is this the real life … ..is this just fantasy?

It’s just before 10 this morning and I’m sitting in a cafe waiting for a batch of fresh croissants to come out of the oven.  I drink a complimentary coffee to pass the time.

Half an hour earlier we awoke to a message from Chris saying that he and some cycling friends would be calling in around 10.30 in the expectation of coffee and home-made biscuits and cake.

We don’t panic much.  Although we can manage coffee, we lack both time, ingredients and a sufficient working knowledge of the shiny new cooker, to provide the rest.

I do however have a working knowledge of hungry cyclists and so order not just half a dozen croissants, but a similar number of cakes and other high-sugar pastries.  It’s a big order and the croissants will take around 20 minutes, hence the free coffee.

There was a time - many, many years ago after a number of holidays in France - that I dreamt of living in a small French town where I could wake up and wander round the corner to the local cafe for a coffee and a natter with the locals, while waiting for breakfast to emerge from the oven.  

And now I find myself sitting in a cafe just round the corner from our new home, the smell of fresh coffee and croissants in the air, nattering to a local MAMIL*, who has stopped by for an injection of caffeine and confection.

We’re finally here.  It’s taken a long time - not just the months living in the Train Shed - but all the years before, when life was making other plans for us.

As the great philosopher, Pinocchio, once said, “when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true”. 


* Middle-Aged Man in Lycra for those unfamiliar with the acronym.