The last fortnight has been something of a whirlwind; a visit to England is always a race against time, trying to see as many people as possible, but it didn’t end there.

We stopped for an evening in Boulogne on the way up, a lovely old town, buzzing with energy and live bands playing in the streets; then the ferry and on to London to see my brother and his family. Arriving in Harrogate, we settled for a few days and enjoyed a curry evening, catching up with a couple of dozen friends, but unfortunately went down with a tummy bug, which lost us two days visiting. We were able to complete the sale of our Harrogate flat, then off to the Lake District for the main purpose of the trip – my goddaughter’s wedding.

The wedding was lovely, held at the Inn on the Lake, Ullswater, but the weather was awful; bitterly cold, with frequent squally showers. Each time the rain stopped we had to dash outside for photos, trying our best not to look frozen. It was no colder than the rest of the holiday, but I could hardly wear my thermals under my posh frock, tempting though it was!

A night in the lake District, a day in Keswick and it was time to head back to Yorkshire, to see some friends who’d agreed to put us up for the night. then over to Hull to take the ferry to Zeebrugge. We spent the following day in Brugges, being proper tourists, before setting off to Chartres, where we’d booked an hotel for the night, then finally home last Thursday, with an hour to spare before I had to go to rehearsal, getting home again just after 1am.

There was no time to lie in or catch up on Friday, as I wanted to go to a patchwork exhibition in Biarritz; but it was well worth it. There were amateur as well as professional quilts being shown, and in all sorts of styles, from traditional bedspreads to amazingly intricate works of art, as well as some wonderful, whacky pieces.

On Saturday Nick was cycling up the col de Tourmalet, joining the pilgrimage that follows the lorry taking the “Geant du Tourmalet” statue up to its summer residence, after which I met him at our friends Alison and Ian’s house in the foothills of the Pyrenees, for Alison’s birthday party. We were asked to wear a hat to the party and there were some wonderful pieces of headgear around, some of them borrowed at the last minute, as Ian had forgotten to mention it to everybody. People brought musical instruments and even a sound system, so impromptu bands formed throughout the evening, playing all sorts of stuff, from traditional folk to heavy metal. It was a great night and because Ian and Alison run a B&B, we and about 18 others were able to stay over, and in comfort.

We’ve decided to spend some of the proceeds of the flat on a campervan and Nick had seen one in Argeles Gazoste, just an hour from Ian’s, so we went to have a look at it on Sunday. It seemed pretty good; we’re just waiting to hear about a couple of details, but hopefully we’ll be able to take Izzy to the seaside in it for a few days when she visits in the summer.

This week is back to reality; the garden’s totally overgrown again, with 8foot tall bamboo canes growing where I’d not just cut, but shaved the grass before we left! We need to get on with jobs on the house now, then there’s the upcoming patchwork exhibition for which I need to finish stuff, three gigs with the band this month, lessons to plan, etc., etc…..

Je suis désolée, mais je suis simplement trop fatiguée de traduire ce blog en français ce soir.