Honey, we're home

St Ambroise


We're finally home after what can only be described as a whirlwind trip to the UK. 2000 miles in total, an average of 5 hours a day in the car, a different bed every night, a couple of hours with family here and there and a shopping afternoon in Guildford is all we managed.

We saw far too many motorways and too much weather (mostly rain) but at least we missed the high winds the days we were on the ferry.

It is sooooo lovely to get back to our own bed.

We've only been out of the UK for 10 months but were surprised at how we had changed. The shops were far too hot, noisy and crowded (even making allowances for Christmas shopping). There was too much traffic on the roads and everywhere was noisy. We did love the fact that no-one was smoking in restaurants and pubs (not that we were in them very much) but noticed that all the pubs now have a little tent affair outside to accommodate those who did want to smoke. I suppose that this will just make smokers even more likely to catch bronchitis or pneumonia in the cold and damp - not quite sure how this is going to help the health service!

Having had every intention of finishing our Christmas shopping, we didn't succeed. One turn around HMV and we had had enough, couldn't think straight and didn't buy anything - Waterstone's was just as bad. I used to love Waterstone's, I'd spend my lunchtimes 'just browsing' (usually not leaving empty-handed) but we were surprised that the three (yes, two in Guildford) we visited had different books on display and we could never find the same book twice - therefore, trying to take advantage of 3 for 2 offers was difficult.

Waterstone's #1 - Jon was alone, didn't have enough time to make any purchase but spotted 6 or more books that he wanted to buy.

Waterstone's # 2 - I found one book, Jon found another but only one of the first 6 books.

Waterstone's # 3 - Bought 3 for 2 - (only one of the original 6) and next month's book group selection which was full price.

We also managed to find some books in charity shops. Charity shops in the north of England are (surprise, surprise) so much cheaper than those in the south. In fact, for many books it is cheaper to buy them second hand on Amazon and pay the shipping to France than to buy them in a charity shop. Oxfam's second hand bookshop in Guildford was most disappointing - not only did they have a very poor selection (we didn't buy anything there) but they were badly arranged and overpriced.

Oh, well, back home to France and just awaiting the credit card bill which I know will be quite painful. I made the mistake of joking with a lady in one shop that Mastercard must be quite concerned that I hadn't used the card in a year and it was getting quite a hammering. In the next shop the transaction was 'denied'. Just a little moment of panic that we didn't have any more cash or a cash card and may not be able to do any more shopping but luckily it was just a blip and the card worked next time (and the time after and ........ well, you get my drift).

And now there is just the pile of washing to deal with ................ Actually, lovely Jon is doing all that while I sort out a home for all these new books!

Bumper to bumper

Ste Cécile
Yesterday's weather: mild, mixed sun and cloud

We took the 'pretty route' down to Toulouse yesterday. It took far longer than it should have but we saw a lot of scenery and travelled many roads that we wouldn't normally need to take. Traffic was almost non-existent. We were surprised at the change in landscape from limestone to woodland to chalky vineyards then heath then rolling fertile hillsides and then we hit the outskirts of Toulouse - yuk.

For the first time in many months we found ourselves crawling along in queues of traffic. It was 5.30pm and people were leaving work to head home. The volume of traffic was no doubt increased because of the transport workers strike, but we found it very tiresome. Did we really used to do that every day? It seems like a lifetime ago sitting in the queue waiting to get out of Guildford, or trudging along the busy road to stand on a crowded platform and catch a train.

We are so looking forward to making a visit back to the UK to see the grandchildren.

Well, I'm sure that without the M25, M40 and M42 it would be very pleasant.