This time only for twenty-four hours: their arrival was delayed by road diversions and a satav failure and getting lost on their journey from Normandy (a foreign country) to Brittany, so we missed out on the planned trip to the Pink Granite Coast and a picnic on the rocks and my (possibly) last swim of the year, tant pis, another time.
I've known Val for years. At first virtually when she contacted me after reading A Mouse in France because she had her own French house not too far away near Huelgoat, and then we met for real in Oxford, took a weekend trip to Glastonbury and finally I made it to Cornwall where she now lives. But this was the first time I had welcomed her (and her son) to my home. I should explain that Val has a very busy life, so busy that after I have read one of her Facebook posts detailing her morning routine I am so tired I have to go for a lie down to recover.
Well, they arrived and we sat down with tea and cakes to start talking and I that, the talking, sharing ideas, experiences, trials, tribulations and triumphs.
And we continued talking over dips and tacos and an aperitif...
And over a chilli and rice dinner with wine, and the chocolate cake and tea for afters...
And as we walked Tashi round the village before the streetlights went out at 10 pm...
And then this morning we went to La Vallée des Saints in the rain where I was able to have my now-customary chat with Saint Melar while Tashi sniffed the grass...
And we were introduced to a new saint - Alar, patron saint of horses, which is why he's shown here at the forge. A most appropriate saint for a pony-mad kid of a certain age...
while other horse lovers rode past...
How nice that would be, I said to Val, riding round the statues on horseback!
Val likes my house, which makes me happy.
It is at its best when filled with friends.
