No Question Where We Are Now!

Final French leg in our European trek of almost 4,000 kms. Every rolling hill, mountain pass, hairpin bend and crazy Italian driver is behind us as I slipped quietly over to the other side of the road and the continent and settled in for a night in good old England with the above arriving to the tune of some ditty I couldn’t quite place but Shazam would certainly draw a blank! seemingly played on a combination of xylophone and harmonium filtered through a speaker deliberately designed to distort the output! And of course, obligatory “99s” emblazoned in both sides of the bonnet. 4,000 kms yielded not one single Mr Whippy in sight but tonight he rolled in with that quintessential fanfare and the punters were soon gathering at his window to pay their dues.

Meanwhile, we had a pleasant trip under la Manche and cooled down considerably in the 23 deg C heat of Folkestone. Bought some fuses for the fridge and take away curry for the stomachs plus a copy of the New World - the New European’s latest metamorphosis - now some teeth shining and sleeping is required. Tomorrow we lunch with Adrian and Val. Adrian was one of my best friends from the age of about 4 years old. He lived over the road and used to purchase every new Beatles 45 to play on his Dansette record player and Phil and I used to go round and listen to them all. Adrian’s wife Val has been sending me birthday cards and a Christmas card to us both for about 40 years - I have never in my life known someone so committed to staying in touch. Goodnight!