Sunday in Annecy

Sunday 12^th September 2010: Annecy FR. 

View from the landing field

I woke up nice and toasty finally without the heater having to be put on and had the most amazing dream ever! Yes, that was definitely the right decision. Having changed the bedclothes yesterday for the monster-wash, I decided to put the 28 year old orange sleeping bag into the duvet cover. It was as reliable as the time when I was eight years old and took it to Brownie Camp for the first time. Sleeping bags nowadays are made of the state of the art material guaranteed to keep you warm down to -15^oc. Not this one, its just a reliable sleeping bag with a zip and a guarantee to keep you warm. Yes, definitely the right decision. ‘My’ decision I hasten to add...I didn’t gloat much!!

The ‘Aire’ we had stayed in last night was free to park and it had free water as well. A winner! It was about 10 minutes drive from the landing field, but with our other Camping-Car Neighbours, we slotted right in. We got rid of our waste water and started to fill up the water tank. After the monster-wash, some washing up and two hot showers later, we had depleted the reserves to ¼ tank. The capacity is 140 litres, and Im not sure how we used up 105 litres, but we did. It was then that we noticed that the cap was missing. We had filled up the tank yesterday and it was the last time we had seen the cap. This meant that the Pilot (AKA Flying Goldfish) had put it somewhere yesterday and forgot to replace it. After dropping me off at mass, he drove back to the place with no success. I went later on bike, just to check the hedges, but to no avail. It is probably sitting somewhere crying hoping to be found. So now, we have a gaping hole with black gafa tape on it, until we find a camping shop that sells on. I hope they are a universal size!

The Pilot filling the Snail up with water

After the Pilot had a lift in the back of a car where he was squashed up against the windscreen with his paraglider pushing him onto the glass, I set about cleaning the aftermath of the monster wash. I received a text from the Pilot saying he had landed about 2 hours later. What I wasn’t prepared for was the blood on his shorts that were ripped and a muddy face. Apparently, whilst taking off, he had slid down the cliff and as he was about to fall off, his canopy opened. I could try to explain to you how I feel, but the tears wouldn’t let me. He says he is fine, and as long as he is, that is all that matters. Although it leaves me with frightened feelings of what could have happened, and what could happen. I know I said I wouldn’t dwell on these matters, but seeing the person you love, bleeding and wounded is too much. Of course, I had in my bad a first aid kit and a Spanish Spray called ‘Cristal-Mina’. It's a magic antiseptic spray that we use that ‘magically’ makes things better within a day. You could probably cut your finger off, spray this on and another one could grow back the next day. It's that good! All of this wasn’t what the Pilot wanted of course. He’s a boy and boys do things like this. I suppose I will have to be brave and be prepared. It's all I can do I suppose.

Side chapel of Doussard Church

We drove back to our ‘Aire’ and we were back to basic rations of rice and beans. After the weekend of ‘luxury’ eating a delicious BBQ steak and Fajitas, it was a nice return to normal. It's making the times when we eat nice food really special and you can really appreciate the food you eat. I suppose when you have that opportunity all of the time you take things for granted, this journey is certainly allowing us to feel lucky about the everyday simple things.

There have been countless times when the Pilot and I say how lucky we are. We may not have the top-of-the-range motor home (camping-car as Im getting used to calling it in French), we may not have all the luxuries inside, but we have what we have and we are very lucky. Of all the problems I have had, living in the snail has never been one of them. We are very lucky to be able to open our side door and get a different view every time!

We finished off the evening by settling down to watch, two of the Three Colours Trilogy films. Blue and White were really good. The Blue was in French with English subtitles and the White was in Polish with English subtitles. I have a real thing for movies with subtitle, actually I like subtitles full stop. The TV in the UK always had subtitles switched on. I love them. The Pilot, surprise surprise, hated them.