The last 10 days have been an absolute blur as we've prepped for Christmas and, by extension, prepped for flying to Scotland in the middle of a covid case spike. It's been stressful, to say the least, and I've been under the pump getting us ready to leave in addition to the usual swathe of appointments and the general bureaucracy of French life. Here's the rundown:
Mon 6
Today was all about the health appointments. I confirmed all the details for covid tests for our trip and I managed to make appointments for our boosters. Incredibly, we'll be able to get them before we head off to Lepar Island. I'm pleased to feel that we will have another layer of protection, especially as the news just seems to be full of horror stories about the infection numbers going up, and this new strain, Omicron, which is spreading faster. In the afternoon, we all had dental appointments. I am normally very good at medical stuff but my one exception is the dentist. I've actually had a little toothache over the last couple of weeks and she identified the issue: stress. No shit. In general, the appointments went pretty well and William got on great which is the main thing. Done.
Tues 7
I was up early doors and away to Tarbes for my French Language Exam. I felt like one of those oldies that used to turn up during random exams at the Ambies to sit things like Higher English, or Higher German. It just shows you though, you're never to late to learn something new! I got my results almost immediately and was a bit disappointed with my "A2" score. The exam was definitely geared towards the business/professional world so I reckon that if it had been a lot more rounded on general French life, I'd perhaps have scored a B1. But anyway, it was a good experience, and I'm glad to have put myself through it. I still headed along to my usual French lesson in the afternoon but my head wasn't really in the game.
Wed 8
Both of us got to the gym in the morning and William got his haircut in the afternoon.
Thurs 9
I managed an absolutely horrible 4k run round the park in the morning. I was really battling, physically and mentally. To reward my efforts, I spent the rest of the day having various personal grooming appointments in prep for our trip back to Scotland.
Friday 10
It's been wet, wet ,wet all week but today, the weather was absolutely mental - there was even an orange weather warning for rain and we've never seen the river so high. Nothing else for it: steak dinner and into the Royal Dubonnets...
Sat 11
William had tennis first thing then we were back at the tennis courts later in the afternoon for the kids' Christmas fête. Only once we were on our way, however, did we realise that we might have been expected to bring a goûter with us! A quick turnaround and a load of macarons from La Gourmandaise later, we were set for the festivities. They did it really well with lots of fun games and then Père Noel turning up at the end with chocolates for everyone. Bravo, Billère tennis club!
In the evening, it was the Fête Lumiere. It's been two years since they've held this event (bloody covid) but we decided against going as we figured the streets would be rammed and that it would be just our luck for one of us to catch covid. We're already nervous that William becomes a contact case again and that it throws all of our plans up in the air. So we took no chances, stayed in, and watched Strictly.
Sun 12
We rounded off the weekend with lunch at Bernardo and Katerina's place. Really nice to do something different and the kids had a ball, running around crazy.
Mon 13
We started the week well with a gym session. Then, the preparations for the trip to Scotland began in earnest. There's been heaps of behind-the-scenes shopping, planning and wrapping to make sure everyone has a great time. It requires so much thought! Iain and I got our covid boosters (hurrah!), and as my back has been giving me a bit jip (probably stress related), I had a physio appointment too. And just because I didn't have enough to do, I made smoked mackerel pâté for a lunch treat. To be fair, it was amazing. And pretty easy. Good old Good Housekeeping, coming to the party.
Tues 14
Before the madness began, Iain and I got out for a walk to clear our heads. Pau looked absolutely stunning in the early morning winter sun. The rest of the day was rammed with shopping, more physio, packing and sorting the house. Knowing all of this would be for nothing if William became a contact case or if we failed our antigen tests on Wednesday was slightly(!) stressful.
Pau continued to put on a beautiful winter show for us. After our antigen tests at the pharmacy, we headed to Place Royale for some festive fun in the sunshine while we waited for the result.
The tests came back negative. Incredibly, it was game on!
Lorna
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