Nothing from me for over 6 weeks and then you get 2 entries in a row! This one will hopefully be a more concise effort than my last ramble, at least. So, it is now Friday afternoon and I am sat in the garden enjoying the overdue return of the sunshine. Our guests, Ludwig and Enrique, left us at noon, so it is back to the normal routine for us once again. Well, not quite in fact: I am actually feeling somewhat adrift and aimless. I have been studying for the theory test since March of this year, and particularly over the last 3 or so weeks, have been devoting several hours a day to it. My exam was Thursday morning, and I am extremely relieved to say that I passed. It was a palpably large weight that was lifted from me when I got the result, but it has left something of a void in my schedule that I will have to find a new way to fill.
Ok, to take it chronologically – Monday and Tuesday were uneventful; Matt still working away full-time on his project and me studying. I also had a practical lesson on Tuesday afternoon, which went very smoothly. Lud and Enrique (‘Kike, as he prefers to be called) were due to reach us some time on Wednesday afternoon, which was complicated by the fact that I had an extended revision session at the driving school from 2 – 4:30pm, so we were worried that we might be out when they got here. Fortunately, they’d had a bit of a full-on weekend in Madrid, so were very much behind schedule. They ended up crossing Bordeaux off of their travel plans and even then, didn’t reach us until around 8pm, so we had plenty of time to get home and prepare for their arrival.
It was great to see Lud again after so long (the last time was before we moved away) and also to meet his really sweet fella. They live in East/Central London, not far from Liverpool Street, but both would quite like to get out of the big City, so approved very much of our current lifestyle. After the customary tour of the house and garden, we served them up a new sausage pasta recipe, followed by the obligatory cheese. Lud of course got to meet the Smoo straight away and, predictably, the two hit it off very well. Louis, on the other hand, decided that on this occasion, two strangers was definitely two too many, so was rarely seen while they were here. I think it was a little poignant for Lud, seeing our 2 Devons. Due to his changing plans, he had to send his two, Mista and Sista (the first Devon Rex cats we ever met) to live with his ex back in Australia. Also, he told us that tragically, last week, Sista ran out from behind a parked car and was instantly killed by a car coming down the road. She was a beautiful and lovely girl, so this entry is dedicated to her, poor wee thing. I always had a soft spot for her. Her brother, Mista, is a hilariously daft clown of a cat, all affection and wackiness (much like the Smoo), so was always an instant hit with people. Sista, on the other hand, was a little more reserved and aloof (much like Louis), so generally not as popular, but I thought she was a lovely girl. Rest in peace, poor Sista.
Ok, on with the story, and on to lighter things. As I had my exam looming early the next morning, and as the boys were tired from their long car journey, we all hit the hay at around 11:30, having not gone too crazy on the wine. Predictably, I didn’t sleep terribly well and was wide awake and in a state of advanced panic by 6am. Matt dropped me at the driving school at 8am and from there, my instructor drove myself and the other 3 also taking the test to Nontron. The exam was held in the town’s cinema and didn’t kick off until just after 9, so we all had a grim 35 minutes or so standing outside and stressing. That was by far the worst part of it for me.
I had been told the actual exam tends to be easier than the practice sessions, so was banking on that being the case, and thankfully, it was. Once I was through registration and installed in my comfy cinema seat, I began to calm down a little bit and start to wonder where my popcorn was and how long the adverts would be. 35 minutes and 40 questions later, it was all over. You get the result instantly, and it is supposed to be given to you confidentially, but it didn’t pan out that way. As each person was called up to get their result, their details were displayed on the cinema screen for all to see – including their test result (“Favourable” or “Defavourable”, with their actual score). There were about 40 people taking it and I’d say that 3/4 passed it, with the average mark being 35/40.
One of the 4 from our school is a guy I recently befriended called Luc. He is in his 40s, so like me, stuck out like a sore thumb at our driving school, so I think we hit it off as a result. I learned recently that the reason he had been re-doing the theory test is that he was in an accident a few months ago and, when the gendarmes inevitably tested him, he came in at an impressive 4 times over the alcohol limit. He was stoned too, so he says, but luckily for him, they failed to detect that. Astonishingly, he managed to evade the maximum fine (€4,500 – see, all that revision did pay off), but had a 6 month suspension and was ordered to retake his theory test. He originally did his in the 80s and apparently, it is unrecognisable now and far more challenging. Anyway, the reason for bringing this up is that because he passed his theory test, it meant his licence was immediately reinstated, so he (and therefore, the other 3 from his driving school) had to wait until the end so the paperwork could be dealt with. This meant that I got to stand at the back and watch as every one of the 40 candidates got summoned to receive their mark – so I can take some satisfaction in saying that I was joint highest with about 3 other people, scoring 38/40. I am very relieved it is all over, even if it means I am a little aimless at present.
Matt collected me at about 10 and we came home armed with bread and croissants, making it back just before the boys surfaced. We had a plumber coming round in the afternoon to give our old and somewhat bizarre boiler a look over, so couldnt join the boys on their planned day-time excursions, but we packed them off with a map of Brantôme, instructions to eat at the cute waiter restaurant and a small shopping list. They made it home by around 5, having seen both Brantôme (plus cute waiter) and also Bourdeilles, a similar and almost as impressive town. Later that afternoon, Matt took them out on a local walk, during which they had a little bit of rain, but it soon cleared. Despite the coolness and and cloud, we went ahead with the planned BBQ for dinner that night, along with rather more cocktails, wine, etc than the night before, as I was in major celebration mode. We rounded the evening off with some Kath & Kim, and were honoured to be joined by not one but two pusses as well, which was nice. Having had such an early start, Matt and I were fading by around 12:30, so we all called it a night and crashed.
Well, that pretty much brings us up to date, I think. Tune in soon for the next instalment – which will definitely come from Matt. And yes, I am aware I again failed to keep it short.