14th July 'Bastile Day'

So today is Bastile Day, the 'feté nationale' that remembers the storming of the Bastile prison in Paris, it is a bank holiday, and as such most businesses are shut. i had arranged to take Mark, an older gay uk resident who lives in Le Parq with his 79 year old partner David, to the supermarket, he still has no car as it is in the garage waiting to be repaired, this has been on going for about three months and has been a constant source of annoyance for him. I had arranged to go today as i had been given a coupon at Carrefour which, i thought, said if i spent eleven euros they would knock four off. I try to go shopping once a week as it is a ten minute drive away and a bit of a waste of petrol.
I had been up late the night before, i watched a film called 'Keeping Mum' which starred Maggie Smith, i always like her in films, it was quite a good film and, incidentally, revolved around the story of a mother and daughter that had never met. After the film i went to bed and read until about one in the morning, i am reading Paul Therouxs' 'Ghost Train To The Eastern Star' in which Mr Theroux is retracing an earlier journey to the east he wrote about thirty years ago. He has just got as far as Jaipur in India. Ant brought the book home some time ago, i am a big fan of Bill Brysons' travel works and Bill mentions Paul a fair bit in his works, so i was eager to read the man himself, it is quite an entertaining book though it would be nice if he talked a little more about the places he is visiting.
I woke about 9.30 am, got dressed and came down stairs, to the ecstatic excitement of the dogs, it never ceases to amaze me how exciting this daily event is to them, obviously eight hours out of my company is just too much for them to bare. I put the dogs out into the garden, made a cup of coffee and headed into the lounge to watch the news on France 24, i got fed up of watching the BBC breakfast show as it has become so puerile and they make more of the latest event on come dancing than anything of greater importance. One mug of coffee and three cigarettes later and i was fit to face the day, i went back up stairs and sorted myself out in the bathroom, found a shirt that didn't need ironing and got dressed. it was quite a nice day so i decided to wash some bedding. i fed the goldfish; cheese and pickle, then washed out the dog bowls and put food in them for the girls, brought the dogs in and headed off out.
When i arrived at Mark and David's i was met by Mark, David was already out working in the garden, it appears to be his only pleasure in life now but he has got a stunning little garden and puts a lot of work into it, he told me he wants to get it just right before he is too old to work on it anymore. They are a very agreeable couple, though they don't really seem to like each other, despite being together for over forty years. Mark is somewhat deaf and conversation can be a little difficult, we talked about his car on the way down to Hesdin, still no sign of it coming out of the garage. There was a big commotion in the car park of Carrefore, some monster truck rally is taking place there and there were huge trucks with these monster trucks on the back, taking up half the car park and looking very interesting. Inside the supermarket i lost Mark as i prefer to wander around on my own, there is only me to feed this week so i didn't need much, some cleaning stuff for the bathroom, some meatballs for a change, a small steak, a small beef joint, a pork rib joint and some herby sausages, a couple of packets of cookies for the sweet tooth in me, a pack of fat free yogurts, various lunch items and some bread and milk. i have stopped buying fresh veg at carrefour as it is useless within three days, i don't know how English supermarkets can sell carrots that will last a week and french ones can't, never mind. When i got to the till Mark had already finished, he offered to help with packing, as he does every time, but once again i said i was alright, i don't even like Ant packing the shopping because it just gets thrown in, i much prefer to do it myself, not that i have any form of compulsive disorder i just prefer it to be ordered. I handed over my coupon to be told i had to spend 110 euro's not 11, ah well, i thought it was to good to be true.
Back at David and Marks i got a coffee and a bit of cake and sat out on their patio and chatted to them for a bit, it is usually interesting stuff as David has been about a fair bit, the talk was mostly of my upcoming trip to Australia, how long i would be there, where i would be landing, how i was feeling about meeting mum for the first time, who else would be there. After about an hour i made my excuses and left, thinking the paté i had bought would probably not be doing so well in the car in the heat. i got back and unpacked,let the dogs out, excitement again!! hung out the washing and put another set of bedding going then thought, time to look at my farm! I set the laptop up on the dining table and went on line, an email from aunty m telling me everything was booked up for next month, a frisson of excitement for that as it meant we were one step closer to it all coming together, then on to face book. There was mum, online and on facebook, so i clicked and we chatted for a good while, after which i started this blog page and have been doing it since, i still need to go plant my farm, i need to get the second lot of beding on the line now, and i want to start reading up on australia, i don't think i know half enough about the place, i have a general idea of the geography but no so little about the culture and politics. a friend's son's girlfriend, visiting from Melbourne, told me the name of the prime minister the other day and i have forgotten it already. I could still mow the lawn and strim the weeds in the orchard as it is not yet too late, but i doubt i will.

until next time