I have just had a lunch of low-calorie vegetable soup, a brown finger roll and a bar of chocolate marzipan. I must start ironing and continue cleaning. Most of the packing is done. We leave circa 5 am tomorrow. I have just read on Facebook that the snow fell low on the Alpes-Maritimes last night. I am wondering how our journey on the Route Napoleon will be on Saturday. We must shop when we arrive in Vence. We are taking a few groceries but most shops close on Sundays in France.
I like the apartment we have in France but I am happiest of all here in this little market town. We have a very pleasant, roomy flat in a central location with easy access to everything we need. We have got to know a lot of people. We were overwhelmed by the number of people who came to our daughter's funeral last year. Dan is vice-chairman of the Probus club and chairman of the bridge club. He plays petanque and shoots clay pigeons. We are happy here and I am always glad to return. On Thursday May 4 I shall wake up, shower and have breakfast and then put the suitcase on our bed. I shall start packing, just as I do here for the outward journey. Around midday we shall walk into the town and have lunch at La Regence. It will be another early night. This is the day I shall be looking forward to; I shall be fretting to come home, albeit silently, from Monday of that week.
The journey is a long one. When I have had my second vitrectomy I shall offer to do some of the driving to and from Dover. I drive so seldom now. I have renewed my driving licence and I think that my vision is good enough apart from the floaters. Dan is not a patient passenger so I like to leave the job to him. I do not drive fast enough to please him and I am nervous about overtaking. I think that perhaps we shall go out into the country together and I shall practise a little while before I start driving on town roads and motorways.
Tomorrow night we shall stay at the Ibis Hotel in Besançon, the town where Victor Hugo was born. It is a fortified city and has a lot of history. I would like one day to stay a few days and look around. We have tried a lot of different towns and hotels for our stay-over, but this hotel and this town are what we like best. The restaurant is very good. The only problem we ever encounter is sometimes at breakfast time. There are coachloads of oriental people. They are not Japanese; those people are very polite and besides. one cannot mistake a Japanese face. If we do not go down to breakfast very early these travellers appropriate all the food. They take petits pains and croissants, yogurts and fruit and put them in their travelling bags. The restaurant and kitchen staff are very kind to us and bring us food. It does not always happen. The latest in the year we have stayed at Besançon was in 2015. We had delayed our trip because Katy had an oophorectomy on September 26. She stayed with us for two weeks after the operation. We came home in early November. The day we left Vence we drove up into the mountains and parked in the square in Castellane as usual. Everything was closed and shuttered; it was cold and misty. We travelled on and had lunch at the Courtepaille near Voiron. I doubt that we shall drive down that late in the year again.
Yesterday we visited Dan's father. He is very confused; dementia is gaining a hold on his mind. He is incontinent now. Dan found him some snooker to watch on the television and we had a cup of tea because there was fresh milk. The house is dirty. We still feel Elizabeth's absence greatly. I tried to make him understand what caused Katy's death but he is very deaf and will not use a hearing aid. He will not long remember what I said anyway.
I must email the manager of Steep House to let her know that we shall be away. I have reminded her of our cell phone numbers. I am still smarting from the television business. I know that is petty and foolish but I would have expected the woman to familiarise herself with my uncle's state of health before suggesting that I bring in a television for him. I shall bring the carers the usual large box of biscuits. I know they like their sweet things to eat in their tea breaks. In the last few years I have provided a lot of those.
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