Oh good lord. I’m awake. Did I just snore myself awake? I’m in a double bed in a white loft. Periguex. Ah yes, I remember, I had a glass of Armagnac and passed out. Goodness, listen to the rain on the windows. I should put some clothes on.
Why do I literally smell of duck? Oh. Oh yes, the Duck Trilogy at Chez Fred. Shower. It’s cold. Hellfire. Shower anyway. Get the duck off. Brrrr. Back to bed.
No. I can’t just stay here. Chocolatier downstairs.
“Bonjour, je cherche un petit cadeau pour ma copine…? Oh – et vends tu du café?” Some classy dark chocolate and a latte. Why is the cup bent? Art. Hmf.
Coffee. More awake now. There’s Tristan. More coffee. Awww she gave us a free truffle.
This is a beautiful town to walk through, now the rain has stopped. Cathedral! Great high ceilings. Chandeliers. Market outside. I should probably buy some cheese.
“Vends Tu Rocamadur? Oui? Bien. Quatre SVP.” And some cow cheese. Everything here so quickly. Omnomnom. It’s raining again.
“Shall we culture?”
There’s a museum. Neolithic to modern. Eccentric and often beautiful. We shelter and absorb. There’s a Canaletto. So detailed. Busts. Vases. Old things. Bits of an old cathedral in the courtyard, saved from the bin.
Time to drive. Off through the sheets of rain. Up to Néré. Perfect timing. 7pm on the 9th.
Fuck.
It’s the 8th.
Booking.com. Search by proximity. 1.3 miles. Check in until 8pm.
“Hi we are outside your property.” “Oh that’s weird you aren’t supposed to be able to book after six.” “And yet HERE WE ARE!!” “Would you like lasagne?” “YES!”
—
We are staying in a lovely stone home. Ok so it’s IKEA furnished, but it’s cheap. Tomorrow we are up early for a wine tasting. Before long we will need to come back to reality. But this is a delightful adventure in the meantime. “Thank you for trusting me to impulse book this place,” I tell Tristan. “I just knew that time wasn’t on our side and we would have been fucked without it.” The marvels of the internet, to go from stranded to covered so quickly. Airbnb etc are destroying people’s chances to own property in the long term. They are insidious and negative forces in the worldwide property market, driven of course by people and how they can choose to go to greed.
Tristan and I are making a show. I’m very stoked about it. I’m not gonna talk about it here yet, but it’s coming. Start being excited now as it’s gonna be a corker.
Off to bed now. So warm, happy and comfy. And I got a day ahead of myself, so I can totally relax now.
AlBarclay 