Righty ho cherubs, are you sitting comfortably? Susie's travel dairy commences in 5 seconds....
1. Trip was fab - apart from a theft in Marseilles from one of the drivers ( his own fault, lots of money though) and the coach breaking down in the Dordogne - but the Dunkirk spirit shone through for all, apart from a couple of people who should have stayed in Complainashire
2. Provence really does smell like pine and cypress and mimosa and lavender. Bliss
3. I shopped for England - one can never have enough Savon De Marseille
4. I was really lucky in that my fellow travellers were mostly couples but really good company - there were two other "onlys" who I mostly hung out with - Paul and John (pic to follow) - John - sweet but not the brightest person, Paul - lovely, funny, made me laugh so much I nearly weed myself on many occasions...married....but there was, shall we say, frisson (no Lisa I didn't **** him - thought about it though
)
5. Highlights - the Basilica in Notre Dame in Marseilles, and the city's perfumed air; Rocamadour - a town cut into the side of a rock - extraordinary; finally visiting the famous bookshop Shakespeare and Co in Paris's Latin Quarter - god, was that just last night?!
6. Time to think. You have lots of time on a coach trip - chat about nothing with the others, get off the coach, get on, have a wee, have a ciggie, eat, snooze, listen to music - but mostly just think.
So some decisions have been made -
1. I am not going to be fat any more. Many things - but the downlights, if you will, were being overtaken by an old woman with a stick walking up 42 stairs; and tears while not being able to get a shirt over my sweaty fat shoulders in a hotel, which really sealed it. Atkins recommences on Friday.
2. I am going to stop pretending that I love being on my own - because I don't. Paul was lovely, very fanciable (apart from his wedding ring and all that), but I want a man who is available, intelligent and can make me laugh. I am in my prime and goddamit i am going to make the most of it!
3. Before I can be confident about number 2, number 1 has to happen.
4. I am going to stop thinking about the past. Mum is gone, Dad's a chit, my brother forgets all about me - so what! As Bren would say, move along Suze, nothing left to see here
I have lovely friends like you lot who more than make up for a regrettable family situation.
5. I am going to buy a house down the coast. I'm not going to to sit in this holding pattern any more, just waiting for the job to happen or something else that needs to fall into place. In fact, tomorrow I'm going to ring up the agent of the place I fell in love with but had to withdraw from and see if they have sorted out the legal problems, and take it from there.
Congratulations if you've made it this far!
Pic time -
Cassis in Provence - I had lavender icecream!
Marseilles - from Notre Dame - a scrubby old port town with edginess and blasts of beauty
Nimes, in the Dordogne - we met a very urbane Frenchman, with impeccable English - yet who complimented me on my French, how's that for politeness! and who then shared some of his gorgeous cheese and bread with us at a bar - at 10am...none of us can remember the name of the cheese, will just be one of those lovely memories....
Rocamadour - simply incredible.
Paul and John - won't take a rocket scientist to figure out which is which