Vive la France ...

Despite all my best intentions, I've just heard the clock strike midnight: I fell irresistibly asleep downstairs despite the loud enthusiasm of the round-up programme about the Birmingham games and now ... The total prostration came as a result of a lovely day, as regards both weather and what we were doing. After two years of not being able to meet because of Covid we were able to spend the afternoon with friends from la Rochelle, having lunch together and talking non-stop in a mixture of languages, mainly English because Eric and Jennifer are much better at it than I am in French. I first met Eric in Loudéac, in central Brittany, when I was leading the French Exchange and he was teaching in the Lycée there; they were kind enough to give our younger son somewhere to stay when he wanted to come too after having gone to University, and they were at his wedding in Brittany. I hadn't realised till today that their son Yann (on the left) had also been at the wedding; we think he must have been about 6 at the time.

We'd arranged to meet in Benmore Gardens car park, as it was easier for them to find as they drove down from Inveraray, but as the catering there is no longer what it was I took them round to the delightful Blairmore Café opposite the pier, which is where I took this photo. We had a walk along to the end of the village after, with Himself and Yann, studying music in France,  deep in musical conversation, leaving me and Jennifer free to talk about ourselves! I was amused to realise that when my pal Di passed in her car, hooting and waving madly, Jennifer recognised her - the power of Facebook! We acknowledged how useful social media is in keeping friends in touch even when not directly, in that we know what is going on in their lives ...

We ended up back chez nous briefly, just because ... Yann played one of his own arrangements to us, and we did the guided tour bit, ignoring the detritus of our normal lives. By the time they left, my throat was sore with so much talking - if you're reading this, mes amis, be assured that it was entirely worth it!

I miss going to France. Maybe we'll get back there before we give up on travel altogether. Et maintenant il faut dormir ...