Category Archives: Eric Hall

Wednesday 12th April 2017 – WELL, THAT’S THAT …

… for another EIGHT (yes, EIGHT) weeks!

Blood count is at 9.8, which is nowhere near as high as I would like and the protein count is at 1.77, which is still way above the norm, but they seem to think that I might be ready to try for 8 weeks.

And now I’m regretting that I didn’t come here in Caliburn, because he has his own little safe hidey-hole here, and given my accommodation issues just now, I could (and should) be on the next plane to Montreal – and I could go and have my accommodation issues over there.

What’s the difference?

Last night I had a good sleep even though the fridge rattles and the fan in the heater squeaks and groans. I was certainly well away, and for most of the night too. Awake at 05:45 and I’ve no idea why, but never mind.

Breakfast was the stuff that I had bought last night at the Colruyt, and I wasn’t really all that hungry, I suppose. And after a shower, I headed off to walk (about 100 miles) to the bus stop to catch the bus to the hospital.

But not before I had made a rather dismal discovery. I travel light, as you know, and don’t bring many clothes at all with me – I wash them in the shower as I go and leave them hanging to dry. But it seems that Bane of Britain here has bought two spare pairs of trousers and no spare tee-shirt. I was obliged to send Alison a message to tell her to make sure that she stands up-wind of me on Friday.

After the hospital I had a steady walk into town to buy food at Delhaize for tea, and then I went to pick up some Vegan cheese and ginger beer from the vegan place.

There was a glorious five minutes of bright sunshine and so I found a bench near to the big library where I could sit and drink my drink and admire the view in the gorgeous afternoon.

And, it has to be said, narrowly avoid being buttonholed by a Jehovah’s Witness handing out leaflets and wanting to chat to people. I waited until his back was turned and then nipped off, smartish-like.

But you do have to think about the Library here. Burnt to the ground by the Germans (along with the rest of Leuven) in 1914. And then again in 1940. So why is it that Belgium – and the whole of the rest of Europe – has more faith and confidence in Germany than it does in the UK?

Clearly the UK is doing something very wrong, and you wouldn’t expect a silly Brexiter to come up with the answer.

Back here, I made myself some cheese on toast and had a little relax. And then made up my mind to nip into the city to one of the cheap shops for a clean tee-shirt so that I could wash the one that I was wearing. Wibra had nothing cheap but Zeeman had a tee-shirt at €3:99 that would do the job.

On my return, I had a little … errr … relax for half an hour and then attacked the shower. Twice in one day, you might be thinking, but I needed to wake myself up and to wash my tee-shirt. And then I hit the town again.

I had a very pleasant evening with Sean and finally met his wife and daughter who are both lovely. Little Charlotte is 6 but she’s quite a character.

Now I’m set for bed, and I hope that I have as good a night’s sleep as I did last night.

Tuesday 11th April 2017 – I’VE JUST HAD ….

… the most extraordinary proposition put to me.

And no, Rhys, it’s not like that. And it doesn’t involve sheep either.

I went to see two more ruins this morning. And I was quite right too. One was really beautiful, with a magnificent view out to sea and the price wasabout right too. But it was furnished, and furnished too in the worst possible taste, and it was thoroughly filthy. Not even I as a tenant would leave an apartment in this kind of state. We shan’t talk about the kitchen either.

But it was the other one in the same building that really got me. It was another studio – which was superficially larger. But all of the difference and more was taken up by a totally pointless hall d’entrée and I didn’t understand that at all.

And worse was to come. For it had a balcony, which the one at the top didn’t have, but this was on the first floor and it had a stunning view of the car park and the high hedge that screened it from the view of the sea.

But there was one thing that totally shocked me – and it does take a lot to do that, I’ll tell you. There had been transfers or patches stuck on the wall, and it was impossible to remove them. "Don’t worry" said the estate agent. "The landlord will buy the paint and you can paint over them". At that, I turned on my heels and walked out.

Some, if not all of these landlords whom I have encountered, are living on a totally different planet than I am, and I’m sure that it’s not me who is devoid of reality. I expect a clean and tidy apartment in good order and good repair in a respectable building – that’s a prime consideration. But clearly many of these landlords – and many of the tenants too, I shouldn’t wonder – have totally different ideas than I have. Whatever is the world coming to?

So last night I slept the Sleep of the Dead and it wasn’t until the alarm went off that I staggered to my feet. 10 minutes under the shower soon restored me to life (well, sort-of, anyway) and I was glad that I wasn’t having breakfast because I wasn’t hungry in the least. I headed off instead through the fog and mist and the roadworks (of which there were more than just a few) for my rendezvous with destiny.

The esate agent had a bit of a moan about dropping me of at the railway station but then she can’t pick and choose her clients either.

I had a long wait for my train so I had plenty of time to relax and buy a coffee – but then it was worth the wait because it was a very modern diesel mutiple-unit. A bit lightweight and it rolled around quite a lot, but on the other hand the seats were super-comfortable and there were plenty of power points all over the place.

My neighbours were a young woman and her two kids who were pleying an exciting game of cards all the way to Paris. It certainly kept them amused and out of mischief for a while.

Lunch was the baguette that I had bought last night for this morning’s breakfast, together with the bowl of mint couscous that I had bought from LeClerc on Saturday, washed down with sparkling water that I had brought with me. Very acceptable.

The Paris metro was the usual incomprehensible maze, worsened by the fact that one half of the metro station at Montparnasse is cloed for renovation – and it’s the half that I need. Consequently it’s a bit all round the houses to reach the Gare du Nord.

We had an exciting few minutes of security alert as someone had forgotten their luggage in the waiting room, and then we were all ready to board out train – the one on the right of course.

There’s one of these stupid security checks that you have to pass before boarding the train these days – and that’s the kind of thing that gets on my nerves as you all well-know. But at least I had a comfortable seat on the train and I was quite undisturbed.

Imagine my surprise on arriving at Bruxelles Gare du Midi to discover that there was a train for leuven pulling in right at that moment. That involved something of a sprint but nevertheless I leapt aboard, as did another family who immediately discovered that they had leapt aboard the wrong train.

I was okay though and ended up being decanted in Leuven much earlier than anticipated.

Walking around the ring road towards where I’m staying tonight, I noticed this sign on a wall by a door to a building.

Verbond is “Association”, tuin is “garden”, bouw is “building” and cooperatie is “co-operative”. And so I’m wondering if this building is the headquarters of the Association for people who share garden sheds with other people.

My early arrival gave me time to visit the Colruyt supermarket down the road to stock up with breakfast material, which is good news.

And my trip down the road took me past a fritkot that advertised a terrace, so on the way back I stopped for tea. The terrace is hardly the most exciting terrace in the world as you can see, but it was nice to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air

I’m not staying in my usual hostel but in a flat-hotel place called the Condo Gardens. Here I have my own tiny little studio and although breakfast isn’t included, it’s totally self-sufficient.

And I do hope that the bed is comfy because I’m ready for it.

Monday 10th April 2017 – WHAT A SHAME!

I’ve actually seen a place that I liked today. It had everything that I wanted except for the kitchen of course (one of those really cheap units with the two ancient hobs and the fridge underneath so that the hobs take ages to heat up, they are pretty much uncontrollable, and they melt everything in the fridge).

And so why haven’t I signed for it then?

Two reasons really.

It’s not free until the beginning of July
It’s three floors up without a lift

And that’s that.

There was another apartment to let in the same building, on the first floor but without the terrace and the view of the sea. And that smelt as if the people living there had smoked 100 cigarettes a day for 20 years.

In other words, yet another wasted morning.

But on the other hand, it wasn’t exactly wasted because I did learn one or two things about the town.

As regular readers of this rubbish will recall, poor parking is a regular theme that crops up, and here, I regret to say, is yet another example of the dismal failure of other selfish motorists to respect disabled parking spaces.

This tells me more about the town than any other factor, and in this sense I’m glad that I’m not moving here.

But before I had left my little studio in Granville for my drive out, I had given the studio a quick clean-around and took some stuff down to Caliburn with me, and then we roared off to Barneville-Carteret to look at these apartments.

And then we roared back.

I finished off the tidying up and passed the inspection with the landlord, and then set off to find a place for tonight. And with what is befitting a holiday resort in the school holidays, there’s not a room to let anywhere in town.

After an hour or so of fruitless searching, we all took to the road and 80 kilometres and 80 minutes later we ended up in Cancale on the other side of the bay.

I had the last room here too – the Hotel le Chatellier – and at €60:00 it looks as if I have made a good choice. It’s quite comfortable and the shower is delicious. I spent half an hour in there.

No breakfast though. It doesn’t start until 08:00 and I’ll be long gone and down the road by then.

Cancale is beautiful. It’s nearly 30 years since I came here with Nerina and it’s changed dramatically in that it’s impossible to park by the sea.And it’s a hell of a climb up to the car parks at the top. And of course, all of the places to eat are at the bottom.

Luckily, on the edge of town was not darkness but a pizza van and we sorted something out. He came, would you believe, from Moisie in Quebec, so we had a really good chat.

Back at the hotel, I found a quiet little corner out of the wind and sat outside and ate my pizza. It really was a nice evening.

So now I’m ready for anything. Including two more ruins to visit tomorrow morning, and my train to Leuven at 11:50.

Sunday 9th April 2017 – WHAT WITH …

… my late night last night, I was looking forward to a decent, long sleep without an alarm to bother me. And so there I was, wide awake eventually, thinking that I can’t stay lying in bed for ever and wandering around the kitchen when I noticed the time – 08:30.

Yes, quite!

But after breakfast I started going through the room putting the less-essential stuff into one of my big blue IKEA bags to take down to Caliburn later in the day. And there was a fair bit to go too. It also gave me an opportunity to tidy up a little and do some more cleaning which you all know isn’t my strong point.

Once that was organised I went down to the boulangerie from where I bought that good baguette the other day. And it was bizarre, if not downright amusing, to see the difference in people’s tastes, with loads of people all coming and going in different directions carrying their favourite baguettes from their favourite boulangerie.

For lunch I made myself the usual sandwich and then toddled off to my favourite spot on the promenade at the back of the casino down at the end of the street to sit in the sun, to eat my butties, read my book and to admire the view.

With it being Sunday and also the hottest day of the year, all of the benches were taken and that meant a pretty uncomfortable lunchtime break.

I had to stand up in the sun, leaning on the wall, to eat my butties, read my book and admire the view. And to also rue the fact that, as I had mentioned yesterday, I have all of this beach furniture and I’ve managed to leave it all behind back in my barn in the Auvergne.

Normally, you might think that that will teach me lesson. But it’s far from being the first time that something like this has happened, and it will be far from the last time either.

There’s only so much time that you can spend standing up, and so back here, I had a little doze for half an hour and then hit toe road for Liz and Terry’s new place at Roncey. We had a delicious pie followed by ginger cake for tea, and hats off to Liz who had conjured that up out of nothing and cooked it in the oven in the caravan, because she has no kitchen.

In the fog and mist and in the dark I came back later. And it’s nice to be able to drive at full speed down narrow lanes without worrying whether you are going to hit a sanglier or a chevreuil.

So now its bedtime – my last night here. Tomorrow I have to find a hotel and that will be exciting. I’ve forgotten that it’s the Easter break.

Saturday 8th April 2017 – WELL, THAT WAS ANOTHER …

… total, complete and utter waste of time.

I could smell the rising damp from outside the front door. And I wasn’t wrong either. I shan’t go on (and on and on) about the place to spare you all the unpleasant details, but I’ve come to the conclusion that the average standard of living of people here in Normandy is to bed down with the cattle.

It’s a shame really though because the village of Genets itself is quite pretty. And not only that, there’s a most spectacular view of Mont St Michel from the car park across the road.

Nerina and I went there almost 30 years ago for a good wander around and it’s always inspired me. And what is more, it’s possible to walk across the sands from here to the Mont when tidal conditions are right, and there was in fact a party setting out while I was there.

Regular bus services to the railway station at Avranches too, but unfortunately I won’t be on them.

I headed back to Granville and went to do some shopping.

Having enquired of the BIOCOOP before I came down here about vegan cheese and been told in the affirmative, I headed in that direction to stock up. But having spent a fruitless 20 minutes looking, I enquired of a member of staff, only to be told “ohh, we don’t have that”.

That’s no good.

And so I went up to LeClerc and bought a few bits and pieces there to stock up for the next few days and to take with me on the train. And that reminded me – my Senior Citizens railcard – it needs a photograph, and there’s a photograph booth there.

Another thing was that the place was advertising tickets for this evening’s football match – US Granville v Rennes II in CFA Nord – the equivalent of the Nationwide North League in the UK. Cost all of €5:00, and I reckoned that buying now would save queueing at the ground.

While I was out looking at that wretched apartment at Donville-les-Bains the other day I had noticed the gorgeous beach there. And so that was where I headed for lunch.

A pot of hummus from LeClerc (and that took some finding) and a nut loaf to dip into it, and some fruit and soft drink – and there I was, sitting in the gorgeous sun with my book.

I dozed off for half an hour too,and who can blame me? But I do feel a bit of a fool. I have two sun-lounging reclining chairs as well as a fold-up portable chair, and where are they? That’s right. Bane of Britain has left them back at the Auvergne.

At about 16:00 I headed back to my little studio for an hour or so and a coffee, and I was lucky with a parking place. Just as I arrived, someone was trying to pull out into the traffic and so I stopped to let him out, and then quickly reversed in.

I was glad that at LeClerc I had bought a ticket for the match, because there was something of a queue. I had no problem entering the ground.

The stadium is pretty similar to that at St Eloy-les-Mines, but it looks as if at one time it had a dog track around the outside. There’s even the channel where the electric hare (an “external” hare) would have run.

But I was thinking, like I do on special occasions – what a superb speedway track this would make. France was never very big in speedway but this place would be ideal.

As for the match itself, it wasn’t too bad. Had Granville won, and both Chlet and Bergerac failed to win, then Granville would have gone top.

Cholet lost and Bergerac could only draw, but US Granville lost too – and so it’s Rennes who are king of the heap right now. Final kick of the game – right between the keeper’s legs.

But it was played at a pace and both of the keepers had their work cut out. US Granville missed a sitter straight from the kick-off and a Rennes forward kicked the ball over the bar, totally unmarked, from 6 yards out.

But there were a couple of “incidents”. There was a bad tackle after about 65 minutes which resulted in a red card for a US Granville defender, but it wasn’t a “violent” tackle in my book and I would have only given a yellow card for the offence.

And then a few minutes later, we had another reckless tackle (well worth a yellow card to a Rennes defender) but a US Granville player decided that he would intervene. A Rennes player pushed him away and the US Granville player went down as if he had been hit by a nuclear missile, holding his face although the push had been to his shoulder.

The referee sent off the Rennes player, and I do have to say that if referees sent off everyone who had pushed an opponent in the middle of a mêlee we’d be playing matches with no-one on the pitch. A yellow card, very likely, but also a yellow card for “unsportsmanlike conduct” to the Granville player is what I would have given. It really was shameful.

Anyway, I headed home and ended up having a late night, what with one thing or another. But no matter.It’s Sunday tomorrow and I’m having a lie-in.

Friday 7th April 2017 – I MADE A CONSCIOUS …

… decision this morning and turned down the thermostat in the fridge. Much a I like ice-cold soya milk and fruit juice, I don’t like the racket that the fridge makes during the night. I can’t have the best of both worlds unfortunately – it’s one or the other.

But once I did finally manage to settle down I was well-away and it was the alarm that once more awoke me. And I’d been on my travels again, with some friends with whom I used to go and watch the Alex play in the mid-70s. We’d been to a match where they had been playing the Clayheads in a tense local derby and had won 2-1, although we didn’t arrive there until the final whistle (which rather defeated the point of going).

After breakfast I didn’t do too much – just chatted to a few people on the internet, and also spent ages (so it seemed) going through the old laptop removing duplicate files. It seems that I had let it get completely out of hand and there was about 15GB of duplicate files in there that needed removing.

I also made a few more enquiries about apartments and I have two more to see – one tomorrow morning and the other on Monday morning.They both look quite nice, but then again I’ve heard – and seen – all of this before and I don’t intend to count my chickens before they are hatched.

For lunch I strolled down to the promenade with my butties, my fruit and my book and sat at the same place as yesterday. If anything, it was a warmer day than yesterday and just for a change it was fatigue that drove me back to my little studio.

And just for a change, it was 17:20 when I came round, and made myself a coffee. I’m really not doing too well with things at the moment.

One thing that I didn’t forget (which was just as well) was to move Caliburn. One part of the public parking is reserved on Saturday mornings for the vans of the market traders and that was where I had parked him up. But across the road there were a few spaces and so he’s gone in there.

Tea was pasta with the rest of the lentil stuff that I had made yesterday. And it was delicious too, although it will be nice to get back to having a proper kitchen and doing proper cooking.

Now I’m having an early night and tomorrow I might even have a shower. Have to look my best for my visits.

Thursday 6th April 2017 – YES, DEFINITELY THE FRIDGE.

It took ages to go off to sleep again last night with the fridge whining away in the background. And I was awoken once more in the middle of the night by the rattling of the compressor.

But I did manage to go back to sleep and was awoken by the alarm, which is always nice.

I’d been on my travels too – something I’ve not really done for a while. I was taxiing again – this time in the white Volkswagen Passat estate that I own. And the wife of one of the people for whom I drove back in the early 80s put in an appearance too.

And that reminds me – I need to rescue the Passat and the Minerva next time I go back to the Auvergne and put them on the hardstanding. After all, that’s why I had it made.

I had a quiet leisurely morning. I’m not up to doing too much these days. What with chatting to Liz and so on, I was late for going to buy my baguette and ended up at the boulangerie across the road. I had a walk down to Caliburn too, to make sure that he’s okay and to pick up a few things that I need.

At lunch I went for a walk down on the promenade at the back of the Casino over there to sit in the sun and eat my butties. And sit in the sun I did too – for about an hour.

But the wind was rather wicked and despite the sunshine, it was really cold and there was nowhere to shelter. In the end, I decided that the only protection was “flight” and came back home.

Back here I carried out some more research about places to stay and made a few phone calls but no-one called me back. But then I’m not surprised. No-one seems to want to earn any money these days. They just want to sit at home and moan about how cruel the world is.

Tea was the rest of the potatoes, and I made a thing out of a tin of lentils, a tin of veg and a bottle of tomato sauce. It wasn’t too bad after. It was all washed down with some fruit salad and soya dessert which was nice.

So now let’s see what kind of night we have tonight. I managed to avoid crashing out so I should be ready for a good sleep. Watch someone come along and spoil it for me.

5th April 2017 – WELL THAT’S ANOTHER …

… complete and utter waste of an afternoon as far as I am concerned.

Somewhere in that big building down there on the seasfront in the distance at Donville-les-Bains is a studio to let.
Vue sur mer so they told me, and so I went to look this afternoon in the company of an estate agent.

Vue sur mer there certainly is, but not the vue sur mer that I was hoping to have, but I do realise that I shall have to make compromises.

It’s a old hotel by the looks of things that’s been converted into studios and apartments, and the first thing that I noticed was that the building has seen much better days.There’s been no process of renovation for about 30 years by the looks of things.

And then the front doors to the building were wide open. And in a holiday resort too. That’s not a good plan as far as security goes.

It’s also one of these rabbit warrens, with about 10 apartments and studios on the same floor. It’s not going to be quiet.

As for the studio itself, it is only small – 23M² – but that doesn’t bother me as it is less to clean. But half of that is in the bathroom – which is totally silly if you ask me.

And the rest is … well … derelict is probably too strong a term to use, but it’s definitely seen much better days as far as the decoration goes.

The kitchen is like something out of the 1950s. One of those silly units with the sink with cupboard underneath and the ancient cooker elements right on top of the fridge so the ice cream melts when you are trying to cook something. And there’s no possibility of inventing something different.

Don’t get me wrong though – the price was right at €280 per month, but I want something with much more style than this. My days of slumming it in all kinds of disreputable accommodation are long-gone. I’ve earned a comfortable retirement.

Last night was a slightly better night and although it took ages to go off to sleep, I was away with the fairies until the alarm awoke me. High time that I managed that.

I like the idea of the really cold stuff in the fridge. It’s beautiful for breakfast. And two mugs of coffee too. Luxury. And then I had a relax for a while.

Later on I had a good walk looking for another boulangerie and the baguette in this one is the best to date. Far from perfect, but an improvement on the others.

After lunch we had the appointment at Donville-les-Bains and then back here at Granville I made an exciting discovery. The ice-cream stall by the casino sells sorbets. expensive, mind you, but I treated myself nevertheless.

And then a climb up the hundred or so stairs to the old town. It took me a while with several stops for breath, but there I was. And I went for a walk around. There’s no boulangerie up there, but a very friendly and garrulous newspaper-shop proprietor up there is a dêpot de pain and he sells bread at 08:00 6 days per week at 08:00. That’s useful to know.

The walk down here, underneath the arch and over the drawbridge, was very nice too. But the climb had worn me out and I had a good hour or so crashing out.

for tea I had the last of my vegan burgers with spuds and mixed veg, followed by the last of the carrot cake and some more soya dessert. That’s a shame. I shall have to start to use my imagination now.

And an early night again. About time, too. Tomorrow is a new day, and we shall see what that brings me.

Tuesday 4th April 2017 – I THINK THAT IT’S THE FRIDGE …

… that’s causing me my sleeping issues. I had a good night last night up to about 03:40 when I awoke with a bang. The fridge was rattling away like nobody’s business and so I rearranged a few things inside, made sure that the door was properly closed, and then stuck my head back underneath the quilt.

And there I stayed until the alarm awoke me.

After breakfast I relaxed for a good while and then went out to find a baguette. Four different bakers I have tried here, and four awful baguettes that have the constituency of chewing gum. At this rate, I’ll be having to make my own.

Lunch was partaken in here seeing as how it was misty and damp outside. And then we hit the streets.

I headed south through St Pair sur Mer to Jullouville and Carolle. And apart from a couple of beautiful beaches (especially Carolle-Plage where I stopped for half an hour and read a book) there was nothing of interest.

Mind you, we did have an exciting time at the Square-Immo offices in Jullouville. Yours Truly arrives just as the estate agent is departing. He looks at me – and I look at him.
After a minute’s pause – “well, can I come in?”
“No” replied the estate agent. “I’m just leaving” and he ushered me out of the door.

And they say that there’s a recession ongoing in Western Europe. Is it any surprise when they heave customers out of their shops like this?

So dodging the raindrops, I drove across Granville to Breville. And there was nothing there either. It’s all looking a bit miserable.

However there were two camp-sites and so I made enquiries. This idea of parking up a caravan for the summer and seeing what the winter brings is certainly not impossible. While I have paid less for accommodation in the recent past, it does have its attractions from a financial point of view and might save me from embarrassment when I end up with nowhere to live.

I came home via Donville les Bains to have another look around at the place. It certainly has its attractions too and I shall look a little further into this.

I had vegan burgers for tea, with potatoes and veg. Followed by more vegan carrot cake and soya cream. Now I’m ready for anything – but bed is the most likely.

Despite having had a decent sleep last night, I’m still worn out. It’s taking its toll of me.

Monday 3rd April 2017 – AND I SHAN’T …

… sleep tonight either.

Last night was yet another miserable night, and I simply don’t understand it. It’s a comfortable bed, it’s reasonably quiet here for a city centre, there’s double-glazing and all of that, but I can’t understand why I just can’t go to sleep. I’m doing something wrong, that’s for sure, and I wish that I knew just what it was.

But anyway, I had a rather … errr … late breakfast (I’d heard the alarms but I didn’t actually arise) and then cracked on with some work – searching through a pile of adverts to extract some names of estate agents and the like who might have properties to let.

And there was only one, and that wasn’t much use, except that I did learn something. And this means that I am going to have to be a little economical with the truth and come up with one or two alternative facts about my position here in Granville. Still, if it’s good enough for British and American senior civil servants, it will be good enough for me.

I walked up the hill to the last of the estate agents, but they couldn’t help with anything. But she did suggest a caravan at a holiday camp until the season dies down. And I’ve been thinking about this, and even know where I can find a caravan too. If all else fails, that’s a fall-back.

Across the road is the railway station, and seeing as they were having their Senior Citizens Railcards on special offer at €60:00, I went over and bought one. It gives me a substantial reduction on my rail fares and if I’m going to Leuven every few weeks, it will more than pay for itself. The last trip home showed that I can’t rely on my own steam to drive distances like that these days reliably.

There are regular trains to Paris Vaugirard and the journey takes just over 3 hours, and trains also to several places in the vicinity.

When Terry had taken me home last night we’d driven past a few estate agents in Donville-les-Bains and it’s only a couple of kilometres walk from the station, so seeing that it was a nice day, I went for a walk.

One was closed and the second had nothing that its main office in Granville didn’t have, but it gave me an opportunity to look around the town. It’s a nice place and the views from upon the cliffs are stunning. I shall have to make further enquiries.

I walked all the way back to my little holiday studio and picked up my olive bread, some water, some fruit and a book, and then went off to the promenade to have lunch. It was beautiful sitting out there in the sun, but round about 14:00 I reckoned that I’d go inside my studio for a sit down for half an hour.

Next thing that I remembered was that it was 17:20. I’d been asleep for well over three hours. This isn’t any good, because I won’t ever sleep at night if I keep on going like this. But I needed some spuds so I nipped to the little Carrefour down the road.

Tea was potatoes, green beans, peas and carrots with the left-over vegan burgers from mast night, followed by carrot cake and soya cream ditto.

And chatting to Liz on the internet, she suggested that I go for another walk down to the beach near the Casino to photograph the sunset.

And with it being a really beautiful night, I decided to do just that. I hurried up and finished the washing up, and then hit the streets just as the sun was starting to set. I needed to get a move on before it was too late. The sunset won’t wai for me.

I wasn’t alone out there either. There were quite a few people loitering around on the promenade, including a group of break-dancers having some fun.

And not only that, I was engaged in conversation with a woman whose husband was also taking photos of the sunset. It transpired that they were here on holiday and come from Oostende in Belgium. As a result, our conversation continued in Flemish.

That probably took them by surprise, but then again, I need to keep it up, otherwise I’ll forget and that will be a waste of a year won’t it?

The tide was out (it had been right in at lunchtime) and so I was able to go for a perambulation on the beach. That was a nice way to end the day too. After all, it’s why I’ve come to (hopefully) live by the seaside, if ever I can find a place to live.

And as it finally went dark, I walked down to the end of the promenade at the back of the Casino to take a photograph of the dying embers of the sun as it sank down over the horizon.

I wasn’t alone here either – there were all kinds of people out here enjoying the setting sun. And quite right too because it really was beautiful. It had been a gorgeous day for most people who have somewhere to live, but I’m yet to have that luxury.

I walked back along the rue Paul Poirier to my little holiday studio, which is just down there on the corner.

All of the washing up is done and I’ve had a wash. Nothing remains now except to make up my bed and go to sleep. Not that I’ll be doing too much of that after my mega-doze this afternoon.

But we’ll have a go and see where we end up. At least I’m by the seaside and that’s where I want to be. Tomorrow is another day and it looks as if I shall be having to cast my net a little further.

But I’ll find somewhere – I’m sure that I will. It’s just a question of time.

Sunday 2nd April 2017 – I HAD A NICE …

… walk this afternoon.

Much better than my sleep (or lack thereof) during the night because that wasn’t so good. I’ve no idea why because the bed is quite comfortable and it’s not particularly noisy outside, but nevertheless I couldn’t go to sleep. And when I did, I kept on waking up.

Mind you, with no alarm going off (well, it IS Sunday) it was about 09:15 when I hauled myself out of bed and first thing that I did was to go for a shower.

After breakfast, I hung around for a while and then went down to the end of the road to meet Liz. She took me back to see the house that they have bought about 30 kilometres or so from here in Roncey. It needs a lot of work, like most places do, but it’s down the bottom of a long private drive on a hilltop overlooking a picturesque valley and facing full south. It really is marvellous and has bags of potential.

We had home-made soup and then went off to the seaside at Coutainville. This is one of Liz’s favourite places and I can see why she likes it. We had a look there to see if there was any apartment to let but nothing struck me.

Nevertheless, a nice long walk on the promenade in the beautiful afternoon sun was just what the doctor ordered.

Liz had made vegan burgers and carrot-cake for tea tonight. It was nice to get back into my old habits. Especially as a doggy-bag was made up for me to keep me going for the next day or so – about which I shall have no complaints whatever. And Terry drove me back here afterwards as I was feeling quite exhausted.

It’s nice to see good friends, that’s for sure, and Liz and Terry are among the best. As I have said before, I don’t have many friends but quantity has never been a substitute for quality, and what friends I do have are the best in the world.

Now I’m going to have an early night and hope that I can sleep better than last night.

Saturday 1st April 2017 – CALL THAT A …

… Division d’Honneur match?

I’ve seen more exciting and more competent teams playing down in Division 2 of the Puy-de-Dôme League than what was served up here at Granville tonight.

La Patriote ST Jamaise were pretty miserable – another team that spent far too long hanging on to the ball instead of playing it out wide or over the top. But as for US Granville, they have to be one of the worst teams that I have seen. Far and away the worst at this level.

They had a red-headed guy playing right-back who was thoroughly, totally and completely useless. He was substituted after 30 minutes and judging by his contributions up to that point, he was on the pitch for 30 minutes too long.

But the centre-forward – a big bulky 20-stone guy that would make Akinfenwa look like a lightweight – I’ve never seen anything like it. He was easily the worst player that I’ve seen on a pitch in a competitive match. He didn’t run after the ball – just a leisurely saunter around when he could be bothered to move – and never looked as if he was going to do anything at all. US Granville could have played without him and no-one would have noticed the difference. Xavier, who used to play up front for Pionsat’s 3rd XI will be the first to admit that he was playing up front to enjoy himself rather than in respect of demonstrating any skill, but I would have had him on the field leading the attack any day of the week rather than this guy.

It goes without saying that, being the worst team that I have ever seen, Granville were 2-1 up at half-time. Two free kicks, two shots at goal, 2 goals. But honours were restored in the second half as La Patriote ST Jamaise scored two more goals – one from a dreadful defensive howler where they all stood around waiting for the keeper to come halfway up field to head a ball away. I hardly need to mention that he headed it just as far as a La Patriote ST Jamaise attacker who calmly lobbed it over his head into the net. And the winning goal was … well … I estimated about three yards offside from my perfect position in line with play.

But US Granville can’t complain. They were dreadful.

I’d had a much better sleep today and a steadier start to the day. With a few things to do (loads of files to update) and then I went for a walk around the market. Nothing of interest unfortunately, and the prices are, well, not what I’m accustomed to paying.

But going for a walk to buy bread, I found a notaire with a few letting properties in the window. One looks quite suitable so I have an appointment to see that on Wednesday.

This afternoon I was chatting to a few people on the internet and then Caliburn and I went off to LeClerc for a look around. Strawberries at €0:90 for 500 grammes and cheap soya cream too – that will make for some exciting puddings for the next few days.

There’s an electromenager bit there too and prices seem to be reasonable. That’s one-up on Montlucon.

Afterwards, I headed for the footy and then came back here for tea.

It’s a late night but it’s Sunday tomorrow so no alarm. Let’s see how well I can sleep.

Friday 31st March 2017 – I HAD A NICE AFTERNOON …

… out this afternoon. Liz and Terry, who are in the area somewhere, came to visit me. The first time that I have seen Liz for over a year.

But last night was an awful night; For some totally unknown reason I just couldn’t go to sleep. I’ve no idea why – it wasn’t that the bed here is uncomfortable or that there was a lot of noise – it must be my guilty conscience I suppose.

And it was a struggle to leave the bed though for breakfast. Nevertheless, it’s nice to have really cold soya milk, really cold orange juice and really cold fruit puree. I felt so much better after that.

There were things that needed to be done around here now that I have a reliable internet connection – tons of stuff that I need to download – and then I had an appointment to see an apartment. And it was a nice place too and it’s currently at the top of my list. It has one bedroom, private parking, well within my budget and in a beautiful stone building from the 18th Century BUT it’s at the rear of the building and so doesn’t face the sea. Had it been at the front of the building I would have signed for it on the spot. But there you go.

After lunch I had a doze – and then Liz and Terry came round to awaken me from my reverie. We had a good chat, went for a coffee and then for a drive up and down the coast looking at neighbouring villages to see if there might be anything suitable there.

It’s a beautiful coast just here and with the sun shining out it was a delicious afternoon. St Pair-sur-Mer is particularly beautiful. But I ended up having a “wobble” and so we had to come home. I crashed out for an hour or so as soon as I returned.

I’ve had my tea now – more of last night’s effort “lengthened” by a tin of mushrooms. So I’m having a little relax before bedtime. I’ve had a busy day and with my bad night last night I feel that an early night is called for.

Thursday 30th March 2017 – I’M INSTALLED …

… in a little studio apartment right in the centre of town here in Granville. I went into the Tourist Information Office for a brochure, found a list of holiday flats, and there was one just over the road. Free parking just a few hundred metres up the street and so here I am.

Next task was to look for somewhere more permanent, so I went off hot-foot to a place that I had seen on the internet. Parking close by and a sea view.

But what a disappointment that was! I could smell the damp as soon as I walked into the place. Not only that, the floor creaked dangerously and had some cheap lino thrown down over it. A glance out of the window showed that the garden hadn’t been weeded or the lawn mowed for about a year. And if the landlord can’t cope with simple jobs like that, what hope do you have of him coping with anything important? I walked away.

Never mind though. There are plenty of estate agents in the town and I have already visited three or four. The remainder are for tomorrow I reckon and we’ll see what happens then.

As for the town itself, it’s been 20-odd years since I’ve been here and I don’t remember anything at all about it. Either it’s changed dramatically or I have. I know that we stayed here a couple of times but I really don’t remember where. I don’t recognise a thing.

But no matter. I cooked tea tonight in my little kitchen and shortly I’ll be going to sleep on my little bed-settee. I’ve had a hard day and I’ve already crashed out for half an hour or so this afternoon.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings me.

Wednesday 29th March 2017 – THE LADY WHO LIVES IN THE SAT-NAV …

… has her head screwed on properly, that’s for sure. Because she’s brought me to another place that was high on my list of places to visit. And so that’s another one crossed off my list.

But first of all, I had a reasonable sleep in a nice comfortable bed even though I was tossing and turning a little for some time during the night. And then after a leisurely breakfast and some work on the laptop, I hit the road.

First stop was for fuel. I found a place selling diesel at €1:17 a litre, which is the cheapest that I have been able to find for a while, and then back on the road I picked up the signs for “Fontevraud”

What’s at Fontevraud is the Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud, and this is quite an interesting building because the Abbey was heavily patronised by the Plantagenet Royal House of England. Aliénor (Eleanor) of Aquitaine, who was the wife firstly of the King of France and later of Henry II of England was a major benefactor of the Abbey.

In fact, she, her husband Henry II, their son the famous Richard the Lionheart, and Isabella, wife of King John, were buried here. While their tombs are still here though, their bodies are not. The Abbey was pillaged during the French Revolution and the remains were despoiled.

nevertheless, it led to a fine interchange with the guy at the cashier’s desk –
Our Hero – “with the Brexit, will the British be asking for the repatriation of the remains of King Henry and King Richard?”
Cashier – “anything still here is the property of the Abbey and nothing can be moved by anyone”
As Alfred Hitchcock once famously said to Kenneth Williams – “it’s a waste of time trying to tell jokes to foreigners”.

I took thousands of photographs, and when I have more time (because I’m rather busy right now) I’ll come back to edit this page and put them on line so you can see just how beautiful it is here.

And so in the beautiful hot sun, I hit the road and headed north to the Loire. And there, having crossed the river on a beautiful girder bridge, I found a place to settle down for an hour or so to eat my butty and contemplate the state of the nation.

Having gathered my wits, I headed off still northwards towards the coast. If I’m going to be anywhere, it’s going to be by the sea and near the beach. I know a little walled town on the coast with a beautiful beach and with an important ferry service out so some of the offshore islands. I mean – you know me. Whenever I see a ferry it always makes me cross.

And so eventually, after surviving two attacks of cramp in Caliburn, we arrived in Granville, in Normandy. I’ve bagged myself a hotel for tonight and tomorrow I’m going to find a holiday flat for 10 days or so while I plan my next move.

EPIC HALL

The Poisoned Pen (or Poisoned Chalice, more like) – or my relentless struggle against reality