France - Sunday to Saturday (Home, Patricia leaves & Geocaching))

So far I have been able to keep my blog up to date, even when we are busy, but strange enough, when you're not busy any more you forget to write and the week has gone before you know it....

It was a very quiet week though.  Monday and Tuesday we mainly spent the day at home, resting from our trip to Versailles and Paris, which was just wonderful.  The trip, that is.  But I guess the resting was wonderful too in a way.

As I said, we had a few days of rest and I spent a bit of time cleaning the house.  Housework is a never ending job, even if it is not your own house. ;-)  Patricia needed her washing done before moving on and on Wednesday she packed in readiness for her trip and cleaned her part of the house while I did the rest. 

On Wednesday night Michèle and Jean-Pierre came upstairs to say goodbye to Patricia and and wish her a safe trip.  Communication mainly goes via Michèle's laptop and the translator on it, but it works well, so why not. ;-)

We also took a few pictures, which I mostly forget nowadays, but Michèle insisted.  Fortunately.

And then it was Thursday and time for Patricia to move on.  She was going back to Sweden to spend the last few weeks with daughter Dianne.  Unlike me, she needed a visa for Europe and her visa runs out on Christmas day unfortunately, so the next few weeks will be spent in the spirit of Christmas in Sweden I think...

We left mid-morning for our drive to the train station at Laval.  The weather was not the best, but the rain stayed mostly away.  Arriving at the train station we had the little problem of the car parks having been dug up, so no parking at the station.  After a good look around I found a spot in one of the nearby streets.

I have heard that reverse parking is no longer being taught, but I am glad I learned it and can still handle it on the right side of the road, because it comes in very handy here in those very tight spots!

Since we were early we walked around town to have a bit of look.  Not much really.  It didn't seem to have an 'old' centre like most of them have.  So, we looked for a little café for a cup of coffee instead and found one.  The owner was proud of his cooking and baking skills and wanted us to try one of the sweets.  I must say, it was delicious.  Very flaky pastry and caramalised apple on top.  As only French bakers can make it!

Next it was time to head to the station, and since the platform for Patricia's train had not yet been announced we had plenty of time.  I headed to the ticket office, because I needed train tickets for my trip to the Netherlands in December.  I had tried to book on-line, but unlike Patricia's, my credit card was not accepted.  I couldn't use Patricia's either, because I would need to show the credit card with which the tickets had been paid when I wanted to pick them up!  

It is frustrating at times that there is no rhyme or reason why credit cards are sometimes accepted and at other times not.  Patricia's worked in the supermarket, but not when we wanted to get fuel, at the same supermarket!

Anyway,  I got my tickets and Patricia's train arrived, so we had to say goodbye.  I drove back and arrived at a strangely quiet home.  Different, but not unexpected of course, and we had done the same thing in the Netherlands a few years ago.....

On Friday I did my usual work on the computer.  I am still working on new exchanges for next year, but as always, it's very slow going with more negative than positive responses.  

As it was not a bad day to go out I decided that a long walk was in order.  I have walked a lot these last few weeks, but with Patricia it is more like a stroll and I needed good old-fashioned excercise, so I went out to look for some caches nearby at Désertines.  It should have been a 4.5 km walk for 5 caches, but I ended up doing a lot more than the alloted 1 1/2 hours and got only 2 caches out of it.  No problem though.  The caches were only the excuse to go for the walk....  ;-)

I had parked the car at cache no. 5, which I could not look for, because it was rather busy right at that moment.  So, I started walking and ended up on a track that was roped off after a few hundred metres.  I kept walking though and came out on a road which I followed till I saw the sign: Circuit de la grande Haie. I had thought that the whole walk would be on that particular track, because of the name of the caches, but it was only part of the walk.  I found the next two caches and kept going, until I was stopped by a friendly lady in a car who asked if I was lost.  No, I wasn't, but I was walking towards a farm, she said, and that was where the road ended!  Oops, lost after all. ;-)  So, instead of walking to the next cache I had to retrace my steps and walked the same way back as I had come.  Probably just as well I didn't go for the next two caches, because the walk would have lasted a lot longer than the 2 1/2 hours it now had taken! Can't complain about the excercise though! :-)

#1794 - #4 Circuit de la Grande Haie (cache)

#1795 - #3 Circuit de la Grande Haie (cache)

Upon looking it up on Google Earth I should have followed on from where I came and cross the road, but.... the track ahead of me was so muddy that I couldn't have possibly gone there anyway, so backtracking was the right thing to do in the end.

Then I still have a few pictures that Michèle gave me the other day that I couldn't post earlier:

Patricia and I in front of the big goat
(the dog wasn't invited in the picture.... ;-))

A novel way to announce the Christmas markets

Patricia and I upon leaving for our trip to Versailles

And last but not least, Saturday was a quiet day again.  Too quiet, but I had a headache that I couldn't shake, so I didn't want to exert myself too much.  

Michèle had been busy though.  She and Jean-Pierre came upstairs to bring me a large piece of home-made carrot cake, a big bowl of potato-and-leek soup and a container of, again, home-made apple sauce.

Since Patricia had made carrot soup instead of the potato-and-leek soup that she had planned to make I had just bought some cream and wanted to make the soup myself today, but now we're through the last leeks, so if I want to use that cream I will need to buy some leeks.  Well, why not? ;-) Perhaps tomorrow if I feel any better.