Pibrac, France, Monday October 27th

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After a sleep in for me and loads of blog reading and publishing for Keith, we had a leisurely late breakfast with Corine. Michel was at work and had left long before I was conscious. Corine’s work is in schools so she, like the children of France, was on holiday. We all had jobs to do, so after some chatting, we started on them.

Lunch was a delicious ratatouille with grains, and dip and pitta bread, and lots more conversation. Corine spoke more English with us on this visit, and was practising in order to keep up with her children’s skills. I was always switching us into French for my benefit, and it was funny sometimes when we would discuss something for several minutes with her always taking the English side of the conversation and me the French. Keith was finding French easier and was much more relaxed about it, understanding more and not needing to rehearse in his head before he spoke. He often spoke in English because he said that he just found it so much easier to express himself, while I avoided English if I had a chance of communicating my meaning at all.

By the time we had finished lunch, it was nearly time for Corine to drive Keith to his medical appointment where he hoped to have his back problems solved, or at least explained. Michel had arranged to take the time of the appointment off from work, because although the doctor spoke English, and Keith spoke French to some degree, there was a good chance that an interpreter would be needed for the finer points. Keith had typed up a history of his symptoms and so set off, all prepared.

I had elected to stay home and go for a walk. The benefits from the two walks in Paris were dissipating so, even though it looked like rain, I set off with my umbrella along the Chemin de Saint Jacques, where it passes below the house. It was most invigorating to be out and about, with the houses soon passed and only the gentle sound of a creek breaking the hush created by the fallen autumn leaves muffling my footsteps.I had reached the sign post of choices before it started to rain seriously, and I made a mental note of some options for walks for the next day.

Back at home, I decided to continue with my penance-like journal typing, so that I would have proof that I had been suitably employed while Keith was away. When Keith returned, he reported that the doctor had found nothing easily diagnosable, with a pinched nerve and pulled muscle being ruled out, and a deteriorating vertebra being a possibility. Care will need to be the common sense things of bending with the legs and taking time and care with turns and bends combined. It was a great relief to know that there was nothing major to detect, and that the long walk would be perfectly fine.

Dinner was late since Corine was out and Michel worked late, and so by the time we had enjoyed another talk fest, and we had written emails, with me particularly excited by those to and from Joy, in which we clarified the final details for the form 5 and 6 scholarships, and we had pored over the meteorological information for the area we would walk in, it was late. I couldn’t resist reading to the end of my book, and so it was even later when I finally turned the light off and my mind to thinking about all that I had read.