Scotland

Week 27 — February 16th - March 7th (Tony)

It's hard to believe it is almost a month since we got back to Roanne from our trip around Spain and Portugal. And what an unforgetable journey it was. The circumnavigation of the Iberian peninsular covered more than 12,000 kms, yet because we were never more than a few kilometres from the coastline there remains a vast inland area unvisited. Some other time...

We both felt happy to be back in our barge and in the couple of weeks following our return we have been busy carrying out maintenance and improvements — there's always something to do on a boat! I have installed some shelving in the empty space in the stern. Now it is a neat and tidy storage room with all kinds of gear and spare parts stashed safely and where they can be easily found. Previously stuff was heaved on the tiny floor and piled up the sloping walls. It is amazing how much more equipment has now been stowed there. I have also created a computer desk within an existing cupboard which allows us more space around the dining area. And the other day Sally got out the 'toy' sewing machine which came with the boat and has started to put together a patchwork quilt. We're having fun and not at all bored. We dearly miss all our friends though. There is a lively social network among the bargees in the port and we have met many wonderful people from divers countries. Thierry (we wrote of dinner with Cora and Thierry in November) invited ten men from port to a wine tasting at his home a couple of weeks ago. It was a memorable night with twelve guys sat around their enormous table sampling wines under the guidance of a local vigneron. Roanne East Rotary Club members are also very friendly and hospitable though the language barrier makes it difficult to communicate as well one would like. But our french is slowly improving. We have bought a set-top box to enable us to receive local TV and we hope that will immerse us in the language.

Having the car has also been great for we have been able to venture out into the countryside and environs around Roanne and discover many lovely villages and places that were beyond our range on bicycle (it's still too cold to contemplate cranking up the motorbikes). We were surprised to find ranges of hills, quite high in places, stretching out for miles in most directions. Some of the bargees in port belong to a walking club based in Renaison, a town nearby, and we have joined them a couple of times for very pleasant all-afternoon ambles through farms and over hills and dales between villages. It seems everywhere in France there is a picturesque village with another just as pretty within walking distance.

Last week we drove to Beauvais (north of Paris) and for a modest fare flew to Glasgow. We stayed a night in Glasgow. What a fabulous city it is nowadays. The place was buzzing and every second business seemed to be either a pub or a restaurant. It was difficult to choose but we somehow managed to find a place for a drink and another for a tasty meal, with more drinks of course but walked so far we had to get a taxi back to our hotel. Next morning we set off for Cumbria, a three hour drive through idyllic countryside, sheep everywhere. The fels, cast in the delicate light and colours peculiar to the Lake District, were incredibly beautiful. It was a real delight to catch up with my niece, Morgan and her husband, Shawn, a sculptor and stonemason. One of Shawn's scultures, a large ram carved from portland stone, greets everyone entering their town at a major roundabout. We overnighted with them at their place in Cockermouth, a pretty town with almost as many pubs as shops, or so it seemed. It has recently been voted the most appealing town to live in in the north and one can see why.

Next day we set off, with Morgan, for Edinburgh to see my sister Geraldine whom we haven't seen since a visit to Skye in 1988. After a long stint in hospital it was pleasing to find she was about to be discharged and moved into a flat in a quite central location where she will enjoy relative independence but with regular care and supervision. We were impressed by the care and generosity of the health system in Scotland. We took her shopping for some cushions and plants for her new unit and the next day we drove her up the coast, over the Forth bridge and on to St Andrews, a really gorgeous town full of beautiful buildings and historic ruins, and of course its Royal and Ancient Golf Links.

Although a little damp and rather cold we enjoyed a stroll up to Edinburgh Castle and down the Royal Mile before we had to head south, back to Prestwick. We chose a route that took us wide of Glasgow and out to the west coast through typically picturesque Scottish countryside, paddocks rimmed with either stone walls or bramble hedgerows. Everything was so green and wild daffodils, which you hardly see in France, were everywhere and within days of bursting into bloom. Spring must surely be only a week or so away.

Back in France Sally and I both acknowledged that this is the place to be. Apart from better food here — the cost of living in the UK seemed exhorbitant — it just feels like home now... Forsythia is in full bloom and many prunus and wild cherry trees are blossoming along the roadsides. Each day we can see leaves beginning to emerge on unidentified shrubs growing on the quai-side. Despite that, it snowed again one day early in the week when all Europe was caught in a cold snap. But frosts are now infrequent and hopefully we will soon be bathed in warm sunshine as we prepare to set sail. We hope to get under weigh before Easter even though the canals do not officially open until 1st April. By then we hope to be well on the way to the Somme, via Paris, to meet up with good friends Peter and Margaret James prior to Our Other ANZAC Day tour of the battlefields of the Western Front.