Travelling on

Today we took the scenic route - intentionally - but forgot to do our homework with regard to where to stay tonight. We left Orleans and travelled south, past Clermont Ferrand, Vichy and Bourges (not necessarily in that order) and arrived, eventually in Puy le Velay, where we finally found somewhere to stay that satisfied my guidelines regarding economy. So here we are for the night and we now need to decide where we want to move on to tomorrow. There may be a slight animated discussion (we never have arguments), as I would like to see the bridge at Millau, which we saw a couple of years ago when it was still under construction, but Keith is in search of mountains and winding roads. Watch this space!
Oh, and once again, we were attacked by fierce rain! Global warming is no doubt to blame.

From Wales to France

Setting off at 5am and driving all the way (apart from an hour and a half on the ferry) to somewhere near Orleans, where we finally arrived fourteen hours later, makes for quite a tiring day, and it is not improved when the GPS sends us through Paris at rush hour for some unknown reason. However, we are here now, with FREE internet access and all ready to snooze the night away.

Something else which was not according to plan was the torrential rain which greeted us for half our journey. As Keith said, you could see the car in front overtaking but couldn't see what it was overtaking! Here's hoping for much better weather from now on. Be good, everyone!

Crossing the Seine in the rain.

Speak nicely to the officer

Living in North Wales means being more aware than most of the risks we run every time we take the car out on the roads. Up here, 30 miles an hour means 30 miles an hour and not 31. Stick to it or you risk being confronted by officers of the law leaping out of a cunningly disguised horsebox and forcing you to an abrupt halt. That being the case, this seems a natural progression in their remit.
If anyone is worried by this and feels they need help in brushing up their accent, grammar and general command of the English language, I shall, of course, be happy to help, on payment of an exorbitant fee naturally.

Austin Seven on the roof

I heard this item of news on the radio this morning and wondered about the role of the two female students who were drafted in to provide a diversion from what was going on on the roof and I wondered what the 2008 equivalent would be. You have to admit raising one's skirt two inches would not even be noticed these days, so what would those girls have to do to get noticed? Answers in comments box, please.

Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

Yesterday Keith was floating round on the internet when he came across a really interesting group. They seem to have a very unusual take on music and apparently tour all round the world, although we had never heard of them before. See what you think.

You don't bring me flowers
He said he had found the link on a locksmithing website.
Yes, I can quite see the connection...

Mason Lewis A

This is the young man upon whose shoulders rests the responsibility of carrying on Keith's family name. It was Mason's naming day yesterday (apparently a non-religious alternative to a christening) and at nearly six months old, he proved himself a very well-behaved star of the proceedings.

His older sister, however, 19 month old Ella decided that all this was old hat and she was off to explore, which, in her case, meant becoming akin to a non-stop whirling dervish, hence the difficulty in managing to get any photos of her!

Sports day cancelled

Oh dear, here we go again. Health and Safety rears its ugly head again, this time at a school in West Sussex, where it was decided that the field is too uneven for sports day next month. It would, of course, be too awful if anyone were to fall over whilst running or, horror of horrors, taking part in the three legged race. I defy anyone to have ever experienced a sports day where no-one fell over. At one school where I taught, we had races for mums and dads and the great challenge there was for the dads especially to stop at the finishing line rather than allow their enthusiasm to propel them into the brick wall which was a couple of feet further on. They usually managed it.
What really amazes me though, is the mother who professed to be so inconsolable at the cancellation of her daughter's first sports day. Does she not remember her own? Sports days are boring, coated with boring and with lashes more boring on top!
That's my memory of them anyway. You are all most welcome to disagree. :)