made with Aperol, Rosé wine and lemonade) before watching The Hotel Inspector, which was interesting and came from Margate, one of the places I used to visit as a child. It certainly looked more prosperous than it did in the 1970s!

Our dinner was delicious, with more than enough for lunch tomorrow. After eating, we fancied watching something new and settled down to watch The Shadow, a German-language thriller set in Vienna. We were hooked from the first moment and watched three episodes!

Before going to bed, we caught some of Skyfall and made sure all the windows upstairs were closed because of the never-to-be-forgotten "Catman" incident. The cats were in and racing up and down the stairs, so it was a good decision! Why do we have a Chinese takeaway and then watch Skyfall? This must be at least the fourth or fifth time!

Friday relaxation

Today's shift was hectic, and I had to help out several times on the phone, as well as give help to Sharon, who seemed to have forgotten everything she'd learnt! She did have a couple of tricky calls, though!

In the afternoon, our booking system went down, so that meant we couldn't access membership details or help customers with class enquiries. It also meant I couldn't check our swim camps or input new ones. It was still down when I left at 4pm, but it meant I could concentrate on the moan report! Keith picked me up at 4pm, and we called into the library at Brixworth on the way home so I could send back a fan I'd ordered for work, which was too small. It was an Evri collection, and the woman in the library helped me enormously!

Back home, I called my Mum and she didn't answer. However, I think a nurse helped her as she then called me and we had a quick chat. She asked again when she could leave, and I said I'd ask one of the nurses tomorrow when I planned to visit with Sophie.

Keith went to the pub while Sophie and I opened a bottle of Sancerre Rosé and watched an interesting documentary on Netflix about a woman who went missing on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. We never did find out what happened to her, and the show threw up more questions than answers. It was terrible to see the anguish felt by her parents and family, not knowing whether she had fallen over the side or been abducted.

It's been a busy, not very enjoyable week, so I was glad today was Friday and it's the weekend tomorrow!

A family reunion

Things returned to normal this morning, and I took myself off to work. Keith was leaving the weekly shop until tomorrow because we're out tonight for a meal at The Lamplighter with Mike. 

Today wasn't as busy as Monday and Tuesday, but our website went down, which didn't help matters! We seem to be having problems with our IT systems at the moment, so that makes things tricky! I powered through the emails, wrote some of the moan report and left at 2pm.

I drove home under heavy grey skies and picked Keith up for a repeat of yesterday afternoon. This time we didn't bother with the multi-storey and Keith dropped me off before heading for the smaller car park where he joined the queue.

I went up to the ward and was shocked when I first saw my Mum. She was very pale and had puffy eyes, probably from the anaesthetic. She was pleased to see me and I found the bag of shopping in her cupboard to show her what I'd bought. She now just needs her glasses so she can read the magazines I bought for her!

I asked one of the nurses when she could go back to the care home, and she said a couple of weeks, which was a shock. I know my Mum hates hospitals as much as I do, so I'm hoping she can be out before then.

I stayed until 4pm, and there was only one other woman on the ward, who was sitting with her daughter. Another woman in the same boat as me! I had brought Mum's phone in for her, so I said I'd call her tonight and stayed until visiting time was over.

On the way out, I called Keith, and he met me where he'd dropped me off. He hadn't been able to park in the car park at all! Back home, I did the usual evening chores, pushed the vacuum around, and changed for our evening out.

We met Mike at the pub and had a good chat over pre-dinner drinks. Sophie wanted to pay a deposit for her office's Christmas party this evening, so she did that and bought another round of drinks. We chose nachos with beef to share as a starter, followed by burgers for all of us. We were stuffed at the end of the meal!

We said goodbye to Mike and headed home in the fast-fading light. Tomorrow is Friday and another week is over!

Feeling cheesed off!

Sophie didn't go to the gym this morning, and I woke up at 7.30am to find her getting ready for work. Shortly after she left, Keith went to Tesco, and I pootled about tidying the kitchen and enjoying a coffee.

By 10am, I was wishing I'd gone to work! I've volunteered to help out with a job that Sheila normally does, and will be doing extra hours on Wednesdays until 2pm, giving me the best of both worlds. I said I'd start next week, but the way I felt this morning made me wish I'd gone in today!

After lunch, Keith and I drove to the care home, picked up some things for Mum and then went to Tesco to buy her a couple of nightdresses, drinks and cakes. I needed to have Keith with me because of the lack of parking at the hospital, and I was glad I did, as both car parks were full. We went into the multi-storey and spent ten minutes queuing, but it was clear there weren't any spaces. I then left, and we tried the small car park nearest the hospital entrance, but the member of staff "helping" said there was an hour's wait. I had no choice but to leave Keith parked in the queue while I went in and tried to find the ward Mum was on. 

I eventually found it on the first floor, but she had gone down to surgery. I had called earlier today and had been warned of this, but I couldn't not go in again today. I left my bag of shopping with a nurse and fled. I hate hospitals with a vengeance!

Keith was still waiting, and I chatted to the woman driving the car in front of us, who was as fed up as we were. It's ridiculous that there are so few spaces! We drove home via Loddington, and when we arrived back, we had a well-deserved cup of tea and a biscuit. Simple things!

As Sophie had cooked for the last few nights, I made the beef stroganoff tonight. Keith had already prepared the vegetables and meat, so all I had to do was cook everything and then leave it to simmer gently.

Sophie was over the moon when she arrived home, and we sat and watched the Tour de France from Provence. It started in Montpellier and finished at the top of Mont Ventoux. We saw the riders flash through  Chateauneuf-du-Pape and then Bédoin, and we saw the restaurant we'd eaten in last October!

Before the finish, we ate dinner, and it was lovely, thank goodness! I would have been upset if it hadn't matched Sophie's high standards! We then watched the long, hard climb up to the summit of Mont Ventoux and the number of people cheering them on was fantastic!

Not the best of days...

I woke this morning to find I'd missed a call from the hospital last night, at about midnight, which wasn't good. When I finally got hold of someone, I learnt that my Mum has fractured her hip, not the news we were wanting at all.

I drove myself to work this morning and told Sara what had happened, saying I was planning to visit this evening. When I called the ward at lunchtime, I was told my Mum was due to have surgery this evening, and it wouldn't be worth visiting as they couldn't  give me a time.

Today hasn't been the best of days; it's been noisy and busy in the office, and after a quiet start, the calls were relentless. I had to help out several times, and I could hardly hear the callers over the noise. Sara realises now how busy it is, as we lost many calls again today.

At 4pm, I sped home under cloudy, sultry skies and mooched about, feeling miserable. Sophie arrived home, went upstairs and found Gomez on her bed. One of his eyes looked red and swollen, so that's another worry. When are things going to get better?

We have put off watching the Tour de France today and will hopefully see it tomorrow. After a repeat dinner of last night (we had so much left over), we all watched a new series of Fake or Fortune. A man had bought a painting at an antique fair that he believed was by Winston Churchill. Was it a fake, or worth a fortune?!

A nasty shock

My shift was manic at work, as the phone calls were relentless from the minute the phone lines opened. We were taking calls for our Derbyshire centre as their phone line was down, so that made it a lot busier. I had to help out several times and answer calls about bookings for the centre, something I'd never done before!

At least I put on the swim camps for the second week, though, in the quiet period before 10am! That's one less thing to worry about! It was a relief to leave at 4pm and head home. It felt muggy and close, and the forecast thunderstorms hadn't happened today. Typical! We get weather warnings and nothing happens, yet yesterday, when we didn't have any, we had torrential rain and thunder!

As I was chatting to Keith in the kitchen, my phone rang, and it was the care home. Both my parents had fallen, and the staff had found them on the floor. It looked like Dad had tried to go to the loo on his own and fallen, with Mum going to his aid and falling, too. She was complaining of pain in her hip, so an ambulance had been called.

I was shocked and just hoped that she hadn't broken her hip. I managed to get hold of her later in the evening, and she was still lying in an ambulance. The paramedic didn't think she'd broken it, but until they do an X-ray, they can't be sure. I asked to be kept in touch and made sure they had my mobile number.

It was an evening of worry, and I felt quite down about everything. Hardly a week goes by without some kind of drama lately! After eating Sophie's delicious chicken and leek pie, we watched some more of the Tour de France. Tomorrow, it's coming from Provence, and they're taking in Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Mont Ventoux. We were planning on watching it with French food and a bottle of the wine. That may have to wait until later in the week!

A busy Sunday!

I had a lie-in this morning and slept for longer than I'd expected! Over breakfast of granola and fruit again, Sophie and I had a frank discussion about the holiday plans we'd made the previous day, and I said that I'd find it a wrench not to travel to Europe next September. As you can imagine, this didn't go down well with my daughter. We made a list of pros and cons for the US and Europe, but shelved definite plans for now. I don't know what's happening with my job next year, so I'm reluctant to pay a deposit anyway. Also, if Sophie is serious about buying a house in France, she will need every penny!

Keith very kindly chopped up masses of vegetables for the Bolognese sauce - we included celery, carrots, an onion, a leek and a courgette. Just before midday, I prepared the sauce and let it simmer all afternoon. Sophie also made the chicken and leek tangle pie for tomorrow, so the kitchen was a hive of activity!

While Sophie was doing that, I cleaned the conservatory (it was fly and spider city) and made a start on clearing out the cupboard under the new window in the kitchen, which is a general dumping ground. Why do we feel the need to keep paper bags and so much rubbish? I wanted to make room for diaries and photos that I plan to scan onto the computer. I turned everything out, making the kitchen into a complete mess! It was worth it when I finished, though, and everything was put neatly away!

After having a lovely, hot shower, we relaxed in the living room until dinner. We ate slightly earlier this evening, but not as early as we'd planned, as I wanted the Bolognese to simmer for as long as possible. I was very pleased with the sauce, and I think the herbs I bought in L'Escala added to the flavour!

After we'd eaten, we watched the Tour de France, and it was wonderful seeing the gorgeous scenery. Can I bear to tear myself away?!

Making plans...

We awoke to grey skies this morning, and at about 10am, it started to rain heavily. I didn't hear any thunder, though, much to my disappointment. We had a lovely start to the weekend with granola, yoghurt and fruit for breakfast and an appointment with Saturday Kitchen Live, with guest Diane Morgan, whom I loved watching in Motherland. She seemed a bit underwhelmed by everything, though, and seemed to be exactly like the characters she plays!

At lunchtime, Sophie and I drove down to Riverside to go to Next. Olive was lovely and cool, and we still needed the aircon despite the rain. It felt humid and close. We had a coffee and chicken wrap in the Costa inside the store and, after eating, made our way downstairs to the Virgin Travel shop. We have been talking about returning to Florida next year, just Sophie and I, and we wanted some advice and prices for flights and a villa in Naples.

We spoke to a lovely woman called Kathy who had a good look for us, but said that Virgin no longer offer villas in Naples. She was able to quote us for flights to Miami, a two-night hotel stay in the city and a hire car so we could drive up to Naples. We may have to arrange the villa separately. We looked at lots of options, and even suggested a week in Naples, and a few days in Orlando visiting Universal. It has certainly given us something to think about!

Before we left Next, I bought myself some perfume, and then we drove to Waitrose at Kingsthorpe to buy two boxes of Little Moons Mochi, which had been featured on Saturday Kitchen Live this morning. Sophie had already enjoyed them before, but wanted me to try them as well. I bought a box of Fever Tree lemonade to go with a whisky this evening, for a change.

On the way home, we called Keith and suggested a trip to the pub as he and Sophie owed me a drink from the Wimbledon Men's Finals last week! We collected Keith and drove to the pub where a Sausage and Cider festival was in full swing, with most people taking advantage of the late afternoon sunshine and sitting in the garden. We chose to sit inside by the window so we could be nosy! After two drinks, we returned home and relaxed before a game of Scrabble. Our planned meal tonight was the Chicken Tangle pie, but we had no desire to do all the preparation, so we have postponed it until Monday. With nibbles and drinks, we had no desire to eat anything else!

Our viewing pleasure this evening was a 1995 film, Just Cause, starring Sean Connery. It was a great film with a neat twist at the end. Sophie and I had a fishfinger sandwich at about 8.30pm, followed by the mochi, which were absolutely delicious!

Hot and humid

Sophie didn't go to the gym this morning as she had a bad headache. Worryingly, they seem to be coming back, which is disappointing as I thought we had fixed the problem.

I had another busy shift at work, but it was a peasant day and not as frantic as Wednesday, apparently, when Sara was tearing her hair out! It's been hot and humid today, and quite unpleasant, but the weather is due to break on Saturday when we have weather warnings out for thunderstorms. Let's hope it clears the air a bit!

Keith went to the pub this evening, while Sophie and I opened a bottle of Marques de Caceres white Rioja and settled down to watch Murder on the Orient Express, starring Kenneth Branagh and Johnny Depp. Both Sophie and I had read the book on holiday and enjoyed it, but the film was quite a bit different, with characters re-named and even given alternative nationalities! Why? It spoiled it a bit for us! The highlight of the evening was the snacks Sophie bought in Waitrose on her way home: a delicious layered dip and crunchy crisps! Yum!

Dinner tonight was chicken escalopes with potato wedges, so nice and easy. We also realised it was the First Night of the Proms! We're going in September! 

A quiet day

Sara and I had a good chat this morning when I arrived at work, as I hadn't seen her since last Friday. She told me about her trip to our Derbyshire leisure centre, saying how lovely the staff were, but the customers were a bit moany!

I had a busy, shorter shift and managed to accomplish a lot. At 2pm, I sped home and pootled about, but I felt a little sleepy, so I treated myself to a half-hour nap! This always seems to happen if I'm at home on a Thursday afternoon!

As usual, Keith and I played cards before dinner, which was simple tonight, and after we'd eaten, Sophie and I went upstairs to watch Stanley Tucci on his gastronomic travels in Italy. This evening he was in Trentino-Alto Adige, right next to the Austrian border, where the language is predominantly German rather than Italian  (and where Sinner comes from, which now makes sense!). It looked like a gorgeous area and one we'd both like to visit!

A happy anniversary

Olive was booked in for an aircon service and MOT today, so we all drove down to Brackmills and dropped her off at 8.30am, at one of the In and Out centres. We were early, so we went to Costa for a coffee before we took Sophie to work. I meant what I said about not going back to Café 900!

Once we'd dropped Sophie at work, Keith and I went home, had showers and popped to Tesco at Kettering. It's my Mum and Dad's anniversary today, and I bought them flowers and chocolates. Keith bought food for tomorrow night's meal, and we drove to the care home. I had decided to see them this morning as I needed to get some housework done this afternoon, and I'm glad I did because Mum was just about to go and have her hair done. I gave them their cards (one was a Moonpig card with some lovely photos of them over the years) and their goodies, which they were both thrilled with. I then went down to the salon with her.

Another lady was being seen to, so Mum and I sat and chatted with Jo, the hairdresser, for almost an hour. It was most pleasant! What a difference from what I'd been expecting, as well! Jo was lovely and perfect for her job as she shows a genuine caring approach to the residents. The lady being seen to was in her late 90s and was from Belgium, so she sometimes talks to Jo in Flemish! I bet she has some tales to tell!

Once Mum's hair was washed and curlers put in, she went under the dryer, so I rejoined Keith, who had been reading the paper in the car. We went home, had lunch, and I made a start on cleaning the kitchen. I started at the sink and went clockwise to give everything a deep clean. The fridge needed a good clean as we'd spilt egg white all over the shelves! I also had one mission today: find space for Sophie's collection of dishes and bowls that she's collected on her travels!

To free up space, I put some rarely used items into the cupboard in the garage and set out the collection on the island so Sophie could see her treasured china! I did as much as I could in the time, but I certainly made a difference, cleaning out the fridge of old jars and having a cull in the cupboard. It does need doing from time to time!

At 4pm, Keith and I drove back down to Brackmills. I picked up Olive, who had passed her MOT with flying colours and went to get Sophie from work while Keith returned home. The aircon certainly felt a lot colder, so much so that on the way home, it became really chilly. Success!

Dinner tonight was fajitas and then it was another episode of Panda!

Mrs Very, Very Angry...

I had another busy day at work again as we've introduced our working systems to our gym in Derbyshire, and Sara was visiting with one of my colleagues, Denise. Tomorrow it will go live, so I'm glad I'm not in! At the very last minute, I received the holiday activities, and I had to drop everything to put them on, including two brand new ones. I rarely do the background work of prices and access, but Sheila was busy, so I just had to get on with it. Luckily, it worked and I booked Gomez onto one of the new under-5 activities next Wednesday. He'll enjoy that! I must remember to cancel him later in the week. I'm not sure cats can really take part!

Keith picked me up at 4pm and we returned home, where I was furious to find a speeding ticket from Kent Police waiting for me. I had been caught speeding on the M25 on our way home from France and had been doing 49mph in a 40mph "variable speed limit area. I was absolutely FURIOUS!!!!!! How, in a civilised world, can you be fined for speeding at 49mph on a major motorway? There were no roadworks, no workers present, no accident and no danger whatsoever. I did 2000 miles in France and could count the speed cameras I saw on one hand, and they gave plenty of notice. In France, there were no "Smart" motorways, there were proper hard shoulders on every autoroute and sensible speed limits. I was beyond incensed. It means either a £100 fine and three points or a speed awareness course. That'll be something to look forward to.

It made me grumpy for the rest of the evening, and I had a bad case of the holiday blues. After dinner, Keith and I watched another episode of Panda, the French comic crime show that's set in Occitanie. I wish I were back there!

Normal service resumed

Sophie was back at the gym this morning, so normal service was resumed! I had a busy day at work and managed to get another week's worth of films onto the system. I have to go onto the IMDb website to see what genre the films are, and while I was putting the films on, I noticed a scene from Mrs Doubtfire playing. It was my favourite part, where Mrs Doubtfire is out for a meal with his family and the owner of the production company, so that made me laugh while I was working and added a nice touch to my day!

I was kept busy doing a job for Nicola, as well as the emails, so the time flew by. I drove myself today as we had so much food leftover from yesterday, Keith didn't need to go to Tesco. I sped home, caught up with the usual jobs, and we played cards with a drink before dinner.

Things are definitely back to normal!

A little bet!

Sophie and I had a lot to do this morning, and we needed to go to Tesco to buy ingredients for a Key Lime pie. I had also told my Mum I would pop in and get a list of things she needed as well. We called in first, and I explained that we had to be quick today as we had so much to do. She wasn't very pleased we weren't taking her, but their anniversary is next Wednesday, and I'll make it special for them then.

We sped over to Tesco, bought everything we needed and dashed back to the care home to drop it off. It was then back home to make the pie and the pasta salad, so we were kept busy! It was definitely a combined effort!

At 1pm, we enjoyed a glass of Champagne and Sophie told us about her dream to buy a property in France at the end of next year. I felt excited at the prospect of her having a house to rent out, but one we could also stay in as well. 

The Men's final was taking place at the later time of 4pm today, probably due to the heat, so we ate our lunch of cold meats and salad at 3pm, and we were all ready to settle down and watch when the match started. Keith had suggested having a little bet on the outcome, so we noted down our predictions. Keith said he felt Alcaraz would win three sets to one, while Sophie predicted that Alcaraz would take the first and second sets, with Sinner winning the next three. At the same time, I agreed that Alcaraz would win the first, but said Sinner would win overall.

Our predictions!

I hadn't been looking forward to the match, but listening to Sinner on Friday, I warmed to him, and both Sophie and I wanted him to win. As predicted, Alcaraz took the first, but Sinner played fabulously and won the next three! Sophie was right about the third set, and I was correct about the fourth, but I won overall! Woohoo! Free drinks for me!

The rest of the evening was spent relaxing, and Keith watched the Lionesses' football match, which they won. What a day for sport!

Feeling the heat!

I felt so hot in the night, it was very unpleasant! I would love to have air conditioning installed in the house! The heatwave is due to peak today, and then it will get a little cooler, thank goodness!

Sophie and I sat in the garden with a coffee this morning, but unfortunately it wasn't the same as sitting on the terrace in L'Escala and gazing out at the gorgeous views! A little robin did come and say hello, though, so that was lovely! Our neighbour was up a tree, cutting down some of the branches, and overlooking us as we sipped our coffees, which was a little unsettling!

Keith wanted me to help him with a couple of jobs today: renew his driving licence online and sort out Val's box of photos and documents, which I hope will help with his family tree. We had a sort through the photos and letters, but there was nothing exciting in there, sadly! I was hoping for some juicy family gossip!

As it was so warm, we didn't do much in the afternoon. I had a lovely long shower and watched the Tour de France on the bed afterwards. We have some exciting days coming up, including the ride through Chateauneuf-du-Pape and up Mont Ventoux. I am really looking forward to watching on this day (the 22nd of July, I think) and seeing the places we've driven through! 

We did venture out to get ice-creams in the afternoon, though, and tried three different shops before we were able to buy one each! Walgrave is hosting its annual "Groove on the Green" this weekend, and the village was busy when we drove through.

In the evening, Sophie made us Vegronis (with vodka), and the cocktails were delicious. I drank mine rather too quickly; it was so good! We played Scrabble, and I beat my daughter this time! Dinner tonight was very easy, and we enjoyed Tesco curries with accompaniments and talked about future holidays. You have to have something to look forward to!

After dinner, Sophie and I went upstairs to watch a fascinating documentary about a woman who swims with sharks in Hawaii. She swims mainly with Tiger sharks, but has also swum with Great Whites, even holding onto one shark's dorsal fins... unbelievable!

Feeling uncomfortable

Luckily, our office was cool for most of today, so it was only when I went outside that the heat hit me! I had a busy shift, putting on the first week of swim camps and dealing with all the emails, as well as doing an extra job for Sara.

It was bliss to get into the car at 4pm and turn on the aircon, which was on full blast for the journey! When I got into the car, the temperature registered 38°c but this went down to 32°c by the time I arrived home.

Keith went to the pub this evening to catch up with John after the holiday, and Sophie and I watched the tennis match between Djokovic and Sinner, which wasn't the most exciting game I've ever seen. I was hoping that the Serb would win, but he lost in three straight sets, and it seemed his heart wasn't in it. So, we have Sinner versus Alcaraz in the final on Sunday, at the later time of 4pm. The match finished just as Keith arrived home, and we ate dinner, a much more sensible pizza/quiche and salad with new potatoes.

I had brought my fan down, and this helped a bit with the temperature. Before we went to bed, Sophie and I sat outside on the front step and played with the cats who were enjoying the slightly cooler air. We have let them go out at night rather than keep them cooped up in the living room and kitchen. 

We could hear the local "Groove on the Green" taking place, and we had considered going, but... it was too hot!

Getting hotter!

We drove into Moulton to collect the VW this morning and dropped Keith off at the Shell garage, so he could walk to Glen's. Sophie and I then carried on, and she dropped me off at work.

I had planned on working until 4pm today, but I wasn't as busy as I expected, so I did my normal short shift, finishing at 2pm. The heat has intensified to about 28 °C and is expected to get hotter tomorrow. It makes me feel sleepy, and I had a nap this afternoon on the bed with the fan full on me! It was bliss to just take an hour to relax, as so far it's been a busy week!

The VW is fixed now, so let's hope that's the last of our problems! We just need to get Olive's aircon sorted out and an MOT arranged by the end of July. If it carries on being this hot all summer, it'll be unbearable to drive it.

Sophie had suggested toad-in-the-hole for dinner with vegetables, and we soon realised that wasn't the best choice of meals for the hot evening! The temperature in the kitchen was registering 83°F, so about 28°C, and the sweat dripped off us as we ate. Not at all pleasant!

Back to work

Sophie gave me a lift to work today, and I had a pleasant re-entry into my working life! Although I don't normally work on a Wednesday, there was no way I could have taken today off as well! Sara had kept up with the emails and Sheila had helped with the cinema work, so I wasn't as snowed under as I thought I was.

Midway through the morning, Keith called me and said that the car wouldn't be ready until tomorrow, so I was at work until 5pm. It had been a long first day back!

Sophie picked me up at just after 5pm and we headed home. It's set to get hot over the next few days and we'll see a return to 30c temperatures! Phew!

Saying goodbye

Mike arrived at 7am and we set off for the north-east at 7.30am, giving ourselves five hours to get to the crematorium near the village of Coundon.

I had warned him not to wear his funeral clothes and to put on shorts and a tee-shirt because Olive's aircon was kaput. Thankfully, the temperatures on the way up weren't bad, and we stopped at a service station near Markham Vale, just off the M1, to charge Olive for the first time. Sophie had downloaded an app showing where the rapid chargers were, and we had to use them; if not, it would have taken an age to complete the journey!

Mike and Soph went to get a McDonald's for breakfast, ignoring our pains au chocolat! We bumbled about, reading the paper and using the facilities at the services. It took about forty-five minutes to get back to a full charge, and we set off again, taking the M18 and the A1(M).

It was becoming warmer now, and we made good progress driving north. We saw lots of different nationalities on the motorway today. It felt like we were back on the continent! About fifteen minutes away from the crematorium, we stopped again and charged up Olive to 100%, ready for the journey home. The two charges so far had cost £100, slightly more than a full tank of petrol. It was alarming!

Mike, Sophie and Keith changed their clothes, which was hilarious, and I dread to think what the couple of other drivers thought of us! Luckily, there wasn't a shortage of rapid chargers, and we set off again with twenty minutes to go.

When we arrived, we could see people waiting outside the entrance with uniforms on from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) that Val served with. Some had bagpipes with them. We found Glenda, Val's carer, and saw his son and his partner. Keith's nephew, Stephen, then came over with his wife, Anita, and it was lovely to see them again; it was just such a shame it was under sad circumstances.

The hearse was driven up to the entrance to the sound of bagpipes, and we filed in slowly. I started to feel emotional, as I always do, so it was tissues at the ready! Glenda gave a lovely speech, read out a poem, and played Frank Sinatra's My Way. The funeral had certainly been conducted in exactly the way that Val wanted. A friend of Val's gave a short speech, and the Last Post was played, which was excruciating as this always makes me cry.

We then filed slowly back out into the sunshine and stood about talking until it was time to leave for The Bay Horse in Middridge, where the wake was taking place. I somehow managed to miss the correct exit off a roundabout, so we took a slightly longer time to get there!

Tables had been set up for us, and a cold buffet spread out. We found a table and chatted to Stephen and Anita before getting drinks from the bar. The pub was packed! As well as the cold buffet, the pub put on hot food, with minced beef and dumplings, and steak baps. Mike made sure he filled up before the long journey home!

It was a very convivial wake, and it was great to see some of Keith's family again. We had been to Stephen and Anita's wedding thirty-five years ago! Before we left, Glenda gave us a box of photographs and family tree documents, so that will keep me busy!

We had a hot journey home, keeping the front windows open for a while to let cooler air in. Jeeves advised me to cut out part of the A1 and the M18 because of delays, so we drove straight onto the M1. We stopped again near Nottingham, and this was the fastest and cheapest charge of all. A warning had flashed up as we were down to 20% and we were about twenty miles short of making it home.

While the car was charging, we went into the services (Trowell) and enjoyed the air conditioning! Sophie and I enjoyed an ice cream, and Mike bought himself a chilled coffee. The last part of the journey was easy, and we arrived home just before 7pm. We had been out for almost twelve hours. Olive then went on charge again for the rest of the week!

Mike said goodbye, and we settled down with drinks to watch the Tour de France. It had been a mighty long day, but the funeral had been lovely, and it was fitting to say our last goodbyes to Val!

Yet another drama!

I felt a wee bit guilty this morning as I'd booked an extra day off work, thinking we wouldn't get home until late last night. At one point, I had even thought about going in, but I still had so much to do and we will have a long day tomorrow travelling north for Val's funeral, so I kept quiet!

I was up at 6.30am and stuffing the washing machine with another wash when Keith came down already dressed and said he was heading to Tesco early to get some shopping. He left, and Sophie woke up, saying she had changed her mind about going to the gym this morning.

That decision was a good one, as Keith called just after 8am to say the VW wouldn't start... He had tried several times and could smell petrol, but the car refused to start. Sophie and I went racing over to Kettering and agreed with Keith about the smell of petrol. I called Green Flag and they said they'd send a mechanic out, with him arriving at about 10am. We transferred the shopping into Olive and decided to call into the Enterprise Car Hire office just off the A14 on the way home to see how much it would be to hire a car to take us north for the funeral tomorrow. We spoke to a lovely man who quoted us £250 for a Nissan Qashqai (or something similar) for one day! We said we'd think about it and get back to him!

At home, I was dying for another coffee and some toast, and just as I was about to take a sip from my mug, the phone rang. The mechanic was ten minutes away!

Keith and I raced back and met a very nice fellow in his smart Green Flag van. He had a good look for about half an hour, and pronounced his verdict - the VW had a fuel leak and had to be transported to a garage to be repaired. He arranged this for us and wrote out his report. We asked what had caused it as there'd been no warning, and he mentioned that the part may have been faulty for a while, but with the heat on the continent and the miles we'd covered - 2300 in total - it was probably the final straw.

Although it was a problem, having the car break down in France would have been far worse. Imagine if it had broken down while we were in Montreuil-sur-Mer (in the short stay space), calling for assistance and then getting the car towed to a garage that wouldn't have been able to do anything until today or later, having to find somewhere to sleep on Sunday, and possibly Monday night? As well as the ignominy of going back to the concierge at the apartment and asking for the key cards back? It doesn't bear thinking about! 

We had to wait for over an hour for the tow truck to arrive, and I treated myself to a sandwich and coffee from the handy Costa within Tesco! A huge bear of a man arrived and expertly pushed the VW out of the space it was in, positioning his truck in front so he could winch it on.

Keith went in the cab with him to Glen's garage in Moulton, and I followed behind. It means we have no option but to take Olive to the north-east tomorrow and try and find an ultra-fast charger on the way, as the range is about 200 miles.

Back at home, I discovered that Sophie had finished all the washing, had done some ironing and made a chilli for tonight's dinner. We went over to see my parents in the afternoon and chatted about the holiday, mentioning how hot it was and all the little adventures we'd had!

It was a relief to finally get home and relax with the cats!

Back to reality

We awoke to grey skies and rain this morning, which meant tumble drying the mounds of washing we had to do! Keith was already up when I came down, and Sophie was having a cuddle-fest with the cats who had taken over her bed. I think they were delighted we were back!

By 9am, the house was in chaos as we unpacked the car and the cases. There were mounds of washing everywhere, and the contents of the cases were piled up all over the living room and up the stairs. We found bottles of wine we'd forgotten about, and I couldn't believe we had so much stuff!

However, by 10.30am, we had finished unpacking, everything was where it belonged, and the washing machine was churning away. Keith turned TNT Sports on at about 11am, and we saw a very wet and dismal Tour de France taking place. We think we had definitely made the right decision! People were sheltering under umbrellas and macs; we hadn't taken any umbrellas or jackets, and Sophie had been planning to wear a flimsy dress today!

As a treat, we'd booked a table for lunch at the pub in the village and we managed to get our outfits washed, dried and ironed. It was still warm and a bit muggy from the rain, but so much cooler than the high temperatures we'd experienced in Spain and France. The gardens need the rain, and we were shocked to see our lawn when we arrived home yesterday. It looked like straw!

Lunch was delicious, and we enjoyed two starters of falafel and chicken goujons to share, followed by roast chicken with potatoes, vegetables, stuffing balls, cauliflower cheese and Yorkshire puddings! Sophie and I shared a bottle of South African Chenin Blanc, and we managed to find room for puds - chocolate brownie and crème brulée. Sophie paid the bill as a thank you for my driving and Keith for keeping us on track with his navigation skills!

Back at home, we had naps and in the evening settled down to watch the Tour de France in full (although we did skip a few bits). The weather was atrocious first thing, and I suspected that we would have had difficulty accessing some of the roads. One route we travelled on yesterday had warning signs saying it was closed, and we saw huge advertising hoardings in place that we hadn't seen on our way out of Montreuil-sur-Mer.

It was great to see the places we'd visited, though, and follow the route on the printout of timings. Everything looked so familiar!

Return to L'Escala: 20th June to 6th July 2025

An upset tum...

Unfortunately, Keith had an upset tum this morning and had been awake since about 4am, so that wasn't good news, but fairly usual for this particular holiday! I suspected it was a bottle of beer he'd drunk as it looked horrible when he poured the dregs into his glass! Yuk!

We had showers, packed the car, and were out by 8.30am. I walked up the road and took some photos of the vineyards stretching away into the distance. 

Our street in Milly

The grapes were still small but will ripen over the next few months. Before we left, we spotted a pretty little cat who wanted to come over and see us, but was a little scared! Sophie can't wait to see our two!

We headed for Troyes on the N77 and witnessed some mad French driving this morning, with cars overtaking and zooming in and out even though we were all driving at the speed limit of 80kmh. I was very glad to spot a supermarket and petrol station where we filled up with petrol. There was also a pharmacy in the car park, so Sophie and I went in to try and get Keith some Imodium. We very nearly bought him Dulcolax, which would have had the opposite effect! We had a fit of the giggles and nodded when the chemist asked if we wanted the "by mouth" medication! Imagine!

Back on the road, we skirted Troyes and joined the A26 autoroute to get to Reims, then St Quentin, where we took a very boring autoroute, the A29, to Amiens. We stopped twice this morning for coffee and pains au chocolat, with the second aire a very basic one with toilets. Sophie was disgusted by the smells at the second aire and said that someone had urinated by their car. The warmth of the sun made it worse! Once at Amiens, we took the A16, calling in at the Baie du Somme aire for petrol. It was hectically busy here, so we carried on to Montreuil-sur-Mer, our last stop of the holiday.

A day too far?

I had a horrible feeling gnawing away at me that we had made a mistake by adding an extra day to the holiday to see the Tour de France. Montreuil-sur-Mer was already busy, with the bars and restaurants packed. When we found the street where we had rented an apartment for the night, there wasn't a car parking space to be had. On our second circuit, we pulled into a space close by, but it was limited to 90 minutes only. It didn't help that there was a wedding about to take place at the large church nearby, and we saw lots of smartly dressed people trying to find a space in the crowded town centre. I saw one couple in a smart Porsche drive past twice, with the man looking increasingly annoyed!

Sophie and I walked down the street and found the door to the apartment block. She messaged our host, and about twenty minutes later, the concierge turned up to let us in. He spoke no English, and my French had, if anything, become worse! We followed him through a dingy, scruffy area and up three flights of stairs to the top floor, and apartment number 11. How we were going to get everything up here, I dreaded to think. We were aware that there was no lift, but planning these places and then arriving are two very different things, and I was annoyed with myself. We had looked everywhere for a place to stay near the Tour de France route, and this was one of the few options.

We had cards to get in, and we followed the man into the apartment. The unit had three bedrooms, an open-plan sitting/dining/kitchen area with very low sofas, and a large bedroom at the end with a free-standing bath and sink. Slightly bizarre! We had agreed to bring only the bare minimum in as we didn't fancy lugging all of our stuff up the stairs.

I hated the place, if I was honest. The only windows were skylights, and I felt very claustrophobic. We had the devil of a job locking the door, and we went back downstairs to get Keith. As we went down, we noticed that the stairs had a distinct slant to them! I felt like I was in a weird Dali-esque nightmare! What made it worse was that the bannister on our floor was very low - beneath waist level - and I had a horrible feeling about falling over. It seemed like the whole building was leaning!

Keith wasn't impressed either, and on our second trip, I realised there was no way we could stay there. Imagine if there were a fire? There was no escape! Plus, what if we couldn't find a parking space? We made the decision to leave and try and get a train back a day early.

We were disappointed, but I think we had underestimated how busy the town would be and the lack of parking. We headed out of Montreuil-sur-Mer and saw all the flags and balloons celebrating the Tour de France for tomorrow. How lovely to have a house on the route!

At Calais, we managed, by sheer luck, to get a train leaving in ten minutes at no extra charge! It felt like we had made the right decision.

Our train was delayed by half an hour, but we were still back in the UK by 4.30pm. The M25 around the Dartford Tunnel was congested as usual, but we made it home by 7.30pm and ordered a Chinese takeaway as soon as we walked in. I had only eaten pains au chocolat all day!

As we waited, we chatted about the holiday and agreed that we would be giving Airbnbs a rest for a while. Although we had chosen carefully, and only picked places with good reviews and experienced hosts, we were disappointed with every one of them and wouldn't return. The only place we would go back to was Le Troubadour hotel.

To Sophie's delight, Mooney made an appearance and seemed pleased to see us. Gomez came in later, just as we were about to go to bed. It had been a long day, and we'd been on the road for eight hours. What bliss to get into my own bed!

Return to L'Escala: 20th June to 6th July 2025

Quiet country roads

We hadn't bothered bringing my coffee machine in yesterday, as there was a Tassimo machine in the kitchen. When I turned it on, though, it came up with "Calc", which meant it needed descaling. It refused to work! Muttering under my breath, I had to go and get mine from the car!

We had all managed to get an adequate night's sleep, even though the bedrooms were hot and stuffy, despite keeping the windows open. Sophie packed up everything, and we had showers and dressed. It was bliss to get into the car and turn the air-conditioning on!

Our destination for tonight was a house in the village of Milly, just outside Chablis. Our route took us onto the A71 and the A79 and then onto the N7. The autoroutes were quiet, and we had to turn off for petrol as we were getting very low. We used the stop to have a coffee and the rest of the cakes that Anna had left us yesterday.

There were roadworks on the N7, and part of it was a single carriageway. Once past Moulins and Nevers, we travelled on a beautifully quiet country road that passed through small villages and open farmland. I passed a tractor (there have been loads of them about), but the traffic was very light and it was a wonderful trip.

We were held up for a little while in more roadworks, and once past them, we headed towards Chablis, passing two villages on the way called Anus and nearby Mouffy... enough said about them, the better! Jeeves directed me off the road and onto narrow country tracks, much to my dismay, as we'd been travelling in a little convoy of two Belgians in front of me, and a French car behind, and we were maintaining a nice steady speed.

The narrow track brought us back out onto a main road, and very soon we had arrived at Milly. We were able to gain access to the house straightaway, which was a bonus. Unfortunately, I took an immediate dislike to this Airbnb, which felt dark and dingy. This was the house I was looking forward to the most, but it was a disappointment. There was no bathroom upstairs, and no fans or air-conditioning, so I wasn't looking forward to trying to sleep tonight!

We were able to park opposite, and we began to unload everything and dump it in the house. It was too hot to unpack it all!

We wanted to go to Chablis and have lunch, so we drove the short distance and managed to find a space in the car park in the centre of town. The last time we'd been here, it was Autumn, but today was hot and sunny, so it was lovely to sit outside the same bar we'd visited before and enjoy a glass of Chablis and something to eat. Sophie and I chose quiche Lorraine with French fries and salad, and Keith went for fish and chips. Lots of people were sitting and enjoying the sunshine and the lovely hospitality.

The food was good, and we had a couple of very small glasses of Chablis. After paying the bill, we wandered along the streets, and I bought a bottle of Chablis Premier Cru from a producer called Camu & Fils. We were given a tasting, and the wine was buttery, creamy and delicious.

There were a lot of restaurants to choose from, and bars with people enjoying a drink. It's a delightful place, and if you love Chablis, as we do, it's heaven!

Sophie and I also called into a beautiful shop selling wines, condiments, chocolates, etc, and bought some more wine and mustard. I bought a box of biscuits for my parents as buying them chocolate would have been a waste of time; they would have melted into a liquid in the heat of the car!

I didn't fancy going back to the house, so we decided to take a leisurely route to Tonnerre. Jeeves directed me onto tiny country roads where we could see vines stretching into the distance. We had to stop for an absolutely huge agricultural machine that luckily turned off into a field!

Near Tonnerre, a tyre pressure warning light came on, saying that we had lost pressure in the front right wheel. This was alarming, so we headed for Tonnerre and parked so Keith could take a look. He said it looked and felt fine, but we found a garage just in case, which had an air gun. However, quite naturally, it was all in French and Keith was worried that he'd let air out rather than in, so we left it! It never caused us a problem again! It was just another daily drama we had to cope with!

On the way back to the house, we saw more fields of vines, with a lot planted on slopes to get the maximum sunlight.

A glass of Chablis? Wine-Not!

Back at the house, I managed to get onto the wifi far more easily than yesterday! We relaxed for a while before getting ready for dinner and driving back into Chablis. It was a little cooler than earlier and more comfortable to walk about than in Spain.

We picked a wine bar and sat on the upper level with a view out onto the street. The staff were mainly young, and we ordered drinks - a bottle of Pale Ale for Keith and Aperol Spritzes for Sophie and me. Downstairs was a restaurant, and this was gradually filling up. We had booked a table at a restaurant called Wine-Not across the road, and both Sophie and I wondered if it was the same chain as the one we'd eaten at in Lisbon (we found out it wasn't!).

After our drinks, we strolled across the road and were taken upstairs to our table. In the middle of the eating area was a large temperature-controlled glass cabinet full of wines. I had never seen such a huge wine list in my life, and some of the bottles were priced at thousands of euros!

I chose a bottle of Petit Chablis called "Pas si petit" - not so small - and it was delicious. Petit Chablis wines come from different parts of the designated areas of Chablis, usually on inferior soils and sites which can be windier or colder. They're designed to be drunk within two years of bottling and are fresher and crisper than their more expensive cousins. Chablis is split into four designated wines: Petit Chablis, Chablis, Premier Cru and Grand Cru.

Our waitress was lovely and spoke far better English than my French! We ordered a platter of hams to start, followed by pork for Keith and a leg of chicken for Sophie and me. The food was very good, with the meat accompanied by roasted new potatoes and vegetables. The restaurant was popular with locals, and we had a large group of young people behind us who were putting away a fair amount of the local beverage!

Sophie and I found room for puds - my daughter had "Angel Cream" while I chose an almond cake. Sophie's dessert was meringue with fruit inside, and she said it was delicious.

After we paid the bill, we popped into a local supermarket for milk and beer and returned to the house, which felt slightly cooler than earlier. A group of people were outside their house opposite, chatting in the warm night air. It was a pity that our Airbnb didn't have any outside space at all.

We half-heartedly looked at the television, but we were tired from our long day, so it was off to bed. And, hopefully, to sleep!

Return to L'Escala: 20th June to 6th July 2025

The start of the long journey home

We were up and out of the house by 8am this morning, and Sophie bore the brunt of the packing and carrying the bags up the steps to the car. Even though she started at 6.30am, she was still very hot!

I did one last sweep of the house, and we set off, managing to fill the tank with petrol at the station we used the other day. It only took 20 euros, but it was worth it to get the much cheaper rate. We were soon on the motorway and heading for the French border, at the top of a mountain pass. The first aire we came to was the Catalan village stop, where we always enjoy a coffee and something to eat. Sophie had made us ham sandwiches, which were lovely. 

Once past the turn-off for Béziers, we joined the A75, a stunning motorway that passes through the Massif Centrale region. I knew that we'd be travelling over the Millau Viaduct, the highest bridge in the world. Part of me was excited, but the other part was terrified! Back in 1980, I travelled this route with my parents, but the viaduct hadn't been built then, so we had to drive through the town of Millau, which used to get badly congested by holiday traffic heading down to the south of France or Spain from Paris. The viaduct was built in 2004 to ease this congestion and towers over the Tarn Valley.

As we neared it, our elevation went up and up, so we didn't really get the feeling of how high it is - about 1125 feet. I have to admit to feeling a bit deflated as I was expecting to really get the wobbles! It was a bit like driving over the Dartford Bridge!

Once past, we pulled into the dedicated aire and had a proper look.

It's certainly a thing of beauty, and our own Norman Foster was one of the architects involved.

Millau viaduct – touristic guide | Aveyron tourism

We had a walk around, looked to see if we could get something to eat - nothing suitable - and re-joined the motorway again. We continued to climb, at one point reaching 3700 feet, higher than Snowdon!

Who's Barry?

It was lunchtime now, so we pulled off to a village étape. These are small towns or villages where you can get something to eat or drink, or fill your car with petrol, and are probably the places which lined the old Route Nationale 9, before the A75 motorway was built in 2010. There seemed to be very few aires selling food on this motorway, as is usual.

Unfortunately, we were hot and tired, and we found it difficult to find somewhere suitable, which resulted in a small bicker-fest. I approached one Logis but Sophie and Keith weren't keen, so I flounced off in a huff and said we would stop somewhere on the motorway.

The next étape we came to was in the small town of Aumont Aubrac, somewhere I had stopped with my parents back in 1980! We pulled off and found the Resto-Grill du Barry, which adjoined Le Ferme du Barry, a small hotel. Who was Barry? We never did find out!

We parked close by and were given a table outside. The waitress was lovely and friendly and took our orders for drinks while we had a quick look at the menu. We all chose the croque monsieur with some French fries and salad. Cold beers revived us!

We kept noticing people turning up as if they had been walking a long way, and when I did some research, I found this area is part of the Le Puy Camino, similar to the Camino de Santiago walk in Spain. They all looked tired and thirsty!

We had thoroughly enjoyed our lunch and paid the bill before re-joining the motorway. The scenery was still stunning, and the height didn't go below 2000 feet.

Around Issoire and Clermont-Ferrand, it became busier, and we saw the first heavy cloud since the Sunday we drove to Rocamadour (which seems an age ago!). Once past Clermont-Ferrand, we turned off the autoroute and onto small country roads. It began to pour with rain!

It didn't take long for Jeeves to get us to the small village of Gimeaux, where we found the house on a quiet residential street. Our host, Anna, had left the door open for us, but came along just after we arrived and brought us cakes and fruit juice for breakfast tomorrow.

The entrance to the house was up a flight of steps (as always seems to be the case), and the three bedrooms were on the floor above. There was a large open-plan living/dining room and kitchen. We could park the car inside the gates, which was a bonus as the street outside was narrow.

We brought everything we needed in and noticed how hot the house was... There was no air-conditioning, but we had fans in two of the bedrooms.

I loved the classic French rural house and liked the airy feel. We threw open the windows to get some cooler air in and tried to get onto the wifi, which proved to be a big difficulty. We had success with our phones as we were able to take a pic of the QR code, but I couldn't get the password right for my laptop. The password was easily the longest I have ever seen! In the end, as I was stubborn, I managed to use my phone as a hotspot, but it was very slow, so I gave up!

 

One of the first things we did was wash the towels we'd bought in La Chapelle D'Angillon, as we needed them for our next stop in Chablis. We also washed two of the beach towels and managed to get them all dry. We have a bulging bag of dirty laundry, which I will tackle when we get home!

We played cards, had a drink and watched some French television, but tonight we were all a bit subdued. I think we've had enough of the heat now, and we're looking forward very much to getting home on Sunday!

Return to L'Escala: 20th June to 6th July 2025

Peace restored!

Although we debated leaving a day early, we decided, in the end, to stay, and I'm glad we did, as peace has been restored today after the noise yesterday. We don't know whether something was said, but today there wasn't a peep out of the house, which is just behind us. We did see the guilty parties, though; a group of youngsters who walked past our house. If they were going to walk to L'Escala, they were brave!

We spent the day packing, getting ready for the journey tomorrow and staying by the pool. It was another scorcher of a day, and I made the most of the pool in the afternoon, relishing the beautiful, clear water and spending as much time as I could immersed up to my ears. It was a real wrench to get out at about 4pm! The Belgian family next door was also quiet, and the four of them were out for most of the day, so that was a bonus!

We showered and got ready to go out in the evening at 6pm. Being inside, we had forgotten how hot it was (as usual), and it was sweat city as soon as we got into the car. I couldn't touch the gear lever as it was burning! We wanted to go to Cal Galan tonight for dinner, but they don't take bookings and you need to go when they open at 7.30pm to get a table.

Sophie suggested parking in the car park we used to use, but when we arrived, I couldn't access the spaces like I used to. I was forced to drive down the road where there was another car park with about eight spaces, and just as we were about to leave, a woman arrived to get into her car and go. Success!

It was a short walk to Ultramar, and Sophie and I ordered Sangria while Keith chose a cider this evening, for a change. When we'd finished our drinks, Sophie and I walked down to the two shops by the sea. My daughter wanted some earrings, and I wanted to look at the prints in the artist's shop (A New Life in the Sun). 

Unfortunately, the artist shop was closed, and the jewellery/dress shop was so hot I had to use the fan. The sweat was dripping off me! We had a quick look around, took some photos of the sea and walked back to Ultramar!

Just before 7.30pm, we headed the short distance to Cal Galan, and to my delight, we were seated opposite my favourite photo of the gorgeous man!

Keith asked the staff when the photo was taken, and it was shot in 1958. Even if the man in the photo was in his late 30s (and I think he's older), he would most likely have passed away or be incredibly old! His legacy lives on, though!

We had a delightful meal at Cal Galan, and the wait staff were friendly and hospitable. We ordered bread smeared with tomatoes and covered in ham to start, followed by pork loin for me, fillet steak for Keith, with a mushroom sauce, and cod for Sophie. The food was very good and reasonably priced. No wonder it's so popular! Sophie enjoyed her cod but would have appreciated some spuds!

I ordered a bottle of Rosé, but it wasn't available, so we enjoyed a local white instead, which was delicious.

We managed to find room for puds - crème Catalan for Sophie and me, and an Irish coffee for Keith. It had been a lovely meal, and a fitting end to our time in L'Escala.

We paid the bill (117 euros) and walked slowly back to the car, calling into a Spar on the way to buy beer for Keith for tomorrow night, more coffee, wine and water. On one wall of the Spar was one of the photos we'd seen in the restaurant, taken by a man called Joan Lassus. He must have taken one of the man as well. I can maybe do some research later!

When we got back to the house, it was straight to bed. We were all tired and hot, and had an early start tomorrow!