Early autumn holiday, 26 September 2023

Notre-Dame-de-Mesage, Auvergne

The weather has - tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon - been being absolutely glorious, warm and sunny. But it is autumn, and early mornings and late evenings are chilly, if not cold. This, of course, means that there is a heavy dew overnight, and my feet got soaked when I went out for an early-morning dash round the playing-fields before breakfast! I was delighted to find some field mushrooms, which made a wonderful addition to the meal! 

After breakfast, our first port of call was a supermarket, and we were delighted to find, while we were there, that it had a launderette in the car park.

We are just under half-way through our holiday, so decided to profit from the occasion to do a load of laundry. I shopped and the SW got diesel and then his coffee while this was happening. Unfortunately, though, the dryer wasn't working, and although it did take the worst off, our clothes were by no means dry. However, Park4Night is very good at telling you where there are public laundry facilities, and I discovered there was one within a few minutes of where we are staying tonight, so we had lunch and then spent most of the afternoon driving down here. 

We drove down past Grenoble, and the turnoff to Villard-de-Lans, wishing that we were going there for the Mountain Cup again - so many wonderful memories, so many friends made, so much fun had.... I do realise it's uneconomic to hold it now, and the rink is not particularly helpful, but I know I'm not the only one to miss it badly. Not that I skate any more, and it's only a dream...but we did have such fun! 

Anyway, we got here at last. We are parked up in the car park of a tennis-court/football pitch complex, and there is a constant stream of cars dropping off children for practice! I could be in Walthamstow on a Monday night - the main difference being the adults don't go in with their children to register them, but just turf them out of the car and drive off. 

The SW has gone for a walk which he says looks lovely - I'm hoping to do a shorter version with him in the morning - and I will start supper soon. I had been going to do a chicken casserole, but we are not quite level this evening, and that sort of dish is easier to cook on the level, so we'll have Leberkäse with an egg and chips and a fried tomato, I think. The casserole can wait - and by then I will have bought leeks and mushrooms, which always improves it! Last night's fishcakes, by the way, were delicious, but did fall apart rather.... And I have finished my gooseberry chutney!