The days in my Malta home are filled with family, swimming and wandering (early in the morning) on the shaded side of the street! Temperatures are sitting around 30 degrees most days (and humid-feels like 33)with not a drop of rain on the horizon!

Saturday I left early and went to Pretty Bay, I was there by 7.30am and snavelled a carpark nice and close…the beach was relatively unpopulated at this time, apart from a local exercise group doing beach and water aerobics! So I went for a walk around the town….

The rent-a-chairs waiting for tourists – not me I sit on the sand at the far end with the local families!! mostly grandmas and kids…

A view back along the bay from the port side…

And a wander through the town square with the church dominating the centre …I then grabbed my beach bag from the car and plonked myself in a prime position on the sand to jump in and out of the water….until around 10.30am when the crowds rolled in and almost sat on top of me….Time to move on, I called in at Lidl (supermarket) on the way home to get my supplies for the chocolate pudding I was commissioned to make for our Sunday lunch at Sam and Anna’s… home to shower, a load of washing and watch the women’s tennis final(Wimbledon) on TV.

Sunday morning up with the birds (yes there is the odd one if you can hear them over the traffic and fireworks) and off to the Sunday Birgu flea market….there I was 6.30am to get the best bargains…and not a vendor in site…the football field where they hold it was, this day, a truck carpark…well when you get a lemon you make lemonade, or in this instance coffee….

A take out on the Birgu waterfront…in the shade…and bench seat all to myself…before heading to my cousins to help prepare our lunch … Spagetti bolognese (Anna) followed by a very sweet chocolate pudding ….I say due to the brown sugar being very dark and treacle like in the sauce. Last Tennis hit with the men’s final on Sunday evening!

Monday morning the shoes went on and I walked through the next town, Fgura,and down to Bormla …. Destination Cafe Rouge…still the best coffee in the south…

Wandering off the main drag through some of the more residential streets…again early morning always a shady side…

One does see a lot more on foot…down an alley behind locked gates …. A secret garden… I decided there was still a shady side of the street and walked back home…

The prickly pears (wild on the side of the road) growing their fruit … not yet ready but in August/September devoured by the locals.

And here in Malta, no wandering is complete without a homeless cat shelter!

Home by midday and extremely hot…into bathers and off to the Marsakala swimming hole off the rocks, before a salad and beer at the beachfront bar…

Today was a bit of a rinse and repeat…walking to the Birgu street market…which was on thank goodness!…purchasing my fresh fruit, dried nuts and biccies…Coffee (and water) at Rouge cafe, but this time busing home with my extra bag of food supplies!

Then off to the waterhole for my afternoon cool off….little internet hiccup today…which entailed a modem reset so all phones and tv etc are working again!

Maybe it’s an age thing, maybe it’s a me thing…as I successfully fill in my days wandering and relaxing….and enjoying my people time and just me time!

Malta is Malta, warm, loud, busy and always never ceases to fill my heart with something that is just part of me! The sunshine (every day) possibly has something to do with it and I can’t help but feel a little sad for my family and friends getting through their winter chills and rain!

A week has flown by and i have filled it with swims….

Balluta Bay – which entailed two bus rides each way, some standing…an hour floating in the cool water with my friend Charles, a coffee before and a cool beer at a cafe afterwards!

A visit to Valletta (by bus again)…

To meet my cousin and her baby, a cool beer for me and an iced cappuccino for her…

A car ride to Pretty Bay in the south…sandy beach….where I dipped in and out of the water and read my book.

Car maintenance, Vivienne was a little reluctant to get going in the mornings so took her to a mechanic (English speaking) who cleared the Maltese dust from her starter motor hoses and check the spark plugs…meanwhile I walked to the three cities, my favourite part of the island.

Playing dodgems with cars as I raced through the tunnels of the gates – this one St Helen’s gate to Bormla – now restored, as the top of the wall had been crumbling away for years and was only serving as a dog toilet last time I walked on it!

Green spaces now finished at the entrance to Birgu, the next old city I wandered through looking for a bank machine so I could get cash to pay mechanic!

This is one of the most beautiful of the three cities, most buildings lovingly restored to their original state….unlike the more touristy and residential areas where the old structures are being torn down in favour of high rise apartment blocks!

The money machine there out of service…so down to the harbour..

And a familiar sight of all the $$$$ siting in the sea…being July, the holiday season here…all the big boys (super yachts) are all out on the Mediterranean, entertaining the rich and famous!

Still in search of that elusive money machine (that worked) last stop back to Bormla to the bank…

More green spaces being well tended…I am really impressed with the areas that have been made back into grass around the cities, making for a much less dusty environment and attractive open spaces! The morning was now getting hot…after a couple of days reprieve with a sea breeze blowing in so I bused it back to where I had dropped the car…expecting another hour or so to fill in!

Steven, the Maltese/English speaking mechanic phoned me not long after I arrived and I marched up to collect Vivienne…€20 later (who gets anything done in their car in NZ for $40) we headed to the supermarket and home….

For another afternoon of book reading and Tennis…yes I have managed to navigate the 500 internet channels here and find Wimbledon…which is now down to the last 4 players standing!

Three days have passed and settling into Malta life! Already almost immune to the constant banging of fireworks from 7am until 11pm, overwatering of almost dead citrus trees(we’ll see if I can save them this time), wandering the neighbourhood and catching up with cousins…

Over the penthouse wall sunsets..as every tomorrow promises a clear blue sky day!

Friday, I went for a walk to the greenbelt in the early morning..

Through parks and along the fields..

There are actually a few trees here if you know where to look! And I even heard(not saw) a bird or two!

Tunnels under the bypasses so one is not playing dodgems with the morning traffic..

And playgrounds in the built up areas for the children to play…there is definitely an air of beautifying the villages…

In the afternoon I went and visited my cousins and met the youngest member of the Bonnici clan, here in Malta.

Saturday was a day out with mum and Bub – too hot for the baby for a beach day, so we went to Shoreline mall, where we could walk around in the air conditioning. He’s learning early…boys don’t like shopping so we headed south to St Thomas Bay for a cool beer – and supported the local hawkers with a shell bracelet each!

While sitting on the terrace, without air conditioning, the big fan above us and the coolness of the sea made for a very pleasant afternoon…

This morning (Sunday) I had planned a car boot market. visit, but the minute I stepped outside, the humidity opened up my sweat glands…so change of plan…got in Vivienne and drove to Kalkara/Birgu for a dip in the swimming hole…great decision and smart way to start a family cooking day…,

As has become a tradition…I head to my cousins on sundays,….Sammy tells us what he wants to eat and Anna and I cook for an early dinner. Anna was on the roast beef and veges, I was on trifle, which presented a few challenges…you cannot buy the cartons of custard and you cannot buy custard powder! However after a very bad attempt using an Italian product that smelt like custard powder but was in fact more of a baking soda…I ended up with a frothy bitter milky concoction! Anna and I went to the local store, where Anna knew we could get a pre-made UHT custard, but in tiny little cartons…so needed two! Again the cream was white not cream, and the end result was a bit sloppy! But still tasted good!

I headed home after helping clear up and arrived to a very cluttered garage door!…thank goodness for little Vivienne as the other side of the narrow street was full with large people movers and my 5 point turning area was only as wide as my car!

With no option(definitely no street parking around) I took a deep breath and my time…

Home safe and sound for an early night!

I left you yesterday, whilst sitting at Agen train station, waiting for my next train at 4.15pm, which would get me to Toulouse at 5.45pm…plenty of time to get to the airport (by the bus) for an 8pm check in (to Malta) and 10.20pm flight.

The afternoon continued in the way it had started…this train was delayed (actually left at 5pm). I settled in for the hour and a half journey, ate a couple of my snacks and hooked into some sudokus!

This was a bit of a milk run train and stopped at a number of little towns, people (normal ones) got on and off…then we pulled into a station called Montbatuon (I think) and a lot of people got off…I kind of ignored the activity, and kept doing what I was doing…I noticed the train hadn’t started moving, and took stock of my surroundings and realised I was the only person left on the Train…a little anxious I gathered all my bits and stepped out just as a conductor was walking past, who duly informed me the next train to Toulouse was on Platform 1. I was on a deserted platform 3! This then meant a flight of steps down (under the rails) and a flight of steps up (lugging my 20kg suitcase) to join the throngs on platform 1 all going to Toulouse…I had 15 minutes to spare and as the train pulled in, I scrabbled for a seat with my luggage! Off we went 7.30pm looming which was the time we pulled into Toulouse station…

I raced out, suitcase in tow, towards the airport bus shuttle, yay one was there, but just as I was crossing the pedestrian crossing…it pulled out and took off…ok if I waited another 20 minutes I would be cutting it fine for the 8pm bag drop time(Ryanair is kind of tight with this)…so I booked a bolt taxi…only to find the pick up point was from where I had come at the other end of the station, and my taxi was 7 minutes away! Are you getting anxious yet? Well suitcase, backpack and I ran to meet my ride. He was, thankfully, rather an aggressive driver and got me to the airport – Hall B as per my ticket – at check-in time!

A slightly familiar ground, I headed straight to the Ryanair “B check-in, I was first and very relieved. The relief, once again turned to anxiety, when 20 minutes later I was still first and alone! I could see travellers further down the terminal checking out a board, so off I (and all belongings) trotted again!

Good move…this time the check-in was actually in “D”! A kilometer through the terminals and joined the expected Ryanair queue…,finally ridding myself of the 20kg suitcase! The airport alerts say allow an hour and a half to clear the customs area, so I headed straight to get through to the other side…this actually only took half an hour, and while I personally wasn’t signalled out, my backpack was! Duly unpacked and repacked, I then found out my plane was delayed an hour – now not leaving until 11.20pm…it was now 9.30, and the gate number was not displayed for another hour! So I hung out with all the other people on a wooden slat bench (no comfy chairs in sight)

Around 10.30pm the gate number came up…gate 5, toput you in the picture, there are 60 gates at this airport and yes I was at the 60 end…another 20 minute brisk walk through endless corridors…

Getting rather weary, I was certainly looking forward to getting on that plane and shutting my eyes for the 2.5 hour flight!

No surprise! The 11.20pm departure time kept getting pushed out and everything in the airport was closed (at 11pm) my fellow passengers (and kids) all looking rather forlorn!

Finally we lifted off at 12.30am…which meant landing in Malta around 3am. No question on arrival, I ordered a bolt taxi!

With these you see the number plate on your phone order – think mine was a black car, first three numbers GLY… it came really quickly, I loaded my bags in the boot and jumped in the front…then a chap got in the back and I thought maybe it was a rideshare thing!!! But realised I had hijacked someone else’s taxi! So I apologied profusely(even though I didn’t really care) gathered my bags once again…and waited for my ride! Arriving at the apartment around 3.30am!

Unpacking not an option, cold shower not an option (had to turn on the hot water) cold beer an option to unwind! I stepped out onto the terrace and my heart sank…I knew there would be a bit of dust hosing to be done, but the watering system has failed sometime in the last three weeks and I was staring at three dead citrus trees (and a number of other very sad plants)

At 4am I thought I’d better get to bed before the sun rose (6am) for at least a couple of hours sleep! Which I managed until around 7!

Then started with the terrace clean up…sweeping , cutting, hosing and watering – I have a big job ahead to bring these babies back to life! Of course by now the sun was hitting the front terrace and I stripped off to bra and undies, while hosing everything and myself!

The trees now look somewhat thinner!

A cool shower, a shopping list, and I headed to the garage to reconnect the battery to Vivienne (car) and start her up…she behaved well! So I decided to take her to the supermarket as my list was a little larger than envisaged…and the thought of carting bags of groceries down the road (after yesterday) was rather daunting! Just as I was about to pull out, the ground floor neighbours passed so I got out to say Hi, then Adelina(the old lady from across the road) flung open her door with a big smile on her face…she had been waiting and heard the garage door go up!

I spent the next quarter of an hour with a quick catch up and finally made it to the cool supermarket!

Home now and watching tennis maybe nap time!

Just to put a positive spin on yesterday’s misadventures…the cloud cover stayed all day, so the temperatures did not climb to heatwave status…and Ryanair did not lose my bag!!!

While my last morning in Fumel was coming up roses…

More had spread their wings overnight…the sheets washed, the sky overcast (so promising a cooler travelling day), bag packed and weighed…me a little heavier (yay) and the bag a lot lighter coming in under the 20kg Ryanair limit!

Kev and I took out the “little” car…

For a food shop…to fill in the morning and get some snacks for my trip…

A mere 6 litre bottle of Red…one would have trouble pouring? Not needed in the travel case!

Roland arrived home before us from his mornings work, I enjoyed a relaxed coffee, before the Boys dropped me to my first little train from Monsempron to Agen…on time leaving, which was good as I only had a 10 minute changeover to board the Agen to Toulouse train, which is not usually a problem…however today it was!

As we left the station in Fumel a very smelly homeless person was wandering through the train…asking all the passengers for something…which I indicated I didn’t understand – but he wanted money and smokes. He disappeared for a few minutes and I hoped that was the end of it, but no…he appeared back and sat in the seat in front of me, making me gag! Oh well, I thought, I can cope with the 40 minute ride!

However, this little train stops several times on the way to Agen to pick up the odd passenger…first stop, we did appear to be waiting a bit long…the smelly man taking the opportunity to career past me and outside to smoke an old butt he had found! Next minute the station controller and the train drivers and the conductor….were in and out of the train in deep conversation.

Minutes ticked by…and every minute was precious, due to my short changeover time…after 10 minutes, I knew I would be missing my connection…meanwhile the smelly man kept coming to his seat, rummaging around and taking the delay as a welcome opportunity to smoke another old butt or two! Not at this point realising he was the reason for the hold up!

THEN…. Four policemen arrived…and removed him and his smelly bag of junk from his seat (in front of me) ….more delay, by now over half an hour sitting patiently, while they proceeded to get him to unload everything from his backpack just outside my window. It was a sad affair…and not sure what the big issue was… other than he didn’t pay for a ticket.

So finally – they all left the platform with another traveller and we chugged out 35 minutes behind schedule.

Phew…time for a bathroom break, the bathrooms in the trains are usually great…but I opened the door and it was a swimming pool of urine and other bodily fluids…for the first time in a long time the urge to pee just totally went away….bathroom rating -10! If that is the worst ever! The conductor told me I’d be best to wait until Agen…like that decision hadn’t already been made.

I am now waiting at Agen station for the next train connection in an hour or so…still overcast and not too hot, aside from the train trauma (some things you just cannot unsee!) I will still have time to catch the bus to the airport in time for my flight to Malta!

My last day in the Fumel/Monsempron, Lot et Garonne area in the south of France…four days of heatwave, and lots of watering by yours truly…the Roses are blooming in the garden.

Saturday was a day of lumping another 12 bags of metal, to level out the paved areas in the garden, more soil for the planter box…that had shrunk in the heat, and a bit of barking around the roses to keep the moisture in….

The final touches making the garden a very pleasant area to enjoy a cool drink in the evenings…that is when it gets cool, right now (and for the last four days) temperatures have been hitting 40 degrees in the late afternoon, just when Roland goes to work for the dinner shift at the Brit Hotel, where many guests choose to sit on the terrace to enjoy the view, rather than the inside air-conditioned dining room! To be fair, Kevin and I did the same for lunch on Sunday, our day of rest to let the bodies recover!

Monday we were invited to a friends house for lunch, taking along the Kiwi/Oz asparagus rolls for an appetiser…followed by a four course lunch, of which I had to stop at two! As we clambered in the car at 2pm, the temperature outside was 50 degrees. It was home for a rest all round…lying still is the only option in our upstairs bedrooms which are still 32 degrees at 10pm! Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining, the alternative of a wet cold winter in NZ is far less appealing than the odd bucket of sweat!

This morning, my hosts had a prior engagement, and I am left to my own devices…watering, washing and wandering…jobs done I took off on foot, roaming around the side streets towards Monsempron village. The new abode of Kevin and Roland is between this village and Fumel.

The stone homes of old…

And the greenery (even in this heat) are beautiful in the morning shade….

These villages criss-cross over little rivers flowing into the Lot River.

I reached the centre Ville around 11am…having been strolling on the shaded sides of the street…

The temperature outside the Pharmacy already recording 36 degrees…I bought some fruit and a couple of cans of coke and settled under the umbrellaed terrace at the town cafe to enjoy a large latte! … nearing midday I decided I had better head home, before I would be in danger of melting…taking a different route…

Down tree lined streets, actually the most direct route I could envisage…without once looking at Google maps!

Home…the villa welcoming me, with closed shutters, a cool retreat for the afternoon…but first one more load of washing to hang, and a check to see if the plants need another drink…

The garden is happy, with large hibiscus trees flowering in abundance…

And the solar powered water feature bubbling away in the early afternoon sun…but now an afternoon in the coolest part of the house watching Wimbledon (tennis) matches …. Was going to pack as tomorrow I embark on my next (long) journey to Malta, but I have tomorrow morning to do this.

The last evening in Foix…was a dinner out to a fantastic Indian Restaurant where we all devoured the three course menu…

Daylight until 10pm in this part of the world, often means a late dinner. We were entertained, if that is the right word, by the local drunks annoying the diners, until the restaurant owners move them on! Unfortunately, this lovely town attracts a rather unsavoury population of dirty, smelly, people who seem to have lost their way!

Yesterday we were up and on the road by 9am heading home to Fumel, as Kev and Rols had a BIG delivery of pavers and metal arriving after 2pm, in readiness for the last big garden landscape activity.

Due to the amount of gravel, edge pavers and stepping pavers being delivered we envisaged a truck with a hiab (lift) to deposit pallets of these supplies….but no …. We had barely eaten our sandwich and the first van load arrived with two blokes! It was then a furious hand unload of 80 (20kg) bags of metal, 384 edge pavers (could carry 6 at a time) and 50 stepping pavers (1 at a time) ! Ok mini break holiday over!

The plan was to launch into this activity over the weekend, but in good Bonnici fashion we thought we would make a start!

Five hours later, 3 beers down and….

YES! We had laid every single paver, rock and stepping stone! Including an extra 70 edge pavers, that Roland raced back to buy mid arvo, as this product had been slightly underestimated!

The smile is due to finally sitting down and enjoying a beer, in my sweaty smelly garden attire!

Needless to say, the shower (x3) was a welcome end to the day, after which we ate salad (thanks Rols) baguette and cheese at 9pm and fell into bed to lie flat!

View of the afternoons work from the 1st floor kitchen window….shady fig tree in the foreground!

Of course there is a list today for finishing touches! Before the heat hits..next heatwave rolling in!

Wednesday and Thursday are days off for the Fumel garden fairies…and a mini break in the northern side of the Pyrenees, in the village of Foix (pronounced FWA for us English speaking Kiwis) About as far south as one can go without crossing the border to Spain..

Having watered the garden (priority) A one and a half hour drive through the French countryside and little villages we stopped for lunch (around 12.30pm)….as cafes are only open between 12noon and 2pm for eating activities…at a village called Mauvezin.

Again taking in the summer florals of France, and taking advantage of the shaded walkways…temperature hitting 38 degrees C

We found a cafe terrace covered with planting and out of the heat..

Kev and Rols waiting for their 3 course lunch, meanwhile as I had devoured my salad at the entree course, and we were on top of the hill, I took a stroll to the lookout nearby

No one is out in the early afternoon heat and sunshine..

Overlooking the village…

The memorial to World War One and World War Two soldiers (with a rooster on the top) under restoration. We were then back in the car for the next couple of hours drive to Foix…

Past fields of lavender (taken from car window whilst driving)

And Tournesol (sunflowers) just starting to bloom…

More villages, including the commune of Saint Suzanne (I knew mum must have named me after someone – mystery solved!)

Then by 4.30pm entering the mountain town of Foix, which is  located at the crossroads of two rivers, the Ariège and the Arget in southwest France…

We found (with a little difficulty) a carpark and traipsed our way to our apartment for two nights..(small bags only thank goodness). Three floors up (6 flights of stairs), a test on the legs after the previous days garden activities! Aircon on, bathroom stops and off to the first bar for a cool refreshment! Never mind that the beer was hoppy (boutique style) and the AC/DC heavy metal band for the evening was warming up! In true French style they were still tuning up their instruments when we left to search for some home supplies to take back to the coolness of our air conditioned apartment!

However – this being a medieval town – I had to capture this original (still used) door dating back to 1617….we don’t build them like they used to!

The landmark of this town is the Foix Medieval Castle perched on top of the hill above the town..dating back to the 10th century , the castle became capital of the County of Foix and played a decisive role in medieval military history…

This morning, Thursday, a planned day trip to Ax-les-Thermes, primarily a ski town further into the Pyrenees mountains. Rather than drive the 45 minutes there and back we took the train for a mere €23 for the three of us. By the time we arrived, the clouds had rolled away, and the pleasant 25 degree temperature of today made for pleasant rambling…

Again on the crossroads of several rivers (these ones rather raging and noisy…

Rols and Sue trying not to pose!

The mountains and Rivers beautiful in the midday sunshine.

We spied a moving cable car going up the side of the mountain and headed towards this for our adventure of the day! A little disappointed to find it only opens for a short time over summer and that is not until the 5th of July…The aforementioned movement, we guessed, was some operator testing going on…never mind, it was once again lunchtime, we sat down to a coffee and purchased some sandwiches for lunch, which we took to a wooded park and ate in the shade of the giant trees. Our return train to Foix left at 2.20pm, so we wandered down the main drag…

Behind the ceramic cow…are mineral springs hot pools and a casino…to keep the ski bunnies busy over winter!

Back in Foix around just after 3pm..the shops were opening up again for the afternoon…Roland and I did a scope of the charity shops(not much to speak of) and Kevin moved the car to another spot for the night…

In a while we are out to dinner, having not overindulged at lunchtime…for another evening at our mountain getaway!

Heatwave in France, Kevin escapes Malta from the heat, however he is not on the winning side in June this year!

Monday I had a coffee at the Brit Hotel in Fumel then took off on foot, through familiar territory, destination LeClerc (supermarket) on the other side of the river.

The start of the journey was very pleasant all downhill…

This year (as opposed to last) the roadworks are all finished…providing a very pleasant dustless stroll…towards the bridge

Over the Lot river…looking back up to the village of Fumel.

Midday sun warming up and overhead, not much in the way of a shady side of the street…

Whikst sharing the footpath with the giant pot plants….being a flora lover, this area provides an abundance of colourful wildflowers and greenery.

However, I was very pleased to arrive at the air conditioned supermarket for a cooler respite. Spending an hour or so perusing the aisles and collecting mostly only what was on my list, mindful I needed to carry back..

By now the temperatures had risen further, mid afternoon to a mere 38 degrees C

The Lot river having been lowered by 3.5 meters as the new lock is being constructed…

And this Kiwi was starting to break out in a sweat… the long straight walk back home beside the old iron factory did provide a slightly shaded footpath, and conveniently dotted iron benches to plonk myself (and my shopping) on for a few minutes respite!

Consequently on arrival, I downed a bottle of electrolytes and jumped in a cold shower…and collapsed in the garden with a cold beer!

Yesterday was a big garden day…Rols was on lawn duties…

I planted wildflower seeds and sunflower seeds, watered the garden and dealt with washing…while Kev…

Had his project to build a planter box around this old double concrete tub, that had been deposited in the back yard..and is now immovable (due to its weight) ….. Tools out and sweat on!

The day rolled on…the engineering heads (three of us) , hammer hands and tiring backs collaborated…. And the building progressed…

The Kiwis got hotter- after a late lunch…Rols retired for a short rest before his evening work…Kevin and I collected some more wood, dirt and plants to complete the project!

The homeward straight was a tiring, sweat drenched, determined exercise, however being Bonnici’s we were not giving up until complete..at 7pm …

After showers we could enjoy our beer, and newly created ambiance of freshly planted herbs and flowers!

A light snack and barely the energy to climb the two flights of stairs to lie flat!

This kiwi has landed in Fumel, south west France….

After a beautiful day in Clichy on Friday, wandering the local environs…

Roses for $6.00 NZ a bunch…spring/Summer has definitely hit Paris in time for my visit…a mere 35 degrees Celsius!

Bidding my final farewell to Clichy, the afternoon was a rest time for the gals before our big night out at the Paris Diamond League Athletics event…

The main events were starting at 8pm at Stade Charléty in the south direction…and our planned journey was Train…then tram! Both very full on a Friday early evening…and over an hour of jostling, walking, and rubbing shoulders with the 20k fans heading to the event..

This trip to Paris was planned to take in the athletics meet, being an avid follower of world athletics and our kiwis on the big stage, accompanied by Sally, an equally avid athletics fan…long time Parisian (born in Nelson NZ) … she has the sports gene!

When one books online, months in advance, to secure a seat to this sell out event..one never quite knows where one will be seated. We were excited to find ourselves half way down the home straight…about 10 seats up, and on the shaded side of the stadium(in 35 degrees a must) …we had two kiwi girls competing in the pole vault on the other side of the stadium, so luckily Sally had brought the binoculars! But the plus side, was triple jump men’s right in front of us and all the running events on the home straight! Was a fabulous evening finishing at 11pm, where we exited with the masses heading to the train station and caught a Bolt taxi home…a mere painless 30 minute ride to our front door!

Saturday morning, I closed the (new) suitcase…ubered to the Montparnasse Train station, where the taxi driver dropped me on the wrong side! This meant a frantic run(almost) with luggage for about 2 kms through alleys and down three flights of steps to reach my train just as it was boarding. Finding myself in a tight space once again, a row of three seats, in a full to capacity 3.5 hour train ride! And off we went at 300kms per hour heading to the south of France! My change of train was at Agen, where I had two hours before the little train to Monsempron Libos and Kevin and Rols!

38 degrees and a cold beer helped, but the sweat glands kicked in and by the time I boarded the last (air conditioned) little train I was very relieved! and of course on arrival Kevin had a nice cool beer to relax with in the garden.

Roland was working yesterday, so Kevin and I took off at 10ish for a bike ride…around the town, past their rental house, where we weeded the long neglected entrance..and out into the country

Following the meandering Lot river. Felt the legs as we returned home around 12.30pm, thank goodness for electric assist when needed…for me needed most of the way back!

This morning sitting in the garden, in the shade while temperatures are cool, listening to all the birds – there’s lots of them here in this peaceful country garden! Tona – the bird app picked up 12 yesterday in a very short time!

I am very lucky to be here in this warmth and dry climate, and will never complain about the heatwave!!!