I trained for this

Luckily there was lots of climbing last week as today, in the process of playing 18 holes of golf, 264m were climbed. Yes it was hilly. Yes it was tight. Yes I putted many greens. Yes I scored 100 for the first time in maybe 50 years. But we had fun and Jeremy only lost 3 balls whilst my Srixon lasted the entirety.

4 and a half hours. If you're ever in Bordeaux and fancy a game about an hour out of town, this is the course.

The electric fences that surrounded most holes sure speed up play by stopping you looking for your ball for too long.

Of course after golf, French Maccas is a must. My 5 euro value meal of fries, strawberry shake, double chicken burger and Coke cost 5 euros and 9 cents. I chose to pay the sugar tax. Jeremy's dessert was a chocolate sundae and was the smallest dessert I've ever seen.

The drinks and desserts were all in reusable cups which is a great idea but would probably fail in Australia. Oh, we ate in.

From there we strolled to Aldi for a fake Coke (hit with a sugar tax again) and also went looking for Munchers (chocolate covered peanuts in Australia and in France they are called chocolate peanuts).

The editor did her own thing today and may or may not let you know what that was.

[Annette's day: I caught the tram into the city to check out the antique, fabric and other interesting shops. 

I didn't buy anything but it was nice to browse. Some beautiful fabric but out of my price range. However looking at the lovely French clothes and fabrics has encouraged me to up my game and not dress like a slob in retirement! Unfortunately the art galleries are closed on Tuesdays so that will be for another day. 

I saw a woman on a bicycle with a trailer, which was a mobile tattoo studio.

I had a nice lunch at French House before going to a lovely spa (Caudalie) for a body scrub and massage (a Christmas present from Claire and Jeremy), a fabulous experience.]

I hung clothes on the line, went to the creche to pick up Emma, ate Annette's curry that Jeremy craves and then, in what can only be called a massive upset, managed to win a game of Scrabble after my brief retirement.

Luckily I've been stretching my stomach in preparation for the cruise next week.

A long weekend

We arrived mid week in France on a public holiday. Today is another public holiday. How very Australian of them.

Saturday is swimming day for Emma so she was woken from her first nap of the day only to be dunked head first into the water. She seemed to enjoy it as much as Annette and Jeremy who were in the water with her. 

From there it was to a shop that sells only frozen foods and back home for lunch and a nap before heading out into what the weather app described as 'near record temperatures'. 36 degrees in France seems cooler than 36 in Australia but maybe I'm just being patriotic.

I ran 2.2 km without getting too far away from home. Later, as Jeremy, Claire and Emma went to a baby music class, we did a pilates class on the hard wooden floor. Pizza for dinner to replenish all the calories burned.

Sunday markets, and as is quite ofter the case, they were ok but with the cheapest records being 5 euros I didn't dip into the wallet too much. Just a Telly Savalas and Michael Nesmith (pronounced 3 different ways by 3 of us) record to add to the collection. I'm still amazed at how many records I look at when I go to markets that I already own.

It was a bit of a dodgy area so we sought a bread/pastry shop on the way home. It was empty when we entered and the line was out the door when we left, as the editor was like herself in such a shop and had much difficulty in deciding how her daily sugar fix would be fulfilled. Fyi, I got a baguette that was better than any cake purchased. 

Emma seems to like us, which is good. She seems very close to standing up and she is very curious, so watch this space.

Another failed game of Scrabble where they ganged up on me, so I have officially retired. Claire made the secret family recipe cake. It was good. Maybe one day I will share my crunchy nut cornflake and ice cream recipe with her in exchange. Wait, it's in the cookbook we gave them. D'oh.

Monday we went early to the park for Emma to see a peacock, sheep, pigeons and lots of ducks. 

Home for leftover pizza (unheated for those of us who really appreciate good food). In the arvo we left Claire and Emma home and drove to a beachy area with Jeremy (Le Cap-Ferret). From across the bay we could see the sandhills we climbed previously. It was an interesting little place and if you want a good oyster, I am told that this is the place. 

On the way home, we joined a line of every car doing what we had been doing on a long weekend. This disrupted the ice cream demands of the 2 in the front seats. The shops spotted along the way were closed, then at 3:59 one was spotted. However it closed at 4:00 before a car door could be opened. Ice cream fail at 3:59 but they eventually got their ice creams at another shop by double parking in a bus stop. I save my money in case Telly Savalas has another record. 

We tried dodging traffic according to Google Maps but it was a slow trip home.

A stop at another massive shop on the way back and then home to the news that Emma can now pull herself up to stand, something she repeated many times in her cot, when sleeping should have been the preferred activity.

Is it Friday?

Another easy day with a drive to the coast, a walk up a giant sand dune, pizza for lunch. 

We looked at some houses and the colour of our new kitchen was discovered, then lost and then rediscovered as we drove.

Dropped into Leclerc, an enormous supermarket that is apparently not the biggest around. With some help I found the chocolate aisle. My refusal to purchase corn chips shows how much I am growing as a person. 

While Jeremy and Claire went to a movie, we babysat and managed not to set the smoke alarms off when my "caramelised" quesadilla was browned within a cm of its life.

Introducing Jeremy, Claire and Emma

Most of our holidays are go go go but this one is a little different. We did arrive in France and were doing stuff non-stop for a week, but now we are back in Bordeaux and doing a lot more of nothing much. So today's 'not much' meant that us,  Jeremy (son) and Emily (granddaughter) had to be out of the house before 9am because Claire (daughter-in-law) has work meetings. Is it because I have eaten all of the Kit Kat bites?

We hopped in the car and drove off to a nice medieval town (Saint-Émilion). Just the right amount of churchetecture for my liking and some very strange church murals.

Lunch was had there and despite the recommendation of galettes, I had the big dessert cup full of ice cream, because I can.

Back home, we took Emma for a walk to the park, where her main interest was attempting to eat grass and flowers. We all wanted to sleep. 

Back home again for dinner and a game of Scrabble that I didn't come last in (a rare occurrence that proves my constant watching of 8 Out of 10 Cats is paying dividends).

Back to Bordeaux

After we found out yesterday that the 9:30 bus was full and we hadn't booked, we booked the 11am bus and had a sleep in ... except that the alarm still went off at 6:50. Annette headed down the road to find pastries, we ate them with the leftover juice and Pepsi from yesterday and just did nothing until 10am, when we headed by foot to the bus station and headed for San Sebastian (I remembered that by myself). It was a very scenic route through (sometimes literally) the mountains and did make me wonder why on earth we walked over them the previous days.

Train to France, train to Bordeaux, several laps around the station in Jeremy’s car (as Siri was very confused), and back to our base.

There were some poor meal decisions made on the way

and a home cooked meal was welcomed.

The Editor may be a bit better and the super dose of Ibuprofen purchased at the Farmacia this morning may have helped, but it's amazing what a good cup of tea can do to her (but not Earl Grey, because serving that up to her will leave you in hot water).

We loaded our stinky clothes in the washing machine and had a good sleep (apart from the regular coughing fits).

I know I would regret it but I really want to buy a pizza from a vending machine. What could go wrong?

Tippy Toe

On this walk through nature, sometimes nature calls. It's important, if travelling with someone, that you have a lookout, should some unexpected fast walker come around the bend whilst you are in the middle of your business. Of course you also need a way to communicate the fast walker is coming around the bend with a code. We chose Tippy Toe in deference to a Seinfeld episode.

We never got to use it as you get a good feel for your position in the race to the next town. You go past people, other people go past you and on it goes.

So yesterday, after about 3km, we caught up with an older Australian couple, who from the previous day we knew were slower walkers. We stopped briefly and they continued on at the top of the hill. 

30 seconds later and about 20 metres ahead of us, I noticed them  quickly step behind a poplar. Passing a quick glance, the situation was her squatting and reaching for a roll of toilet paper, and him standing right next to her being useless. Come on, at least assume the lookout position man. Know your position and give her a chance of a private moment in nature. And not a tippy toe to be heard.

Forfeit or The Lycra Doesn't Lie

What looked like a forfeit for not having enough players to start the game has turned into a famous victory.

Is there anything that a piece of cake for breakfast can't do?

Just prior to breakfast, the editor was not sure she could start the game today and was considering a bus to Pamplona. Seems like the banana cake for breakfast did the trick.

An 8:40am departure on what the sign said was a 20.5 km walk. It's pants are now on fire.

The "flat" stage sure threw in some uphill early, just to see how our tired legs would feel. Unfortunately, late in the day it also threw in some bigger hills.

Once you start, there is no other way, so as poor as she felt, Annette kept going to the point of near exhaustion and in need of a toilet break a lot earlier than Google revealed one to use.

Earlier I had eaten yesterday's leftover ham and cheese baguette that was mainly stale and may or may not have spent the night next to the heater.

This leg of the trip had nowhere to get food apart from a random vending machine and a couple at the top of the last big climb with an Esky who sold me a well deserved Coke. 

It was probably the most varied types of paths we had encountered and probably the least scenic.

One path was particularly narrow and of course today was the day that lycra on bikes was on the trail. They would pass you, then get off their bikes to walk over rocks, so we kept catching them. At the vending machine, I wanted to take a profile picture of the guy with the super big gut and loose fitting lycra down under, but I hope to erase this memory so didn't. The lycra did not lie. It was not good.

Annette was fuelled by a Le Snak. That's not enough but her dodgy stomach said it was enough.

The last 5km were flat but our legs are failing us. One wrong turn cost us extra metres but we finally crossed the river and we're nearly there.

And then we hit the last big hill with a speed camera at the summit just to mock us.

One seemingly final irony was entering our hotel. Seriously?

Our room is on the 3rd floor. There are steps leading to the lift, and stairs after. Sigh. The pain is real.

The Editor slept, I watched the Big Bang Theory in Spanish and we headed out for dinner. Too many choices and not enough desire to eat led us to a supermarket of sadness. Annette and her dodgy tummy enjoyed a salad, my Russian Salad on bread rolls rated a 4/10, the Portuguese tarts were nice and for the first time on holidays, Pepsi Max made an appearance.

My body wants to sleep but it's also threatening to cramp. Something to look forward to.