Blog – Saturday 9 August 2008

This is being written while staying for a one night stop in a small campsite on an island in the middle of the Loire near Nevers on our way back to Paris after a wonderful holiday first in Provence and then in the Alps. Whereas the French may not speak in an intelligible language they certainly do have a very beautiful land!

We baked in the sun in Provence (Cucuron, for any who know the region) and enjoyed cycling to and from lakes and markets. Amazingly, the campsite had internet access so we were able to check that there were still no apartments in Paris available where we want one! After three days we drove north into the Alps (La Grave near Briancon) which was absolutely stunning and we were easily able to keep our minds off the fact that upon return to Paris we have nowhere to live (yet)!

We did some arduous walks at high altitude and I managed a 1000 metre descent in 90 minutes including getting lost. We took a steep chair lift descent one day near Les Deux Alpes and decided to climb back to the start (in the rain). It was an almost impossible climb and at the top we passed the sign banning people from that particular route which was reserved for VTT (mountain bike) idiots! Having survived that, Gill nearly lost her life an hour later when trying to cross the road and forgetting to look left first! The next day I very nearly took the lives of two ladies by virtually running them down whilst asking a policeman for directions! Apparently, the well used excuse, “pardon, je suis anglais”, doesn’t often wash in cases of manslaughter.

We have now been in our lovely caravan for five consecutive weeks and we are still married! It is under 6 square metres. That’s quite small, by the way (our house in Coventry is 200 sq m!). We are looking for an apartment of about 70 sq m. That is going to seem like a mansion after this.

Another potential purchaser viewed our house in Coventry this morning (Sat). We trust he will quickly make an offer.

William and Hannah Perrier still do not know when they will get the keys to the house they are renting in Paris. If they do get them by 17 Aug then we may be able to store our things in their garage. If not then we will investigate storage facilities.

Sarah and her boyfriend Gabriel are coming to visit for a few days next week. They will have to join us at Bois de Boulogne Campsite! We are looking forward to seeing them, but it’s all going to be a bit tight in 6 sq m!

Life is challenging and certainly not boring. It would be nice to be able to see into (even) the immediate future, but we can’t. God can, though and that is extremely comforting!

By the way, both Briancon and Macon have McDonalds. Don’t even think of trying their McScargots et Frites. Stick to coffee.