April 19, 2024 – Mérenvielle – Gimont – 31 kms – Le Patio d’Oustal
It was a much better day yesterday than the two previous ones. The wind was light and the temperature climbed steadily from 2 degrees to an eye popping 18. I was also feeling better. After our two days of wind and cold on the canal, I was left drained and ill, but I seem to be improving. I’m greedy, however, and I want more good days just one or two. As my friend Neil said, “ You get one ride in a limo and that’s your new normal for the rest of your life.”
After a good day that ended in a lovely b&b I woke up at 2am and our room was cold. I checked the radiators and they were also cold. Eek it’s going to be freezing in the morning. Queue the tantrum. The weather sucks, I’m going to get sick again and everything is bad. Not really my finest hour. Gord was awake by this point as I was busy filling the bath tub with hot water and ranting that we should go to Greece or somewhere warm!
Quit this stupid line!
I have just enough self awareness to realize how ridiculous I’m being and I apologize to Gord. I recognize that this is not, In fact the end of the world. My fury finally wears me out and I fall asleep.
Early in the am I awake to a cozy warm room with the radiators working! The walls are all dripping wet from the condensation created by the hot hub of water, but all is good. As the sun appears we head to our beautiful breakfast of croissants and coffee. Perhaps we can continue the line for at least a day or two more.
How well described Ruth. Even I could feel it! You and your travel mates ( grandma, your shadow and Gord) will be fine and the weather surely will improve. In the meantime a huge hug from us. Keep looking around. Lots of love!
Your message was received as a giant hug. Thanks. I hate fighting a bug when traveling and I still think of how wonderful you were to take me in with the flu in Italy. I still remember deliriously climbing the hill to your place. Wow!!!
It’s okay to be human! All sunshine would make a desert. As my father used to say, happiness is more often remembered than experienced.
Take care!
Being sick while travelling is a special kind of challenge/hell! I got a COVID booster the other day and spent 30 hours in misery but at least I was at home. (Full-body aches and pains, headache, unable to get out of bed, fevered and chilled. I had to sit in a bathtub of ridiculously hot water just to be able to stop shivering and turned the heat up to 30 degrees in my suite. I’m so glad it worked!) I have four sets of friends travelling in Europe right now, all near or on the Rhine (a weird coincidence). The weather has been arctic storm-level crazy. One friend is sick and another’s boat sank in a canal in Holland! All their pictures show them wearing parkas! The travel gods are angry this season. I’m going next month when the weather will be perfect. Haha.
Lovely pics in this post, BTW.
I am holding off hitting the BOOK IT button on flights to Barcelona (for like… next week? why plan) partly because I am am a Super Procrastinator.
partly because the weather in Ontario is still wintery and reports like yours don’t.make Europe sound much more welcoming…
but it has to improve.
but here’s another logistical question.
do you book Return flights? even though it seems unlikely that you can nail down a solid return date.
I can never say definitively “I’ll be finished whatever and ready to fly home in XYZ date”
but two one way flights are almost double the cost of a fixed date Return
We usually book our return flight Peter.
Oh, Dear Friends! I know… Some things can get right under the skin – cold and wind are one of them. Literally. You tend to ask yourself „what the hell am I doing here out of all possible places in the world?” And then the sun shines again and you would not trade it for all the luxuries of the world. Big hugs, no bugs, may the wind feel like a warm breeze!