Friends............................

Regular readers of my blog will recall that some weeks ago I mentioned that I knew that this major journey in my life would not be easy. It is proving a soul searching and character building episode to say the least. I experienced a major speed wobble recently and would like to thank those special friends from Cape Town who wrote encouraging me to hang in there and continue on the path which I have chosen. Thank you, it means a lot to me as I have been feeling very down and missing female friends with whom I can discuss life!

Friends are those rare people who ask how you are and then wait for the answer. ~Author Unknown

I must also remember my special daughters as well my dear husband who has put up with my hysterical outbursts in recent weeks. This dear man who is so much older than I am, has proved to have a resilience which I admire and also envy!

On a recent holiday in Switzerland, one of my dear friends ended up in hospital for seven days. She mentioned to me that I was very brave being able to cope with the language problem. Her hospital experience proved quite a problem as she could not communicate with the doctors! It has not been easy but I do have a very basic understanding of the language. However, speaking to some one in broken French and getting a reply in rapid fluent French is not much help. I recently acquired a spider bite on my shoulder, having only basic medical supplies with me and no essential oils, I used a proprietary cream which has not helped in the least. So today armed with my French phrase book and repeating to myself over and over the French word for spider, I entered a pharmacy. Remember that in France you cannot buy anything except the very basic medical supplies at the supermarket the pharmacy is supreme. I approached the smiling pharmacist with a cheery ' bon jour' and proceeded to ask what I could use for a spider bite. Imagine my delight when she answered me in English. I have antihistamine tablets to dissolve under my tongue and a sort of antiseptic liquid to apply to the bite! Hope this helps as this bite is becoming a nuisance.
Having driven around France since early February I was feeling quite relaxed and thinking that I was coping so well with driving on the other side of the road. Well this weekend I committed the ultimate faux pas. French drivers of all ages drive fast with the exception of some aged drivers in ancient cars who drive very slowly and carefully. Arriving at a stop street there was an old car 'parked' right in the the middle of the road (or so I thought). Drove around him and discovered that he was actually waiting for a very obscure traffice light to change!
On our travels this past weekend I discovered a round church. In fact it is built in the shape of a celtic cross with the round section in the middle and in the four arms a small self contained chapel. The statues in the crypt under the centre section were quite intriguing.
This town also had a bridge of flowers and this is one of the flower boxes lining the roadside and onto the bridge. All the spring flowers have been removed in most of the towns and the gardens and window boxes replanted with bright geraniums, petunias and trailing greenery.
My final picture is of a church ruin which has the tiniest shop built into the front. Must be very tiny as there is a parking area behind this wall so the shop is only the width of half of the pavement! There were amazing old timber frame houses in this town, lots of pics once again. I did spend some time putting the photos into folders with the names of the various towns. Editing and resizing takes a lot of time so will have to wait until I have time to sit down and work on all the pictures and there are bears to be be made for orders...................
Until next time.

Life is its own journey, presupposes its own change and movement, and one tries to arrest them at one's eternal peril. ~Laurens van der Post