My night started really well and then became somewhat disturbed. Don’t really know why, but settling back to sleep was not easy. Eventually I gave up and made myself a cup of lemon tea and that seemed to do the trick.
Peace – for a while at least.
The day that greeted us was bright enough.
In the interests of speed, we had decided not to have breakfast in the hotel, but to grab and go from a boulangerie. Which is what we did.
So today was a very long drive for Dave – around 700km. He decided we should have lunch somewhere en route.
We visited Troyes which is a very beautiful and very ancient French town, full or rickety buildings, away from the modern quarter. Unfortunately we could only find one open restaurant, and they were full.
But, at the last throw of the die, we were just returning to the motorway when we found another large brasserie with plenty of space. And we were served quickly, and with very nice food. Bonus!
H has had a bit of a miserable day squashed up by my feet. Mostly because we were strapped for time. It won’t happen again.
The tedium continued for several more hundred km. As we approached Calais, the wind grew stronger and the heavens opened, not with a gentle sprinkling of rain, or even a heavy shower, but with a deluge so severe that the windscreeper wipers all but gave up.
All doggy docs worked well at the tunnel check in.
And we soon joined the various queues for the next train. Poor old H, what a load of incomprehensible fuss! She was taken out of the car for the train journey, to relieve her squashdom, but it was not long before she was back in it again and we were on our way.
It took a couple of hours to get home! Thank goodness. Ali greeted us. She had kindly bought in a few supplies for us. The new beds look good… just need the correct size mattresses!! The electric blankets are keeping us snug, which is just as well because …
The heating does not appear to be working. The older circuits certainly do not, the ones at the front of the house. Chilly! You bet!
It was time to bade goodbye to our hero. I hope he sleeps well.
I can’t wait to unload the car tomorrow. Ha ha. We left on 6/9 and returned on 6/11.
It has been a long trip, largely enjoyable, but not without problems. T’s deterioration since 2019 is very clear, and he will not be doing a similar trip again. As age creeps up on us everything gets a bit harder, or even impossible. (flying out, hiring a car) I always wanted to get H out there one more time, and I succeeded in that. People change. Friendships change.
I still can’t post my blog via email because the process demands a pw. My recorded pw is apparently not correct.
H was pleased to get outside. What was a near -bald lawn when we left, seems to have transformed into a jungle which is going to be hard to control.
Thought for the day
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