Tag Archives: crash out

Sunday 16th April – I’M GLAD …

… that I was up and about something lively-like, because I had all kinds of issues on my journey today.

But to put things in their proper order, let’s start right back at the beginning.

My sleeping habits aren’t improving any just now – we were back with the early-morning interruptions again, bu nevertheless I did manage to drop back off to sleep again and stay like that until the alarm went off.

But my nocturnal ramblings of the night were quite disturbing. I was trying to do something with my living accommodation – decorating it or something – and every single (and even the married) member of my family was there – standing in the way and generally obstructing me from proceeding with what I was trying to achieve. That really is the story of my life, I suppose, as you well-know.

Breakfast was quickly over and then I set to in the studio, tidying it up and packing things away. Making sandwiches was the plan too, but I noticed that the bread had “turned” and so all of that went in the bin instead. Luckily, and I had forgotten to mention it and I don’t know why, the other day Alison and Jenny had brought me some vegan snacks (which was very nice of them) and so I stuffed a few in my back-pack. They will do fine for the journey.

And so having left my hotel early, I arrived at the railway station early. This meant that instead of taking the 09:29, I could leap aboard the 09:09.

Old, dirty and smelly. But that’s enough about me – let’s talk about the train instead. and even though it went via the airport, it arrived at Bruxelles-Midi well ahead of the one that I should have taken. And I’m glad that I wasn’t going to the Costa Stella today because the stations were heaving with holidaymakers.

All of the foregoing meant that when I arrived at Bruxelles-Midi the TGV to Paris at 10:13 hadn’t arrived yet. I’d planned to be on the 11:13 and I wasn’t looking forward to the mad scramble across Paris with the perturbations on the Metro and so, seizing the initiative, I went to blag my way on board the earlier train.

tgv paris nord bruxelles midi belgium april avril 2017The negotiations took probably longer than the journey would have done, but nevertheless they found a seat for me and we were away. The train was packed too – I probably had the last free seat on board.

Ordinarily the crowd would have bothered me (as you know, I don’t “do” crowds). There were a few things that I had wanted to do in Brussels too and that bothered me too, but I was far more bothered about La Traversée de Paris, and I didn’t have Jean Gabin, Bourvil and Louis de Funès to help me out.

And I’m glad that I caught the earlier train too. Because I took the signposted deviation to Paris Montparnasse thinking that it would be quicker than the route that I had picked out.

And wasn’t that a mistake?

Line 6 came to a shuddering halt half-way down the route and we ended up being decanted into a bus to take us the rest of the way to the Porte d’Italie and the connection to Montparnasse.

I’ll tell you something for nothing – and that is that had I caught the train that I should have caught, I would have been struggling to be on time. As it was, I had enough time to sit and catch my breath and eat a packet of vegan crisps. Struggling on the Paris Metro is not for the faint-hearted and I can imagine that if you are disabled, it would be totally impossible.

That’s not the best of it either, because the line out of Montparnasse is under repair and we ended up being bussed to Dreux. I had a pleasant companion next to me, but I spent the journey with my eyes closed catching up on my beauty sleep.

At Dreux, there isn’t a toilet at the railway station, would you believe. You have to use the publics down the road, and these are pay toilets too. I declined and decided to hold out until I was on the train.

train sncf dreux granville manche normandy franceSo here’s my train, in the station at Granville. And just look at the beautiful weather that greeted me when I arrived.

The journey had been completely uneventful – the guard didn’t even want to check the tickets – and I had a nice, relaxing journey back here.

I’d been a bit nervous about where I’d had to park Caliburn for the time that I was in Leuven, but he was unscathed and that cheered me up. We all headed out to Jullouville and my hotel for the next two nights.

As for tonight’s hotel, the Hotel des Pins in Jullouville, I’ve stayed in many worse places than this too. The town is a bit miserable too – a holiday resort and not much at all in the way of food. I made myself a pile of vegetables from the tins out of Caliburn – that will keep me going for a bit anyway.

And now it’s an early night. I’ve had a hectic day and it’s taken a lot out of me.

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Saturday 15th April 2017 – AFTER YESTERDAY’S EXCITEMENT …

… I had a very quiet day today.

And that’s hardly surprising either, seeing that I have my train tomorrow morning and I have a lot of travelling to do.

09:29 I need to catch it at the station here at Leuven, and so that means that I shall have to forego the delights of a Sunday morning lie-in and rely on the alarms to awaken me. After all, there’s a bit of cleaning and tidying to do around here.

I had another topsy-turvy morning with an awakening at some silly time but I did manage to go back to sleep to be awoken by the alarm. And after breakfast, I just loitered around for ages.

Lunch was toasted cheese sandwiches with tomato and lettuce, and there are still plenty left to make butties for my trip tomorrow, which is always good news.

I almost didn’t go out whatsoever but I remembered that I still had a prescription from the hospital to fill. And so I leapt into action and dashed outside, only to find that the chemists had all long-since closed. I hope that there will be one open on the station tomorrow. It probably would have been a good idea to have gone out earlier but

    • I forgot
      I was … errr … somewhat indisposed

    • Tea was what was left over from my kidney bean whatsit the other night and like all good sauces it tasted even better the second time around.

    And now I really am going to have an early night. What with my early start tomorrow and my excesses of yesterday, I have to be careful.

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    Thursday 13th April 2017 – WOW!

    Yes, I’ve had a very good late-morning today!

    I walked down to the Colruyt to buy one or two things that I needed. And on my way back I stopped at a motorcycle dealer’s to see what was going on. And my gast has never been so flabbered as it was today!

    He was a Suzuki dealer in the early 1970s and he had a display of Suzuki motorcycles from that time – the old air-cooled twins and triples. As well as that, he had one of the original rotary-engined Suzukis on display too.

    There was all kinds of stuff in there but pride of place had to be the 1978 Norton Commando – still in its packing case and un-assembled and which he steadfastly refused to sell me.

    The only tragedy about this was that I wasn’t able to take any photographs.

    This morning I was wide awake at 05:10 (just for a change) and so ended up with an early breakfast. But not to be outdone, I went back to bed for 5 minutes and it was 09:20 when I finally surfaced. I had a few things to do and then I walked down to the Colruyt as I mentioned.

    lunch was toasted cheese with lettuce and tomato, and very nice it was too. I’ll be doing more of that in due course because it was delicious, but it’s running me low on vegan cheese. And so when I went out at 16:30 I called in at the Vegan Shop and bought some more.

    Alison was in the café with Jenny so we all had a good chat, and then they brought me home. I gave them a guided tour of my little studio and they were quite impressed.

    Tea was my kidney beans in chili sauce, with vegetables and pasta, and there’s enough left over for Saturday night too. But now I’m going to have an early night and dream of old motorcycles.

    The heating is on too. I had another shower this afternoon and washed the tee-shirt and undies from yesterday seeing as the others were dry (I’ve got the hang of drying them with the fan heater now).

    But all these showers in this few days? I’ll be washing myself away at this rate.

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    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.

    university library leuven belgium march mars 2017There 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.

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    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.

    plage casino granville manche normandy franceFor 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.

    plage casino granville manche normandy france 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.

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    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.

    genets mont st michel manche normandy franceIt’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.

    plage donville les bains granville manche normandy franceWhile 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.

    stade louis dior us granville rennes 2 manche normandy franceI 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.

    stade louis dior us granville rennes 2 manche normandy franceAs 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.

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    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.

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    5th April 2017 – WELL THAT’S ANOTHER …

    residence l'ermitage manche normandy france… 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.

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    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.

    sunset plage de casino granville manche normandy franceAnd 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.

    sunset plage de casino granville manche normandy franceI 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.

    sunset plage de casino granville manche normandy franceThat 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.

    sunset plage de casino granville manche normandy franceAnd 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.

    rue paul poirier granville manche normandy franceI 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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    Saturday 25th March 2017 – I’VE JUST SEEN …

    … the most extraordinary football match.

    Puy-de-Dome League Division 4 and two teams – St Gervais d’Auvergne III at home to Charbonnières II. Charbonnières were streets better than St Gervais – they missed a sitter almost from the kick-off but took the lead after about 5 minutes with a soft goal through the St Gervais keeper’s legs.

    All one-way traffic it was with Charbonnières making it look so easy, and only some last-ditch outstretched feet and some astonishing saves by the St Gervais keeper who, I reckoned, knew absolutely nothing about any of them, just being in the right place at the right time and diving the right way, prevented Charbonnières from running riot.

    But it was all too easy for Charbonnières and after about half an hour they eased off for some reason or other, and I don’t know why. And then the inevitable happened. A harmless cross into the penalty area, the Charbonnières keeper palmed it away, the loose ball hit one of his own defenders on the back and rolled across the line into the net.

    Stunned silence from the crowd.

    In the second half, Charbonnières struggled to get going. St Gervais were quite awful but they were slowly growing in confidence, with the opponents becoming more and more frustrated.

    And then it happened.

    A cross from the wing into the centre of the field, a St Gervais player hitting it on the half volley, and there we were, a most unlikely 2-1 for St Gervais.

    Even more unlikely was that St Gervais scored a third just minutes later!

    As the game progressed, Charbonnières finally awoke and went back on the rampage, with some more outstretched feet and some very fortunate goalkeeping keeping them out. But they did pull one back from a free kick with just minutes to go.

    In the final minute or so Charbonnières threw everything, including the kitchen sink, at the St Gervais defence, and then we had a wild clearance out of the defence. The Charbonnières defenders had the idea of stepping up three paces to catch the St Gervais attacker offside.

    But ohhh woe! Woe!

    They were in the St Gervais half, and an attacker can’t be offside if he’s in his own half. The attacker picked up the ball, advanced totally unopposed on the Charbonnières goal and slotted the ball underneath the isolated keeper. 4-2.

    And that was that. And the crowd are still shaking their heads even now.

    The second match was between the St Gervais Second team and the First XI of Charbonnières, and this was much more evenly matched. Charbonnières took the lead with a good header, and as the game wound down towards the end, they slowed down the game. But two dramatic late goals from St Gervais turned the match around and Charbonnières then tried to speed up the game. But they couldn’t come back.

    We had a few little niggles but all-in-all it was a good game.

    But I’ll tell you something. I complained the other day about the lack of solidarity that I have received from most of my “friends” in the Auvergne. Today, there were several people whom I knew from Pionsat’s football team and while they all said “hello”, not one of them came to sit with me for a little chat, even though it’s been 18 months or so since I was last at a match and they all know about my health issues.

    I’m really disappointed about that.

    So last night was another bad night for me – awake in the middle of the night and then wide awake definitively at about 05:45. Up here in the attic (with a fire burning) long before the alarm.

    After a brief rest I took a pile of boxes downstairs to Caliburn and loaded him up, and also put in some stuff from the verandah. Then I nipped off to the Intermarche at Pionsat for some bread and so on.

    I didn’t do much when I returned, and after lunch I crashed out for an hour or so.

    But before going to the football I removed almost all of the boxes from the attic and put them in Caliburn. That was heavy work and exhausted me completely. There’s still stuff to pack up here, but that’s Tuesday morning’s job.

    And now I’m back from the footy I’m going to be doing the washing-up and then going to bed.

    Sunday is a day of rest, but I bet that it won’t be.

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    Tuesday 21st March 2017 – AS FOR LAST NIGHT …

    … it was nothing like as good as the previous one.

    But then again, there’s a good reason for that. And that is that somewhere in the middle of it all I had a very severe attack of cramp. And severe it was too -it kept me awake for ages while I tried to calm it down. And then it would go, so I would turn over, and it would come back again. This went on for hours, I reckon.

    And then, I was awake at 06:00 – such are the perils of having an early night. I really do need to get my life back on track.

    After breakfast I had a little relax and then slowly headed off into Pionsat.

    First port of call was the Intermarché and a loaf of bread for he next couple of days. Man might not be able to live by bread alone, but I can if I have some stuff to go on it. Next port of call was the bank because I need to make some kind of financial arrangements for my future. They fixed an appointment for tomorrow at 16:30.

    But outside, I bumped into Simon. Long time no see indeed but news of my impending demise had even filtered through to him. He invited me for a coffee and I agreed – but a little later as I still had two things to do.

    The most important was to contact my internet supplier and have a moan about my Livebox not working. After much binding in the marsh they agreed to send out a technician to sort me out. At my charge of course, but some things you need to do. That’s tomorrow morning too.

    And then round to Clare’s. She had been concerned about me when I was missing the other week and had even gone round to my house to see if I had arrived there. I had to express my gratitude and offer a bottle of wine in recompense. It’s the least that I can do in the circumstances.

    I had a good chat with Simon and Desirée at their little office. I’m amazed at how domesticated and suburbanised Simon has become since he married. It’s clearly doing him good, so good luck to him.

    Back here, my exertions finally caught up with me and I was stark out for a few hours. And then I began a little desultory packing, with a pause to watch a film. That took me nicely up to tea time, when a couple of handfuls of pasta, some vegetables and tomato sauce did the trick. I wasn’t all that hungry.

    And then, bedtime. No idea why I’m so exhausted. It’s not as if I’ve spent too much time running around today – physically, that is.

    And so I have realised, rather unfortunately, that I’m not going to be able to keep on going out here. I don’t even have the energy to pack up this place. Or anything like it. I am just not up to it. Even climbing up the stairs into the attic is killing me.

    I shall have to take what I’ve got in Caliburn and head off to find some peace and solitude somewhere.

    What a shame!

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    Monday 20th March 2017 – NOW I KNOW …

    … why I spent all that money two years ago buying that new bed and expensive mattress and all of that nice bedding. For I was out like a light last night and had one of the most comfortable sleeps that I have had in years. So much so that in fact I was rather reluctant to leave it.

    Even more so when I saw what the weather was doing outside. Cold wet and grey, just like I was feeling in fact, so no change there.

    But anyway, I managed a decent breakfast – muesli with soya milk, an apple puree thing and grapefruit juice all washed down with coffee of course. And then gathering my wits as well as a few things here and there, Caliburn, Strawberry Moose and I hit the streets.

    We ended up at Evaux-les-Bains where I took Caliburn to the menders. Regular readers of this rubbish will recall that back in October in Brussels, Caliburn was the victim of a Belgian driver who didn’t know where the brakes were on his car. Anyway, today he goes to be mended.

    And not only that, there’s some rust creeping through that’s making him look a little untidy, and so he’s having that attended to. He’ll be 10 in a couple of weeks time and, unfortunately, he’s starting to show his age. But then, aren’t we all?

    They had a little Skoda Fabia for me to borrow while he’s being fixed (that’s why I’m having his body done right now – while I have free access to a hire car). It’s not a bad little car but it’s very plasticky and I can’t see anyone having 10 years out of one of these. But it’s free for five days so good luck to me.

    Once I was properly organised I went round to Ingrid’s at Biollet. Ingrid was the only one of my Auvergnat friends who came to see me while I was really ill (of course, never forgetting Jean-Marc who drove all the way from Macon to see me, for which I will always be grateful) and it’s only right that I go to thank her. Generally-speaking, my Auvergnat friends turned out to be one big disappointment. When the going got tough, they certainly got going – but in the opposite direction.

    And after all that I’ve done for them too.

    Ingrid and I had coffee and a good chat which was very nice, and then I had to go to Montlucon to change my Livebox – that seems to be the reason why I’m not connecting to the internet. And Ingrid offered to come too for the ride and the company which was nice.

    Changing the Livebox was a matter of minutes and then it was lunchtime. We repaired to a cafe across the street which fixed us a couple of salads and the dressing was superb.

    By now, the sun was out and it was a glorious day – far too nice to go back home, and so I proposed a trip to Clermont Ferrand. Something that I needed to do there and now seemed like as good a time as any. We had an exciting time trying to find the Prefecture, and an even more exciting time trying to find the car afterwards. But it was only 5 minutes at the Prefecture and we spent the remainder of the two hours sitting in the sunshine at a cafe on the Place de Jaude. And very nice it was too.

    I stopped for a coffee back at Ingrid’s and then headed for home. The Skoda is a nice little car but it’s not for me – I’ll tell you that for nothing. And back here I crashed out. It had been a long tiring day and I’m not as young as I was.

    And the new Livebox?

    That’s not perishing working either!

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    Thursday 2nd March 2017 – AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT …

    … having had a decent, long walk or two during the day yesterday was that I was in no fit state this morning.

    It took me a while to go off to sleep, and I was flat out until the alarm went off.

    I’d been on my travels too during the night. Firstly, I was the adviser to a Politician who bore a most remarkable resemblance to a certain new Transatlantic Politician. I was dismayed with his plans and decided to resign my position, but I felt that many of the plans had been designed with that aim in view. Nevertheless, I wasn’t going to hang around.
    A little later, I was back on the buses – working for a coach company that was based in a town that bore more than just a passing resemblance to Middlewich. Two of our coaches, carrying football supporters who had been to watch Northwich Victoria, and they pulled into our yard. By the time that I had caught up with them, they had been parked in a really difficult position in an alcove and I was amazed at how the drivers had managed to park them there. Only one coach was able to go on to drop off everyone so some folk had to be left behind, and this led to all kinds of confusion and anguish in the depot amongst the passengers.

    Two families were ahead of me at breakfast, and one of them was sitting in my place right in the window. I had to sit somewhere else.

    Back up here, I had the opportunity to go to meet Sean in Gent but I wasn’t up to it and was obliged to decline. instead, I had a good relax on my bed for a while.

    bellini ship harbour oostende belgium march mars 2017After all, the weather wasn’t fit for anyone to be outside. The wind was whipping up quite a storm and there was no-one on the promenade.

    You can see exactly what I mean by looking at how the waves are pounding away on this ship as it was trying to negotiate its way into the harbour. And there weren’t any other ships around in the vicinity as there usually are.

    It really was rough out there.

    bellini ship harbour oostende belgium march mars 2017But I couldn’t stay in my stinking little pit all day – I had things to do. And it was on my travels that I saw the aforementioned ship, the Bellini coming into port.

    She’s another Luxembourg-registered ship, and stands much more chance of sailing up the Moselle River because she displaces just over 2000 tonnes. She’s a chemical tanker and was built in 2000.

    But I can’t understand how it is that just recently Luxembourg has now acquired a merchant marine.

    It is rather reminiscent of the story about when Austria joined NATO and was introducing its officials to the other members. One of the officials was described as “our Minister of Marine”.
    “Don’t be silly” said Solana, the NATO President. “Austria is a landlocked country. How come it has a Minister of Marine?”
    “Well,” replied the Austrian President. “Bulgaria has a Minister of Culture, Belgium has a Minister of Justice, so we are going to have a Minster of Marine”

    I had a look around the other hotels here to see what the prices might be like, but there was nothing that might give me much of a better deal, and I ended up at the Delhaize to buy lunch. Grapes were on special offer, two punnets for the price of one and that was cheap too, so I stocked up.

    On the way back I went for a prowl around the shops to look for a new bag to replace the suitcase on which the handle broke on the way here.

    gluten free gelatine free sweets kruidvat oostende belgium march mars 2017I ended up in a shop called Kruidvat, and this all caught my eye. Weigh-your-own sweets, but with allergy labels. When did you ever see that? I had to buy 100 grams as a gesture of solidarity.

    They also had a suitable tote bag thing with wheels. The cheapest that I had seen, and it looked it too, all at €12:99. But needs must when the devil drives so I liberated an example. If it does me until I return home (where I have a choice of several) it will be fine.

    Back here, I was dismayed to discover that they hadn’t cleaned my room. but not to worry – I made myself some butties seeing as it was lunchtime. Baguette, tomato and vegan cheese followed by a bunch of grapes.And then I … errr … closed my eyes for a couple of minutes.

    At 15:30 a banging on my door awoke me. The cleaners wanted to do the room. I went out for a coffee – to that good place where I was yesterday, and watched the people on the promenade (because the wind had eased) being blown all around.

    After that, I had a good walk and was back here for 17:00 in my nice clean room.

    la margarita italian restaurant damas restaurant oostende belgium march mars 2017This is my restaurant from last night, the La Margarita where I had my good Italian penne last night.

    But I’d noticed the one next to it. This certainly wasn’t here last November, so today I went to check it out. And sure enough, it’s a Syrian restaurant called the Damas and advertises falafel.

    As a result of this exploration, I decided that this would be my port of call for tonight.

    falafel schotel damas restaurant oostende belgium march mars 2017And wasn’t that a good decision? Here’s my falafelschotel and this little lot cost me all of a mere €8:50 and if there is better value for this anywhere in Oostende, I’d love to be able to find it.

    The people who run it are Syrian refugees from Aleppo, and it nails the lie that these people are coming to Western Europe to sponge off the State.

    Hard-working people who can cook meals like this should be welcomed anywhere and everywhere.

    So there’s no-one on line to chat to tonight, so I’m off to bed for an early night. My hectic weekend starts tomorrow at about 12:30 so I want to be on form.

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