22. May, 2022

22. May, 2022

22. May, 2022

SUNDAY 22-05-22

After last night's fine dining experience we were sat outside relaxing when I was sure I could hear brass band music, but very faintly. In the end I convinced myself that I wasn't hearing things and told the Chef that it sounded as if it was coming from the town centre less than a mile away.

I persuaded her that we should go and take a look, and take our macs with us because thunderstorms had been forecast for later.

On arrival it looked as if we'd missed most of what was going on. It looked like a French version of a German Beer Festival. It would have been nice to think that it was Germans dressed to entertain the French. and to see them all getting on so well together, especially after their little misunderstanding back in 1939.

I had with me the little pocket camera which The Chef had used earlier in the day. After two pictures - kaput! Flat battery. That was so frustrating. We didn't hang around too long, because as I say, I think we'd missed most of it.

So imagine my annoyance when this morning as I went to recharge that camera I was reminded that in the camera pouch I keep a spare battery. How stupid of me was that?

There were no thunderstorms last night which was a bit of a shame as they would have helped to clear the air. This morning the little display on the wall told me we were sitting in air of 77% humidity. Thankfully it dried out a little during the day.

I announced to The Chef as I climbed out of bed that the sheets must be washed today, no matter the risk of further thunderstorms brewing. We would never normally leave them this long, plus when we leave here and spend more time along the coast I think we'll be hard pressed to find many trees to hang a washing line from. As it happened we hung them on the airer, and  turned them regularly. This was beneficial because there were a few very light rain showers which passed over while they were drying and we merely lifted the airer and put it under the wind-out awning to sit with us.

Back home in Ely, our beautiful cathedral has an annex called The Lady Chapel. It is very often rented out to film companies to use as a period set. Netflix also used it for scenes for 'The Crown'. One other use it has is as a venue for authors to meet the public and talk about their work and carry out book signings. The excellent bookshop in town, Toppings host these evenings.

About six weeks ago we were walking down the High St, somewhere I seldom go now because, like so many towns and cities, it's full of charity shops. Anyhow, I'm passing Toppings when I see Bob Mortimer's autobiography 'And Away' with a label on the front saying it had been signed by the author. Clearly we had been away when Bob visited town otherwise I would certainly have gone along. In I went and came out with a copy under my arm. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it before we came away. I find Bob hilarious on the game show 'Would I lie to You', and his appearances can be found on Youtube.

Today I have begun reading  Mortimer & Whitehouse 'Gone Fishing' which The Chef bought me for Christmas.

Fishing does nothing for me I'm afraid, though I can understand how therapeutic it can be on a lovely sunny day sat by the river bank, but we've seen anglers sat by the river bank in freezing conditions, sometimes having been there all night. They must have very unhappy home lives, that's all I can say. Despite that I have all of the Whitehouse & Mortimer's 'Gone Fishing' DVD's and enjoy watching them from time to time. It's very entertaining in its own way and so nice to see two blokes who are very happy in each other's company having a good chit-chat (I think the episodes are available on BBC iPlayer).

This evening we had a bit of a barbecue. It comprised of some chicken drumsticks, Waitrose sausages, home-made chips-kind-of, and grilled peppers. We do have the means to make our own sausages and burgers onboard, and having tried French burgers twice now, I think we'll make our own next time.

This evening we'll be watching a couple more episodes of 'Episodes' before bed, with the added luxury of sleeping in lovely clean sheets.

Thunderstorms are forecast again tonight from 22:00, so that's me on standby for the roof vents etc.

We have decided to stay here for another night. This will allow us to walk in to town, take a look around, find out about vineyard tours and more about the ferry across the Gironde, which at this point The Chef informs me is the widest estuary in Europe.

Tomorrow should be a good day.................................... but then I've said that before.

22. May, 2022

22. May, 2022