Was this a thoughtless whim?   Two weeks holiday in September and by December we have committed to a year in a rented house in Roujan, the Languedoc, France.

In that three months we had arranged to rent our bungalow in Whitstable, had long discussions with family and friends, taken on board some of the advice;  we suffered the tears and little moues of worry, knowing all was given out of love and, not without trepidation started making the final preparations.

Those  began in earnest once our bungalow was rented. Gary jumped through all the hoops and red tape , despite his bad back.

Now the Big Man and I have a row about every three years From this point in the adventure to arriving France we had them daily Mainly about the fact I wanted, nay needed, to take every item of clothing I owned. We sent three large cases ahead and also filled the car. Divorce proceedings were mooted on more than one occasion.

The last things all seemed to be car related so we began to make bookings for our Kia Soul (known as Rock and Soul because of her jazzy interior

Service booked Tick

MOT booked a week later Tick

Now Rocky had always liked a trip to Canterbury but obviously this longer trip was causing her some problems So she started throwing spanners in her works: brake pads were done but then she affected this flappy wrist action on her drivers door handle, she started skidding a bit to indicate her tires needed changing She was so temperamental we started a more formal name-calling to try to bring her in line: Mistress R. Soul

Due to her misbehaving, the MOT and tyre change took a day and a half, while we rested like huge cuckoos in our friends’ house. Finally the car doctor rang to say everything had been done, but the key had broken. “Bring spare”, he said. “We don’t have one,” said we, “it mysteriously disappeared.” Kia quoted us two weeks and £300! We were booked to go two days later Car doctor got two keys done for £80.

We have had our house in France booked since September. While cuckooing, Jan received a text: Our soon-to-be landlady had had a mild stroke, poor woman, and our future accommodation was in doubt.

OK I bawled and bawled . However, Masterful Husband, the Bear Grylls of the 5 star hotel world-said, “We are still goin woman! Get yer toe nails painted”

So tearful farewells with daughter after our 4th or 5th au revoir party and left her home to drive to Dover. The Hill from daughters house was like an ice rink. But said explorer husband, “ we might face worse than this old girl, hang on to yer hat!” So we were down in no time.

“I’ll just check the tyres at the garage. Extra weight on, you know”. I ignored the slur and continued with my “Speak French in one easy lesson” tape. Husband’s face, red and rather unattractive, appeared in the windscreen, calling me out in the cold. Sighing, I joined him. “The air thingy, instead of pumping air in has sucked it all out. And now it’s broken.”

Son in law, SuperBri was with us in ten minutes, mended it in another, and sent us on our way.

Arriving at Dover, a smiling girl came to the car. “All on time,” she said, waving us through.

Our eager little smiles had faded a bit by the time we boarded the train two hours late. But we were on our way!