Sunday 29th December

I was feeling decidedly better.  No sign of a headache and though a few nasty coughing spells in the night and a runny nose this was certainly an improvement.  But I know from my partner who I must presume did me the kindness of road-testing this cold before passing it on to me that it can hang around for weeks.  But if this is as bad as it gets I am okay with that.  But oh – what a poor day weather-wise.  So far it had been quite sunny each day, an occasional shower, but a clear clean feel in the air.  Today it rained. Il Pleut.  All day long, persistent rain and cold and dark broody skies.  You just know that this isn’t going to clear up at all.  I suppose it must be the tail-end of the storms Britain suffered on Boxing Day.  Luckily there was no wind at all driving the rain, but I still felt cold outside.  We like to do Villereal on a Saturday, they have a nice market and a coffee shop full of noisy bustling French people where you start to feel really at one with the locals.

We wandered from one rain-sodden stall to another, everything looked damp and dreary.  My feet, my own personal Achilles heel, got colder and colder.  I was wrapped up warmly but when my feet get cold the rest of me suffers.  I cannot abide cold feet, and spend ages choosing thermal socks each year.  To little avail, I just think I have poor circulation in the feet department.  Anyway all the way home despite the car heater on full I felt cold.  And it was off to bed and another sleep before I got warm again.

So, the days drift by here in our idyllic little French paradise, even the hours seem to drift slowly by, whereas in London it is always rush and bustle.  And despite having a cold we are quite happy here.  I did download some bank transactions for one Restaurant and did about an hour of work and the thought of returning even though four days off is a bit daunting.  I can see us spending more and more time out here as the years go by.