And.... home!

We left Verdun by just after 09:00 - it was a case of having to, really, as the paid-for parking in the street outside the hotel kicked in then!   We bought a sandwich and some chouquettes from the patisserie across the road for our lunch, having had breakfast at the hotel. 

As we had plenty of time, we decided to do the first part of the journey cross-country, rather than going on the autoroute, and asked the SatNav to take us to Cambrai, which it duly did.  Very cross-country, but it was a lovely drive; for much of the time we were the only car on the road, and the scenery was delightful.  We arrived in Cambrai at lunchtime, and ate our sandwiches, but unfortunately it was raining so we decided not to go for a walk, but to do our shopping.  There was a Cora on the outskirts of town, so we went there and stocked up, although they didn't have any of the lovely poppy-seed bread mix I really like. 

By the time we had finished and had an ice in the cafeteria, it was time to set off, so we went straight towards Calais on the motorway.  We decided to pop into Auchan to see if they had any poppy-seed bread mix (they didn't) and one other thing, and then, as it was now less than two hours before our scheduled crossing, headed straight for the terminal.

Sadly, we didn't get home early!  There was an ominous comment that "All services were suspended" due to a train stuck in a tunnel, and the automatic check-in (I do like the way the check-ins at the French terminal recognise your car number-plate and you don't have to find your booking number) gave us a number which I think corresponded with our original booking.  So we sadly went into the terminal and sat down with the free Wi-Fi, but as we went in, the log-jam broke and people started to return to their cars who had been held up on earlier crossings.  Our crossing, N, was subsequently advertised as an hour later than we'd booked, but we noticed they called N cars along with M cars for the previous ones, and rushed off  (we were already sitting in the car reading at that stage) and got on a crossing only half an hour later.  And the Shuttle wasn't full, which we thought a bit bad as there had been such delays.  Still, the crossing was uneventful and we got home at a reasonable hour. 

And look what was waiting for us on the window-sill:

 I haven't known that particular cactus to bloom at any time, never mind in June!  The other one is very much an Old Faithful and I only keep it because it blooms so regularly in December....

And so, back to the grindstone.  This blog will be updated when I do anything interesting, either out and about in London or on a short break. 

Slow journey

We started the day with a picnic breakfast in our room - no way were we going to pay €16 each for what the Mercure offered. Then we went shopping, as I wanted bread mix that was different from Lidl's offerings, and a loaf of bread to take home and/or eat for lunch tomorrow. Also a toy for my Boy.

We set off quite late - about 11:00 or so, and promptly ran into trouble on the motorway. There had been an accident and we were badly held up. The satnav said it knew a quicker way, so we said yes please, but in fact the accident was earlier than it thought it was so we should have stayed on. However, we had a lovely drive through the Rhine valley, culminating in a dam where we saw the gates closing on a tourist boat.

 

 Another stop to get rid of used coffee and full up with petrol, and then a final one for lunch at the entry to the Tunnel St Die. We had flammküchen, yum. Mine had snails and the SWs had mushrooms. And I had a beer and he had cola, which did not stop him feeling sleepy later. So we stopped yet again for him to have coffee and a nap, and I had an ice.

We arrived in Verdun eventually, though. The hotel room is tiny, but will do for one night. Wifi is unreliable, though. The proprietor gave us a tourist map of the town and showed us the suggested walk, which we have been on, and now we are in the restaurant next door, which is a baked potato place.

And so the homeward journey starts

So we packed up the apartment, going through the frustrating stage where it got worse before it got better, ate breakfast, made sandwiches for lunch, and finally set off about 09:45, getting lost on the way to the hotel to check out - the hotel and the apartments are at opposite ends of Oberstdorf.

All finally sorted and paid for, we had a lovely drive along the Deutschen Alpenstrasse towards the Bodensee, or Lake Constance as it is sometimes called. We stopped for lunch in a rest area which had a restaurant/café/stall and bought some strawberries which are lovely. Then a very, very slow drive along the shores of the Bodensee, traffic nose to tail and it took ages.  We stopped again at Titisee for the SW to stretch his legs, and finally arrived here in Freiburg at about 5:00 pm.

After a cup of tea, we went for a stroll around the old town,

and had supper in a restaurant near the Munster, about 2 minutes' walk from the hotel. The SW went out again later to find a supermarket for the morning and to see if he could get in to a concert he had heard advertised, but he couldn't, as it was full.

Now we are about to have a picnic breakfast and get some more bread to make another packed lunch on what is the last full day of the holidays. But there is all of today and most of tomorrow....

All good things

Come to an end, and this is as true of the ISU Adult competition as of anything else.

Yesterday started very early, and we were at the rink by 06:00 for our official practice, after which we came back to the apartment to have breakfast and another couple of hours' sleep before getting ready for the competition which started at 11:15. We were the first to skate, and buggered up the lift, which we never do!  Grrr. However, our spin was given the benefit of the doubt, so we did get some technical marks, although not many. But still. 

The rest of the day was taken up with increasingly better dances, wonderful male skaters, synchro teams and, finally, elite ladies' artistic. We did pop out for lunch briefly, but that was about it.  Then the podium, although not all of our class attended, and then another quick change of clothes and make-up and it was off to the Oberstdorf Haus for the final banquet. We left fairly soon after the meal, as it was very noisy,, and with the SW not dancing, you couldn't hear what anybody was saying, and  the band wasn't that good!

Ah well, Oberstdorf may be over, but we still have three more days of holiday to go!

Quiet day

Neither of us felt like getting up this morning, so we didn't, but spent a quiet morning  reading and doing very little else. I expect we missed some great skating, but we find we can't watch all day. However, we had practice at 16:20, followed by the Draw, so we went down and watched the elite skaters before then. Sadly, the draw was early and the Clock in the practice-rink was slow, so we missed our draw, and have been drawn first. Which is good, I suppose, as nobody will be there so early to see make fools of ourselves. Oh well, we aren't the only old and slow couple in the class.  I just hope we skate it as well as we  are able.

After the draw fiasco, we had a cup of tea and returned to the rink to watch the short dance, again won in fine style by the Arnolds, who said afterwards they had only had two runthroughs. 

Then back to the apartment, as it was pairs next, and that is the one discipline I really don't enjoy watching - far too scary. So am now in bed as we must be up before sparrowfart tomorrow for Official Practice at 06:00.  

Ascension Day

I was far too sleepy, and it was far too late, to post when I got in last night. I had more-or-less slept off my funny tummy by the time I woke up, and we had a late breakfast before heading down to the rink to watch the elite ladies, who gave us some wonderful performances. Then back to the apartment for lunch, and we decided to go out for a short drive to see some of the surrounding countryside, ending up on a village in Austria, which was rather pretty.

Back to the rink in time to watch the pattern dances at all levels, and I bought myself a souvenir jacket and t-shirt. The dances ranged from the sublime - the Arnolds' Argentine Tango was simply the best I've ever seen, anywhere, and their Quickstep wasn't far behind - to the ridiculous: had we entered, we would not have disgraced ourselves. One couple's 14-step was rather like ours was when I said Enough was Enough and it wasn't going to happen this year! To be fair, their European was better, but not by a lot!  There were some appallingly bad European Waltzes - not that we could have done any better, but just saying - and a couple of good ones. I am hopeful that we aren't going to make too enormous folks of ourselves on Saturday. We are by no means the only Old and Slow couple.

Anyway, during a gap in all of that we popped up to the restaurant at the top of the rink to have supper - pasta for both of us, mine with mushrooms and I'm not sure what the Swan Whisperer's had. But he enjoyed it.

It was well past bedtime by the time we got back to the apartment, but we both slept really well!

Busy Wednesday

Actually, more stressful than busy. The Swan Whisperer was up early for his official practice, and when he came back we had breakfast, and then I made sandwiches for lunch. We got to the rink quite early and were able to watch the Silver Ladies II Artistic, including two very brave ladies who really aren't at all well, but who rocked it anyway.  And very pleased with themselves they were, too. Then it was Silver Men III, and then the SW's group - Bronze Men IV and V.

The SW skated very well, though not quite clean. Far more confidence than at Bracknell, said someone who has seen both performances, and I agree. He finished last, but in no way made a fool of himself, and was only one mark below the next skater up.

Photo: Liz McGlauflin

We stayed on to watch the Silver Men IV and V, and then the Silver Ladies III, in which we had a lot of friends skating. Then a bit of shopping (tomorrow is Ascension Day and the shops will be shut) and back to the apartment for an early supper, and we were supposed to have practice, but my tummy has gone back on me, not quite (yet) badly enough for Immodium, but.... So I have gone to bed and the SW has gone up for his podium and to watch some really good skaters. He is not very pleased with me, but then, I didn't tell him I was having tummy issues, only that I was tired. I'll be fine after a night sleep and some peppermint oil

Talking of sleep, I did sleep better last night with the bathroom light on - only woke every two hours, not every hour. The spare blankets they provide here in case the duvets aren't quite enough (which they aren't) look exactly like giant yellow dusters, right down to the red borders!