After 18 topsy-turvy days in France, I have finally made it "home" to England. If I could attach video here, you'd see me doing a Happy Dance!The week with my cousin, Little Margaret Harris, and our friend Susan Hollister was lovely, and we made some extraordinary memories that will last a lifetime. Despite some significant challenges with the house in which we stayed -- the house I had arranged through a home exchange -- we managed with good humor and American grit. The accommodations may have left something to be desired, but as they said in Casablanca, "We'll always have Paris."
The capstone of the week was the celebration of Little Margaret's 60th birthday Monday (Sept. 27). How many people from Denton, NC, can say they had their birthday dinner on the Champs Elysees?
The next day, when we all left to go our separate ways, was a tedious day of many moving parts. I doubt whether military campaigns have been carried out with as much precision and effort. Suffice it to say that thanks to planes, trains and automobiles, we all made our connections and by the end of the long, tiring day we were all where we were supposed to be! My own particular journey involved a ride through the Chunnel between Calais and Folkstone on the Eurotrain, a fascinating conveyance in which you're whisked between the two countries underneath the sea with no sense of motion whatsoever. You drive your own vehicle into this boxcar-type container on the French side and sit in it while being conveyed along the way. Then they open up the container and voila! You're in England!
My English exchange partners had volunteered to pick me up in suburban Paris and drive me home with them, which was an extraordinary gesture that saved me untold amounts of energy and effort. I was certainly content to let them "drive Miss Daisy" from France to their home in Newbury in Berkshire. To those of you who don't know your English geography all that well, Newbury is one hour west of London, halfway toward Bath, and is in the same county where Windsor Castle is located. Oxford is only about 30 minutes north of here. Great location!
I've spent these last couple of days lazing about the house, getting my bearings and being domestic. No need to rush into anything. The down comforter on my bed feels much too good to rush out of it.
The house, I'm relieved to report, is wonderful. It's a 1902 Victorian residence, typical of its day, but with very spacious rooms. It's spotlessly clean and all the appliances, including the furnace, work! My host couple, who leave for Charlotte Monday, are absolutely delightful and couldn't be more gracious and kind. I struck gold with these folks.
This posting, as you can tell, is pretty low-key. Guess I needed to slow down and catch my breath after the challenges of Paris. But fret not: My adventures will resume shortly. There's a compact car in the driveway waiting to be conquered. Yes, it has manual transmission. But I'm not afraid; it's not a Daewoo.
In the first picture, that's Margaret, Susan and me thinking warm thoughts in front of Notre Dame Cathedral. In the other one, we're enjoying a much sunnier day in a park in Paris before visiting an exhibition of Impressionist art at the nearby Marmottan Museum.
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