Quelle surprise (2)…

Aire Bro open for business!

This is the first year we’ve ever seen the clematis in full bloom. We either catch it just before it flowers at Easter or the tail end in May.

We arrived in Le Petit-Pressigny at the end of last week and for three days it rained, and it rained and it rained! The journey was a bit hectic, as we came out in both cars which meant we weren’t able to share the driving and the spray on the roads made for poor visibility. Added to that the toll tag only worked intermittently.

Anyway we were beginning to get a bit stir crazy in the house so as soon as there was a small, brighter window in the clouds I thought I’d make a start at sweeping up the clematis petals and cleaning the terrace, ready to be power washed and sealed. We spend a lot of time on the terrace so this is a job which needs to be done early in the holiday before the assorted tables, chairs, planters etc are put out.

I thought I could hear someone talking, but generally this is Tim talking to himself, or to me, so ignored it. Then I realised that he was talking to someone with the familiar Stoke-on-Trent accent. To our delight Dave, a friend and ex colleague of Tim’s, had called in. Tim knew he was coming to France at sometime this summer, but not when. Dave’s phone wasn’t working properly so he wasn’t able to call in advance. However none of this mattered as we were absolutely delighted to see him. The beauty of this stage of our lives is that there is very little which we plan to do today which cannot be done tomorrow.

Planning his route to the next Aire.

We’ve spent a lovely couple of days chatting, laughing, going for very long walks and sharing memories of the past nearly 30 years. Dave was the perfect house guest. In fact he was so perfect he brought his own house with him. It truly was a mobile home!

Old Guys Rule…or so they would like to think. Mo and I, of course, know better!

Dave’s washing line.

We were very sorry to see him go but he was heading back towards Dunkirk, to Mo (who hasn’t yet retired) and to finish writing his Father-of-the-Bride speech for his daughter Charlotte’s wedding. He shared a few snippets from an early draft so it should go down well – we laughed! If we were in the UK we would be heading to the church to see him in his top hat and tails!

So…back to the gardening, but the sweeping can wait. It is so breezy that as fast as I can clear the terrace of petals, more fall to take their place.