19th October

I slept better than I had expected and woke to lots of lovely messages and a FaceTime from Julia. I spoke to Will again and said that I’d decided it was a bit of a Marmite situation because despite everything the place has a certain charm and is full of quirky artefacts. It also has a toaster and a bath (albeit a dirty one that I wouldn’t go near at the moment!) and it feels very French 🙂 It’s right next door to a church too and I am so high up that, through the (rather dirty) velux window, I can see the bells swinging in the tower. I can hear them too of course. Not too bad, they seem to just ring 3 times a day- fingers crossed! And they sound lovely.

I messaged Luca who owns the property asking about the kettle. He messaged back saying that Italians don’t use kettles but if I wanted to buy one he would reimburse me. In the meantime though I had had a brainwave! I could use the microwave to heat water for tea!

An interesting little fact I learned is that, when I was looking up the french word for kettle, I discovered that « une marmite » is also a kettle (or large pot) used for cooking over a fire, one of which is depicted on the regular Marmite label. But not on the one I’m eating at the moment…….

I was, I have to admit, feeling a little down in the mouth and putting off stepping outside. But I had a word with myself, channelled my inner Amelie (have you seen that film? If you haven’t you must) and went out to see what Vendôme had to offer.

I wasn’t disappointed. It is so lovely. Typically French and full of beautiful buildings, beautiful shops and just fabulous. I bought a Christmas present for Tom’s Mum Wendy in a little shop and they gift wrapped it beautifully, of course! I went into a big interiors shop too to have a look at their Christmas decorations (I know!) thinking I might buy some typically French ones but they all had English sayings on them! Disappointing.

I went into the Cathedral and also to the Tourist Information, which turns out to be right behind where I am staying, although I walked in a big loop to find it, and the lady there was really helpful. So many châteaux to see!

Another silver lining is that the internet here is great so I was able to publish some of my blog today!

Feeling much better about things now. Tomorrow it’s set to rain all day so bathroom, I’m coming to get you……….

Bonne nuit 🙂