Monday 11th June

Driving off the shuttle was like waking from a dream, or maybe going into one.  The Chunnel is so relaxing, I was dozing off, listening to my mp3 player, casually swapping over random tracks as I got bored with a song, something I rarely do, as I have always been a strictly-album person.  The train glided out of the darkness and we saw green hills and blue skies, not so different at all – one could almost still be in France.  Driving straight off the train and onto the M20 and remembering to drive on the left again we were soon on our way home, past the now familiar motorway signs.  And instead of the delightful roadside picnic aires and the larger French services with their lovely Arche restaurants we saw McDonalds and Costa beckoning us in to their second rate fare.  Then under the Thames and emerging at Barking we headed for the Hydra, the many headed monster that is London.  And as we crossed Rainham marshes, there in the distance, just as Stonehenge must have looked to weary travelers thousands of years ago were the grey silhouettes of Canary Wharf, The Gherkin and the Shard of Glass, our very own beacons of hope and despair.  And just as waking from a dream the thought ran through my mind….Ah, it’s all coming back to me now.   And I do feel as if I have woken from a dream, or rather had my dream disturbed somewhat.  And even though this other reality impinges, I am now determined that it will not take me over.  I may have to live here for a while longer, but it will not be long before I return and start really living again.