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Sorry for the lack of compelling content the last couple of days, I know you are all on the edges of your seats for the next thrilling instalment of “Dave and Mel – A Space Oddity” (“Here I am, sitting in a tin can”).
We’ve been taking a couple of lazy days to do chores (work etc.), one of which today was our inaugural trip to the laundrette to refresh our clothes. Out came the bikes and the trailer in order to cope with the contents of the laundry locker, another couple of days and we’d have been down to shipping bags for underpants and the laundry might have walked to the laundrette of its own accord.
The washing machines were surprisingly quick – I must admit that I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting a laundrette before, and a French one in which to pop the old cherry to boot. It’s like some classic coming of age adventure! In and out in under an hour and smelling of lavender!
Alas, ‘I Heard it on the Grapevine’ was not playing, and a couple of slightly grubby chaps walked in and out (not at the same time), to which I assumed they were there to riffle through the delicates and unmentionables of some poor mademoiselle, as there was no other machines occupied with their not-so-smalls. All they could do was grunt and leave, thankfully refraining from the Levi’s tradition of stripping off the the boxers – perhaps the French were spared that particular commercial?
Whilst heaving our bikes down the gangplank of our ‘ships of the road’, another pair of Brits slipped into the berth on the starboard side. They deliberately missed the other 30-odd spare slots in the Aire and came to friendly waters to avoid being taunted by the French campers and their Saucisson Sec. We’d chosen this side because we got better wifi on this side of the Aire. Anyway, they were a decent sort in their 12th year of exploring and heading down south to fend off some Portuguese Man-O-War. Perhaps we’ll share a pinch of snuff with them in the morning before they set sail?
I suspect that we may be here again tomorrow – its not a very remarkable place, but the beach is nice and the sunsets have been particularly enjoyable, and the weather offers nothing better for several hundred miles. The report from the Brits was that it was pea soup all the way from Calais, so we’ve had it pretty good so far. Being Saturday tomorrow, there is a chance a restaurant might actually be open such that we can have our first meal out! I can barely withstand the excitement of all these firsts!
