Tuesday 20thJuly.
In one month we will be winging our way home to Oz. We’ve heard now that a general election has been called for August 21st and we’ll still be in the air. Tony thinks he will have to register an absentee vote at the embassy in Paris. Another adventure we haven’t had before.
Today though, it’s the turn of M and B to head home and we have coffee with them after a sightseeing drive through Nimes. The three family members are still swapping “remember when” and “whatever happened to?” stories. I it quietly and drink my coffee. The reality is this is the last time these three will see each other…. Age and distance are now great barriers. It probably means I will never see them either. As we walk into the station and they hug and thank me I am overwhelmed with the pent-up emotion of the last few weeks and my eyes fill with tears…. Which of course makes them emotional too. We hug again and again. Tony shows no emotion for them. Even as I point out to him that he will never see them again he pragmatically reminds me that Death is a natural resolution to life and they all have memories of each other so what does it matter. I find that infuriating…..even though I know he’s right! Damn that man!
We decide to go for a swim in Uzes at the public pool, which is actually empty though there are some kids in the kids pool. Tony has on fully lined swim shorts but they won’t let him in! You have to wear budgie smugglers! Tony Abbott would be welcomed with open arms even though speedos are not everyone’s idea of a fashion statement.
An afternoon of Le Tour - a nap in the heat of the day and then it’s off to Avignon to pick up Eric and Anne. They were our friends in Perth, we’d hang out together, go for dinner, catch a movie etc. We so miss having a couple like that in Melbourne.
The TGV station in Avignon is a work of art….more like an airport than a train station. We have a beer and wait in the reception lounge and suddenly they’re there….about as different to M and B as is possible . We take a quick drive through Avignon and then straight on to the Pont Du Gard to give them their first taste of sightseeing. Neither has been to Provence before but they instantly love it. We don’t arrive home until 9.30 but it’s still daylight. Salad and charcuteries fill us up and we sit and talk and laugh and catch up over a bottle of wine ( Everything in France is done over a bottle of wine!). It’s so good to see them again.
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