Saturday 18th June 2016 – WHAT A NICE EVENING …

… that was!

Tonight was the night that we had our little farewell party. The student exams are coming to a close and two of the students are leaving on Monday morning. And so they decided to have a little party, with each person contributing a course of the meal, and I was invited.

I went to the Asian fast food place and bought a biryani, and also a bottle of wine. Everyone else made something, much of which was vegan, so there was plenty to eat. We sat around the table chatting away for quite some time too and it was after midnight that I came up to my room. The people here are very nice indeed, very friendly, and I’m glad that some good has come from staying here.

But here’s a thing. I had a couple of trips down the corridor during the night but they didn’t inconvenience me too much, and went back to sleep each time. When the alarm went off, I simply turned over and dozed off again, and it was almost 08:30 when I finally awoke. That makes a pleasant change too, a little lie-in.

I was back on the Titanic public enquiry this morning, with Senator Alden Smith still stuck in this monomania that he had about the two wireless operators, Cottam and Bride, selling their stories to the Press. I can’t see an issue with it – after all, it’s their own personal story and they waited until they were on dry land before making contact with the Press, and yet to date, 12 days into the enquiry, Alden Smith has devoted about a third of the time into interviewing everyone from the Marconi company, wasting everyone’s time and even summoning Marconi himself not once but twice to a meeting in the USA to interrogate people over the issue as he thinks that it’s “improper practice”.

As I said, I don’t see an issue with it. It’s their own personal story and has nothing whatever to do with an issue involving Marconi, the White Star Line, the American public and Senator Alden Smith.

At lunchtime I braved the showers to go to do some shopping and passed by the market for some olives where I bumped into Melanie, one of the students here who was also doing some shopping. I’ve finished off my hummus so tomorrow I’ll be having cheese and tomato butties. I don’t want to buy anything perishable yet because on Monday I’m not here – in the hospital in fact, and out gallivanting on Tuesday lunchtime.

Back on the Titanic this afternoon and then off to the shops for the food for the party – and now I’m back here. I’ll have a nice lie-in tomorrow (I hope) with no alarm. High time that I had a good rest.

Friday 17th June 2016 – THAT WAS A WEIRD TEA TONIGHT.

Yes, I should have had rice, bulghour, lentils and vegetables for tea tonight. But I mistakenly took a tin of vegetables for couscous with me, and ended up with chick peas and tomato sauce mixed in with it. The taste was unexpected, but not disagreeable.

You can tell that I’ve been to the shops today. I’m starting to run out of certain foods and so it was to the Delhaize supermarket in the town centre. Apart from the baguette, I bought some tomatoes, bananas and peaches, and then some rice, bulghour and vegetable stock cubes. All of the proteins in that lot should keep me going for quite a while. I need to concentrate on those as you know.

Apart from that, I’ve not done too much today. I was up early yet again, had breakfast and then spent most of the day on the laptop. I’ve been continuing the reading of the American enquiry into the sinking of the Titanic, which is extremely intriguing.

And I’ve managed to dispel one rather mischievous story about the enquiry, which has pleased me greatly. I have no time whatever for Senator Alden Smith, the chairman of the enquiry, but he was ridiculed in all of the Press for asking an officer of the Titanic “what is an iceberg made of?”. Especially when the answer of “ice, I suppose” was given.

But this is VERY VERY selective news reporting – for in fact at least two other witnesses gave evidence that an iceberg is made of ice plus stones plus soil plus all kinds of other things – with the idea that it was the stones caught up in the iceberg that damaged the hull of the ship, and one person even suggested that the shallowness of the Grand Banks was caused by centuries, or millennia of rocks and soil in the icebergs falling out of suspension and sinking to the bottom of the sea when the icebergs begin to melt. Alden Smith was simply trying to clarify the position when he asked the question and in my opinion, he has been unfairly pilloried.

I had a long chat with Liz on the internet too. She’s enjoying herself in Normandy in her little turret and having a good time by the seaside. Long may it continue.

So now I’m off to bed – not quite as early as I wanted, but never mind. I fell asleep listening to the radio last night and I’ll probably do the same again.

See you in the morning.

Thursday 16th June 2016 – I’VE BEEN OUT GALLIVANTING …

… this evening.

Alison was coming into Leuven so we arranged to meet up and go for a meal, a coffee and a chat. And so, as indeed you might expect, when it was time for me to go off to meet up with her, it started to rain.

However, at least it did prompt me to have a shower, a shave and a change of clothes so it can’t be all bad, can it? And I must say that I needed it all too. And in another major step forward, I’ve tracked down a launderette so I can give all of my clothes a good going-over as soon as I have a bag full.

The launderette is actually on the way to the boulangerie, and seeing as how I had a full complement of everything that I needed today, I reckoned that instead of the supermarket I’d just nip to the boulangerie to see what it’s like. The baguettes cost €1:25 but they are enormous and I had something of a struggle to eat it all. And while I was in the kitchen preparing lunch I was joined by one of the students and we had quite a chat. Not only that, one of the girls is leaving on Saturday and there’s a party for her, and they have invited me to attend. Isn’t that nice of them?

I didn’t have the sleep that I wanted last night. I awoke twice with the urge to visit the porcelain horse and it’s a flaming long way down (and an even longer way back) especially in the middle of the night. But years of living in a van have taught me a trick or two and I have come well-prepared for eventualities like this. One day, I’ll explain my littie secret to you.

I’ve been on the internet for much of the day, reading the report of the American enquiry into the sinking of the Titanic. I read the British Board of Trade report years ago but the other day I came across the American one. This is very interesting because it was the first of the two enquiries and there was a huge argument recorded in its pages between the officers on one hand and the seamen of the other hand about whether the Titanic split in two before it sank. Most of the seamen who expressed an opinion were firmly of the opinion that the ship had split in two, whereas the officers disputed this idea.

The conclusion reached by the inquiry was the ship had not split in two, and at the British enquiry, the point was not pursued as firmly. Yet when the wreckage of the Titanic was discovered and filmed, they way that it was lying on the sea bed left no doubt that the ship had indeed split into two before sinking.

I met Alison at the parking of the Sint Jacobsplein and went for a walk through the rain into town. Yet another gorgeous meal at the city centre fritkot followed by a coffee around the corner, and then a slow wander back to Alison’s car, seeing as it had stopped raining by now. It’s nice to be sociable and meet up with friends.

Back here, I’m having a little late night for a change. Serve me right for drinking that coffee!

Wednesday 15th June 2016 – I FELT SORRY …

… for my landlord. He came all the way here with a new flourescent tube for my little room, and I didn’t use it.

I was in bed listening to radio programmes on the laptop, long before it went dark. And I must have crashed out completely because I remember nothing until waking up to switch off the laptop round about midnight. And that was about that until 06:33 when I awoke. And I did feel much better after that.

But here’s the most exciting news of today, and that is that I may well have found somewhere else to stay for the 11 weeks that I need a place. I had a reply from a kind-of tourist hostel and so I went off to have a look at it. It’s right by the Sint Jacobsplein where the famous fritkot is situated, which is extremely handy and very well-situated for the hospital. It’s a big house which, admittedly, has seen better days, but nevertheless, it’s still quite acceptable.

I’m having a single room all to myself, with a shared bathroom and kitchen. Everything is provided – wi-fi, bed-linen, cleaning and so on, and there’s a breakfast included in the price – and it’s going to cost me about €26 per night. It’s more than I wanted to pay, of course, but it’s here and it’s now, and a lot less that I would have to pay in a hotel. And, of course, once I’m in, I’m in and if I need to extend my stay for any reason, I can do that from the comfort of within rather than from out in the street in some kind of desperation.

As well as that, the included breakfast will save me some money. The presence of a kitchen will help me in this respect too – I can live on tinned food and so won’t have to pay for meals out in the evening. I reckon that if I’m careful, I can keep within my means but there won’t be a lot spare.

Anyway, it’s all now reserved and I’ve paid a (substantial) deposit. Just watch the place burn down now.

Apart from that, we have the internet working. The college’s intranet runs on an underlying public access internet network and one of the students here let me have the access code for the public access part of it, which was quite nice of her. So now it’s all systems go.

We had a torrential rainstorm at lunchtime too about half an hour after I went out to the shops for my lunch stuff, and so I was rather caught out in it and was soaked to the skin. It’s a long time since I’ve been out in a rainstorm quite like that and my baguette was all soggy in places.

Tonight for tea, I finished off the kidney beans and mixed veg from last night, along with some pasta and tomato sauce. And, of course, the spicy cake and soya dessert for pudding.

Now, I’m going to have an early night and a good sleep. I’m off gallivanting tomorrow.

Tuesday 14th June 2016 – SO HOW WAS MY FIRST NIGHT IN MY NEW DIGS THEN?

The answer was “not very comfortable”.

What with one thing and another, it was long after midnight before I ended up going to bed. And once I was in, I had a little listen to the radio but it wasn’t long before I switched everything off and settled down for the night.

But the mattress, which I have put on the floor, as I have no intention of climbing up to the eaves of the room, is really uncomfortable. It’s a very cheap mattress to start with and it sags just about everywhere. But it wasn’t long before I’d dropped off to sleep, and that was how things stood until all of … errr … 05:30. I’m not used to the big city and all of the traffic and the like.

It goes without saying that I didn’t actually leave the stinking pit at that time, and when I finally did, I had plenty to do up here. Breakfast was therefore at 09:00 where I made the acquaintance of one of my co-cottiers. I had to run up and down the stairs twice as well – the first time wasn’t too bad but I was on my knees for the second. This is clearly not going to be sustainable.

The walk up to the hospital was quite pleasant even though it was all uphill. I called at the boulangerie that I had discovered yesterday. and of course, it’s closed on Tuesdays. But there’s an Asian supermarket across the road and they sold baguettes, so that’s that problem resolved.

The parking problem for Caliburn is semi-resolved too. I picked up a document from the hospital yesterday setting out my visits to date, and with this I was able to apply for a parking card for a free car park in the vicinity. This was duly granted.

But having the pass is one thing – finding a free space there is quite something else. I ended up making an ad-hoc space for myself at first, and then going back out at lunchtime to pounce on a liberated space. And that took quite a wait. By the end of the afternoon though, there were a few free spaces so if I do decide to go anywhere in Caliburn it will have to be in the late afternoon that I come back.

I made use of the hospital’s internet to check up on things and to send off another pile of e-mails. I’ve already had two replies from this load of messages, but they were both refusals.

Walking back here was pleasant too in the early evening sun and I encountered the landlord in the building, changing a few light-bulbs including the one that doesn’t work in my room. I also had an encounter with a couple of the girls here, sorting out a place for me in the fridge.

Tea tonight was pasta, kidney beans, veg and tomato sauce followed by slices of spicy cake and soya dessert. Loads of proteins in all of that. And now, having almost fallen asleep a couple of times at the hospital, I’m off for an early night.

I hope that I can have a good night’s sleep tonight.

Monday 13th June 2016 – IT’S NOT VERY GOOD NEWS!

No, I had the results of the two samples that were taken from me the other week.

The first bit concerns the bone marrow. Whilst it’s true to say that the lymphona hasn’t spread into my bone marrow, the fact is that the bone marrow itself is quite fragile and as a result they won’t be giving me any more chemotherapy. This is because the marrow is quite fragile and they fear that the chemotherapy may damage it.

The second thing is, if anything, even worse. And that is that my illness has spread to my kidneys and that is what is the matter with them.

I don’t know if the situation is dangerous or not – I didn’t ask. What I do know is that they are going to have a meeting on Wednesday to discuss a course of treatment and I have been summoned for next Monday to a meeting to find out what will be the plan. All that I can say is that I don’t like the sound of this at all.

I had a difficult night’s sleep again, awake quite early and having a trip or two down the corridor. When the alarm went off at 07:15 I was awake but it still took me a good few minutes to leave the comfort and safety of my nice warm bed. After breakfast I packed everything away and even found time for a shower, then paid up for my stay and hit the road.

It was pelting down with rain this morning and traffic queues everywhere. However I made an executive decision (an executive decision being, for the benefit of new readers of this rubbish, a decision that if it happens to go wrong, the person making the decision is executed) to follow the signs for the motorway once I reached Korbeek-Lo and that was a much better idea. There was heavy traffic on that road but it was all turning off to the various business parks down there and it didn’t take long to hit the motorway. And once on the motorway it took me a mere 10 minutes to reach the hospital by going right round the city and onto the campus from the rear. I was there half an hour early.

A couple of doctors, one of whom was the girl whom I normally see and the second one was the urologist – she who gave me the bad news – came to see me. That wasn’t all that she gave me either because she ordered an injection for me – one that would help purge me of excess water. And I’ll tell you what – that worked in spades and made me feel so much better.

The Social Welfare girl came to see me too. We discussed my accommodation situation and she’s going to make further enquiries for me. Mind you, although she’s given me a great deal of moral support she hasn’t really gome up with too much in the way of practical help. But then again, I don’t suppose she encounters too many people who have my kind of problems.

They gave me a blood test too, and my blood has dropped down to 7.6. That of course meant a blood transfusion and I had two pochettes of blood. What with all of that, it was nearly 19:00 when I left the hospital. I had a walk down into town and stopped off at a fritkot for a falafel butty and chips for tea – all for €5:50.

And then it was back here to my new home for my first night.

There’s no internet (there’s a student.net site but of course I don’t have a password for it) and there’s a leak around rthe edge of the roof light.

As I said yesterday, I’m glad that I’m only spending a couple of weeks here.

Sunday 12th June 2016 – I’M GLAD …

… that I’ll only be in this new place for two and a half weeks. It’s nothing at all like the kind of place that I would like to be and, even worse in my opinion, I’m up in the attic three and a half floors up and I was having something of a struggle to find my way up there. If I do manage to meet a nubile nymphette and invite her upstairs to see my etchings, I’ll be in no fit state to do anything about it.

But I’m not going into too much detail about the place. It’s just outside the centre of Leuven, not too far away from the hospital that I visit, and it’s €10:95 per night, everything included. That’s all that you need to know about it. The cheapest hotel in Leuven is €37:00, to give you some idea of what is involved.

I had something of a mixed night last night and was up and about long before the alarm went off, having had breakfast and a chat with someone whom I knew who was on the internet this morning. And then I went off to that boulangerie that I discovered the other day. Half of Belgium was in there in front of me, but I was seen eventually and picked up my baguette. And it was nice too – well-worth the wait.

This afternoon I’ve been tidying up in here and everything has gone down to the new place, except for the stuff that will fit in my backpack. I’ll take that to the hospital with me, leave Caliburn on the car park, and then walk down to the new place from there, and see if I can find a boulangerie in the neighbourhood. I had a quick drive around and couldn’t see one, and I need to put my priorities in the correct order.

On the way back, I stopped off for a pizza – after all, it is a Sunday. I sat on the car park of the Carrefour at Korbeek-Lo and ate it, and pretty good it was too. Then I came back here for pudding.

I’ll have an early night tonight and see what tomorrow brings. It’s the day that I have my hospital results and so I’m not much looking forward to it. I shudder to think what they might have found.

Saturday 11th June 2016 – YESTERDAY AFTERNOON …

… I sat down and sent off a whole ruck of e-mails about accommodation, asking for appointments to view for this weekend. And how many replies do you think that I’ve received?

Krys guessed right (good old Krys!). She said “none”. As I have said many times before … "and you’ll say many times again" – ed … there is no such thing as a recession. There is just a whole load of people who are letting all kinds of income-generating opportunities melt away before their very eyes. Regular readers of this rubbish will recall dozens of similar occurrences – solar panel suppliers in March 2009, caravan suppliers in July 2015 – two examples that spring readily to mind.

And not forgetting two suppliers of slide-in camper units for Strider whom I visited, one in New Hampshire and the other one in Quebec – and asked them to send me quotes for the Spring so that I could order one ready for the summer. That’s an order worth over $12,500, would you believe, but it’s too much trouble for any of the sales staff to reply to me.

Anyway, enough of my ranting. I have better things to do.

Like waking up at 07:00, long before the alarm, finding out that two of my friends are on line already, and having a chat that went on to … errr … 13:00, with me missing breakfast. And then just as I was about to nip off, Liz came on-line for a chat and so I was here for another 90 minutes.

Not that I am complaining, of course. Far from it. It’s nice to see friends and chat aimlessly for ages. I’d much rather chat to a friend than eat breakfast. That’s much more important.

And so I eventually made it out to buy a baguette for lunch. Dunno if I mentioned that yesterday I finally discovered a boulangerie so I went there first. But by that time they had long-since sold out. I ended up at the Bio-Planet where I bought a lovely artisanal baguette, sampled a pile of delights and had two free cups of coffee. You have your money’s worth in the Bio-Planet.

Back here in my room it was stifling, but I’ve managed at long last to force the window so that now I can open it, and listen to the arrival of a serious rainstorm as the weather has broken.

But not before I went out to make my tea. The chick peas left over from Thursday had gone off already and so I ended up with pasta, tinned vegetables with chick-peas already mixed in, and tinned mushrooms followed by the usual pudding.

Tomorrow will be an exciting day for me as I’m taking all of my possessions to my new digs in Leuven. I hope that they are okay but for the money that I’m paying to stay there, I’m not expecting too much. It’s all a question of money’s worth, as you all know already. I’ll put up with inconvenience if I’m not paying very much – I’m on the economy package.

So i’ll clear off now and listen to the rain. It sounds lovely outside.

Friday 10th June 2016 – I’M ANNOYED!

In fact, I’m furious!

Yes, that nice place that I went to see, the landlord has now decided that he didn’t want to rent it to me after all.

So let me tell you the full story. He advertised several rooms, the one of which I wanted was available from 15/06 until 15/09. But when I arrived, it had gone. He did have another, from 01/07 until 15/09, and I said that in principle I would take that if I could find somewhere for the period from 13/07 until the end of the month. So he sent me an e-mail with all of the details of a place that he knew, and that was what I booked. And so I told him that all was arranged and could we go ahead. This was when he sent me a mail to say that he didn’t want me as a tenant.

I don’t have a big issue with that, but what I do have an issue with is why he wasted my time getting me to go to this other place and booking there for two weeks. I could easily have found another place for the whole three months on this web-site that I’ve been using. Why send me a mail with this information? Why not just tell me in the first place that he had changed his mind?

Mind you, I suppose that I do have another two weeks to look around, and it does give me more leeway to find out what they will tell me on Sunday.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom though, for I was out gallivanting just now. Alison and her cousin Jennifer came to visit me and to inspect my country estate, and we ended up going back into Leuven together for a fritkot and a coffee. That made a very nice change indeed – it’s very pleasant to spend an evening in the company of interesting and stimulating people and I was sorry when it was time to go home. I don’t meet enough interesting people these days.

So what else have I done today?

Ahh, yes. I went to the big Carrefour at Korbeek-Lo for shopping. I spent quite a sum in there but then I needed to because this new place where I’m going is far from the big shops and I’ll have no transport while I’m there (there’s no parking in the vicinity so Caliburn will be staying at the hospital) and so I needed to stock up with tins and the like to drop off there when I go by and leave my stuff on Sunday evening. Whatever else I need to buy, I can do that bit-by-bit as I’m out on my travels.

But I did make one small boy’s day today. At the Carrefour they give away football stickers and models depending upon how much you spend, and I was given quite a few. Not that they are of much interest to me but there was a boy of about 6 in the queue behind me, all dressed in Belgium football gear, so I gave the lot to him. He’ll have more fun with it all than ever I will.

The bank was next on the list too. I had a couple of hospital appointments to pay for, and I wanted to do that as quickly as possible. Put everything like that out of the way so that I’m up-to-date. When I’m in the hospital, I’ll check to see if there is anything else to pay.

Now that I’m back home, I’ll have an early night ready for tomorrow. But I’m still fuming about this flaming landlord and his blasted room.

Thursday 9th June 2016 – I WAS RIGHT …

… about my return to my bad old sleeping habits. I was awake for hours after I’d finished watching a film, and then I was passing in and out of sleep for the rest of the night. I’d been on my travels too but once I’d finally awoken (at 07:07 for those of you who are interested), I couldn’t remember a single thing.

We’ve had a day of nothing in the way of excitement. I went out to the Delhaize for my baguette and salad, noticing that, once more, the patisserie is still closed.

Apart from that, I’ve been working on the blog, doing some more updating of the older parts of it, and having a little crash out as well, which is hardly any surprise because once the sunshine came round into my room, it was beautiful.

For tea tonight, I had pasta, mixed vegetable and chick peas mixed up with more of the spicy tomato sauce (loads of protein in that) followed by the usual pudding of spicy cake, soya vanilla custard substitute and some mixed fruit in syrup.

Tomorrow, I’ll be off to the big Carrefour for a pile of shopping. I think that I have found a place to stay until the end of the month and so I need to lay a few supplies in. I’ll be having to leave Caliburn parked up while I’m staying there so I’ll need to do a major shop beforehand to make sure that I have everything that I need.

Wednesday 8th June 2016 – YOU MISSED …

… all of the excitement here this morning. A lorry was delivering to the front of the hospital across the park from here, and because it’s all so tight for manoeuvring, the only way that he could leave was to drive 20 metres the wrong way up the drive, reverse back around a corner, and then go back the right way.

That’s exactly how I would have done it and this was indeed what he was trying to do, but some old woman in a car coming up the drive had deliberately blocked him in, refused to move, and told him to go out of the hospital via the exit – totally oblivious to the fact that it’s too tight for him to turn his lorry around the corner.

And there she sat, and there the lorry driver sat (not that he had much choice in the matter) until Yours Truly and someone else intervened . And then, instead of reversing 20 metres backwards, she pulled forward and blocked off the turning down which he needed to reverse. And we were back once again in the impasse.

I tell you – you can’t make up stories like this in Belgium, can you?

But we’re back with our old sleeping habits, so it seems.

Not exactly 100% though, because I did manage to stay awake to watch the whole of a Boris Karloff “Mr Wong” film. And then I couldn’t drop off to sleep straight away – must be my guilty conscience I reckon.

But then I awoke sometime during the night to go for a ride on the porcelain horse, and the 05:00 dawn chorus finally managed to arouse me from my slumber and that, I reckon, was that.

I did manage to drop off to sleep again at some point because I was on my travels with Nerina. We were at some place down the east coast of the USA and I’d arrived at the hotel which I had booked (in advance, not like me) to stay the night, and I was parked up at the side of the road on rather a wide verge waiting for Nerina to appear. She came along eventually, via the golf course, where she was playing a round of golf. Not that I know anything about golf, but this golf course was weird. There weren’t greens as such, but what would normally be the “green” was gravelled over with tiny loose chippings and the “hole” was a small, narrow trench that conducted the ball to where the hole would be. But Nerina was clearly enjoying herself. Away in the distance on the skyline was another complex, of buildings, hotels and a huge amusement park and this was where I had arranged to stay for the following night (none of this sounds like me, does it?) which pleased Nerina even more.

I’d switched the mobile phone off yesterday and had forgotten to switch it back on before going to bed, so that accounts for the reason that I didn’t finally awaken until 08:45, and it was a grey, miserable, overcast day that greeted me this morning. Nothing like the last two days that we have had.

That patisserie that I mentioned yesterday – it was closed today too so I reckon that we can rule that place out for the rest of my stay. I ended up at the Delhaize further on for my baguette. And I’ll have to go back there tomorrow too because my shredded lettuce mixture stuff has gone off and I need to buy some more. A small pack is only €0:51 in there.

After lunch, the weather brightened up considerably and it was a lovely, warm summer’s afternoon while I was in here working (with windows that don’t open either). But tonight I went out to Caliburn and cooked the second part of my meal. And with it being so nice, I sat outside in the evening sunshine and ate it.

Exactly the same meal as last night, in fact, and it tasted just as beautiful. But tomorrow, I’ll have to try something else. Maybe a ratatouille with tinned mushrooms, or chick-peas perhaps. That sounds like a plan.

It’s a gorgeous evening, with the late, low suns streaming into my little room. I’m going to settle down now and watch a film or something, and see where I end up tonight.

Tuesday 7th June 2016 – I WAS STILL WIDE-AWAKE …

… at 02:00 this morning, having been for a walk (as I said that I would) and having been reading a book for ages too. None of this is a surprise of course, after having crashed out for so long yesterday evening.

But once I’d dropped off to sleep, then I really was away. And a long way away too. And here’s an interesting story of a young couple (neither of whom was me, for a change) of which the female of the party had been diagnosed with a major life-threatening illness. Which would cost thousands to treat and which would bankrupt them completely. Sitting on the roof of their house (they could do that by climbing out through the skylight) they were discussing various options of raising the money and a chance glance at a piece of formed metalwork drilled with holes gave them the first part of the idea – which was to go around and drill huge holes in the roofs of a couple of cars belonging to people who had annoyed them. They had an old Maxi that they could adapt for the purpose. The second part was much more interesting and they discussed it with a female friend who was sitting on the roof with them but she was totally opposed to the idea, a fact which made no difference whatever to their plans. And so off they went, each performing his or her own little bit, and all went according to plan. The roof-drilling bit worked like a charm and the female’s idea, of dressing in a really extravagant outfit of the kind that you would find in a Noel Coward performance of the 1920s or 30s and doing a striptease as she walked out of this pub and down the steps to the main road, was stunning. Of course, they were both arrested and charged with various offences, but the fines were minimal. However, the ensuing publicity caused the money to come rolling in and they managed to clear all of their debts in respect of this hospital treatment.

It’s not very often that there’s an evening’s entertainment and I don’t appear in it, is there?

The noise in here (because the place echoes like a drum) awoke me at about 07:30 this morning and I felt so much better after my sleep.

After breakfast I spent a couple of hours on the internet and then went off to look for a baguette. Having tried going east from here last time I stayed, and driving about 100 miles to find one, I decided to head west this time. And I needn’t have bothered because it was even farther to the nearest baguette in that direction. I did however encounter a patisserie but it was closed. Maybe having a day off, I dunno, so I’ll go to check it out tomorrow. But I can’t say that I’m too impressed with the (lack of a) boulangerie around here.

After lunch I started on my quest for accommodation for the next three or four months. And I have found the ideal place – a small room in the attic of a very modern house, right on the outskirts of Leuven within sight of the hospital, and with off-street parking too. It’s clean and tidy with a friendly young landlord, all mod cons (shared with two others), and another good advantage is that there is a beautiful garden with seats and the like so I can sit in the sun.

It’s a mere €325 per month and so I’m determined to take it until mid-September (when the students return) but the downside is that it’s not free until July 1st. I’m okay here until 13th June and so I need to find a place for two and a half weeks. I shall have to get on with that and look to see what are the possibilities. I have a few ideas already.

This evening, the beautiful weather that we have been having for the last two days broke – and broke with a vengeance too. I could feel it brewing this afternoon, but when it let go, it really did let go and we had a terrific thunderstorm and downpour. I was soaked going out to Caliburn to make my tea, but my tea really was nice. I had pasta, mixed veg and lentils, all mixed up with some spicy tomato sauce. And that was followed by fruit salad and slices of spiced cake with soya vanilla dessert custard. Fit for a King.

And so now I think that I’ve done enough for today so I’ll have an early night. Tomorrow I’ll get on with tracking down some more accommodation.

Monday 6th June 2016 – THAT WAS DEFINITELY…

… the correct decision too, to stay here at the Ibis. The beds are the most comfortable that I have ever slept in (apart from my own, of course) and I wasn’t awake long once I’d settled down for the night. Someone – or something – awoke me at about 05:00 but I was soon back to sleep again, right the way through to the alarm and I remember nothing at all. As far as I’m aware, I didn’t go on a nocturnal ramble, not even for a ride of the porcelain horse.

Once I’d finished off a pile of work that needed doing, I hit the road and headed around Leuven’s inner ring road, past the prison and out on the N3 in the direction of Tienen. I stopped off at the big Carrefour for a pile of shopping for the week and made yet another massive discovery, which I forgot to photograph so I’ll do that tomorrow, and then headed out here.

It was a gorgeous afternoon so I sat outside in the sunshine and read a book for an hour or two before going to sign in for my room. I’m in room 205 now, next door to the one that I had last time I was here. It’s all very plain and all very basic, and hasn’t had a coat of paint for 40 years I reckon, but it’s €10 a night so I’m not complaining. And, of course, it’s out in the countryside in some beautiful grounds.

But despite having had a really good sleep for the last couple of nights, I inexplicably crashed out at about 17:00 and I was stark out until 21:15. I couldn’t understand how come I was so tired – it’s not as if I’ve been doing anything.

But now it’s 23:25 and I don’t feel in the least bit tired.I might even go for a walk in a minute if I can’t drop off to sleep.

Sunday 5th June 2016 – AND WHILE LAST NIGHT …

… didn’t match the previous night’s sleep by any means, it was still one of the best that I’ve had for quite some time.

I was up quite late, what with one thing and another, and it took a while to drop off. We had the usual trip down the corridor and then a noise in the corridor awoke me some time during the night, and I couldn’t go back to sleep for ages after that. But when the alarm did go off, I was flat out and away with the fairies.

I’d started off the night back in Crewe somewhere around Gresty Road and I’d met a girl there. I’d had quite a few things to do and she was roped in to help me. We had been making quite a bit of progress, so much so that we had finished long before I was expecting to,and so I was making plans to leave. It was at this point that the girl announced that she was going to miss me very much – a strange thing to say seeing as how she was due to be married in four weeks time – and I had to spend a lot of time persuading her to concentrate on what was going to be her future without me being anywhere in the picture.
A little later on, I was joined by my brother and I wish that he would badger off out of my night-time wanderings. I’d been building up a kind-of database of girls whome I knew, and making little notes about them (I was much younger in those days) and out of the blue, my brother asked me “who’s this ‘blond stunner’ then?” I replied that it’s none of his business and that I would thank him to give me back my notes. He replied that he didn’t have them, all he had were copies, but that led to yet another one in a series of dismal family arguments.

It’s hard to believe that I left home when I was 18, one of the reasons being to get away from all of this nonsense and have some peace and quiet. I can’t believe that after all these years, they are still following me around. I still can’t seem to find any peace.

I had some things to do before I left, and it was 11:30 when I hit the road, stopping off for a baguette down the road at the supermarket. The Lady Who Lives In The SatNav took me round a few lanes and we completely by-passed Maubeuge which was nice because it’s a bit of a maze around there.

The drive up to the motorway services at Heverlee was quite uneventful, and I took my time. I was in no hurry. And by the time I arrived, the sun was out for the first time for a couple of weeks so I sat outside on the grass, ate my butty and read a good book for an hour or two.

It’s no surprise to learn that I’ve booked myself in at the Ibis on the motorway. It’s €69:00 for the night but it’s the most convenient for parking and it’s nice to have a little luxury every now and again. Tomorrow I’ll be off to Pellenberg at … errr … €10:00 per night and that’s quite a difference, both in price and luxury.

Before settling down for the night, I nipped into Leuven and the fritkot on the Jacobsplein for some chips and a veggieburger. Now I’m all ready for a good night’s sleep – I hope. A really deep and peaceful sleep will do me the world of good.

Saturday 4th June 2016 – THAT WAS DEFINITELY THE CORRECT DECISION …

… to come here and find the quietest room in the hotel, without a doubt. Although it took me ages to drop off to sleep (I remember seeing 01:00 come up on the clock) I was absolutely, completely and utterly stark out when the alarm went off at 07:45. I didn’t feel a thing. I didn’t even have to go for a stroll on the parapet either. It was the best night’s sleep that I have had for months and my only regret was that there wasn’t more of it because I could have slept for a week.

I’d been on my travels too – to the garage at British Salt (the right way round too this time, not a mirror-image like the last time that we visited it) at Middlewich where I was repairing, of all things, a huge pile of amplifiers, speakers and the like. I’d gone into work early when there was no-one about and because of there being no-one about, I cracked on and by the time everyone came in, I’d done most of the stuff. My father came in, saw the pile of work and started to say why each appliance was difficult to do, and how each problem was insurmountable, to which my reply at each instance was “it’s fixed already”. After all, anyone can do a much better job when there are no interruptions and no negative vibrations floating around the place, as we all know.

I had a couple of cups of coffee this morning at breakfast too – the first time that I’ve had coffee for well over a week. I’ve steered clear of it because of my … errr … upset stomach but that has settled down for the last few days and so I wanted to give it a try. I would have had mint tea but there was none of that available at breakfast, so coffee it was. And it wasn’t really a good idea because I’d tell you what happened except that you are probably eating right now.

After I’d spent some time doing some work, I packed up and left to continue on with my journey. Now that I’ve been reunited with my telephone I can show you where I stayed the night – and the night two weeks or so ago.

My room is the one that has the open door on the top right – right at the end of the corridor at the highest part of the building. As I said, it really was quiet in there and I’ll have that room again.

By setting the SatNav to “shortest route”, I went a very merry and mazy way through some beautiful by-roads where I was suddenly decanted into the town of Guise.

This is the entrance to the magnificent castle of Guise and those of you with long memories and have read reams and reams of this rubbish will know exactly why this is the only photo of the place that is appearing on these pages.

The answer is that, quite simply, as you might expect, I arrived bang on the stroke of midday, just as they were closing the place up for lunch. Everyone knows that the lunch break is sacred in France – so much so that when Marshall Petain (whose grave we visited on the Ile d’Yeu in 2013, you might remember) was appointed as Generalissimo of the Allied Armies in the middle of the desperate retreat of 1918, he is reputed to have asked for just two things to save the Allies from disaster – a free hand with the army and two hours off for lunch.

Many of you will have heard of Guise, of course. Mary of Guise was the wife of James V of Scotland and mother of Mary, Queen of Scots.

That wasn’t the only thing that was interesting about the town. On the by-pass on the edge of the town was this magnificent diesel locomotive – a shunter by the look of it, parked up on the site, one assumes, of a couple of demolished houses which have been fitted out to make a raiway setting.

I liked the artwork on the wall of the house in the background. It was superb.

I wish however that there had been a plaque to tell me what was the significance of the display. I hate being left in the dark.

Next stop, seeing as I’m in the vicinity, is the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery in Etreux. This is where scores of members of the Royal Munster Regiment are buried following a spirited rearguard action at the crossroads by a battalion of the regiment on 27th August 1914, to hold up the German advance while the main body of the British Army slipped away.

The claim to fame of the cemetery is that it is the burial place of Lieutenant CEV Awdry, said to be the half-brother of the Reverend W Awdry of “Thomas the Tank Engine” fame.

Leaving the Aisne behind us, we cross into the Nord and arrive at our destination, the town of Bavay, or, to be more precise, Bavay la Romaine.

And it deserves its name too because it was formerly the Gallo-Roman (you must never say “Roman” in France. The French do not accept that the Romans brought civilisation to the French, insisting that Gaul was already civilised long before the Romans arrived. It’s “Gallo-Roman” and I’ve seen some impressive uproar when people forget) city of Bagacum.

The city is situated at a major crossroads of routes in the northern part of the Roman road system and is home to some of the most impressive Roman … "Gallo-Roman" – ed … ruins in Gaul.

What we are looking at here is part of the Forum – the central market place of any Roman … "Gallo-Roman" – ed … city and impressive it certainly is. It’s always been known that there are Gallo-Roman remains here – stuff has been dug up for centuries – but someone digging in a cellar in the 18th Century found himself decanted into the subterranean crypt of the temple and this started everything off.

German shelling of the town in 1940 uncovered many more remains and once the war was over, excavations started in earnest.

Our cellar-digger painted a picture of what he saw and it shows a beautiful Gallo-Roman crepi with painted designs, but all of that has long-since been washed away over 250 years of exposure to the weather, which is a shame because it really did look quite magnificent.

I spent all afternoon here having a prowl around, totally immersed in everything that was going on all around. It really was €3:00 well-spent (yes, I’m not ashamed to claim the Senior Citizens’ discount now that I qualify for it).

No-one was more surprised than me to notice that the time had suddenly advanced to 16:30 in the blinking of an eyelid and I hadn’t even noticed. I shall have to get a wiggle on.

Back on the road, I didn’t travel very far before coming to another screeching halt. Despite all self-propelled road compactors (or rouleau compressor as they are called over here) being called “steam rollers” in the vernacular, this really IS a steam roller.

It’s an Alberet, works number 1012, from the factory in Rantigny in the Oise and I don’t think that I’ve ever encountered one of this make before. It’s here parked on the edge of a haulage yard by the side of the road, inviting a photo-opportunity.

It’s not really an old car but we’ll class it as that seeing as how we don’t have a more suitable category.

So now I’m holed up in another Premiere Classe in Feignies, just outside Maubeuge. No internet (thank heavens for the mobile phone) and disinterested staff, which is a shame.

But it’s much better than a standard “Premiere Classe” that’s for sure. it has all inside rooms rather than outside rooms for a start and they are 3 times bigger than standard.

I’m having my money’s worth here tonight.

EPIC HALL

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