Sleep Deprived (& Smelly?) - 9/10 July 2018

I’m back in Uzerche – for the best part of a month. And Sally is at home. This will be the longest we’ve been apart in thirty-three years of marriage.

I travelled down yesterday, giving myself plenty of time – I was even able to stop for a hand-carwash en-route.  As on my last trip, I arrived at the Eurotunnel terminal a couple of hours early but, previous experience, I chose not to pay a premium and take an early train and, in fact, my train was delayed by 20-30 minutes.

Fortunately, whilst at the terminal, I noticed my magnetic ‘GB’ sticker had disappeared and so was able to buy a new one and avoid a spot fine in France. No doubt the old one is lying on the floor covered in car shampoo (tip: remove magnetic stickers before subjecting vehicle to a jet wash – doh!)

After an uneventful crossing, I headed for Amiens for my overnight stay. The motel took some finding as the address given was vague. My SatNav failed to locate it, but Google Maps came to the rescue. The room was compact but clean and relatively comfortable; an oversized ferry cabin – it even had a bit of a nautical theme. At under 40 Euros, it was fine.

I dined at a Japanese buffet where the food was extremely good and then hit the sack.

At 01:00 (French time) I was still awake. I’d had a week of poor sleep due to jet lag which should have cleared up by now but hadn’t. Rather than spend another 3 or 4 hours tossing and turning I took the radical (and slightly foolish) decision to get up, get dressed and hit the road.

So, after around a 5-hour drive on Monday, I was now doing another 6-hours in the middle of the night. I was tired, and my eyes were not focussing brilliantly. Getting out of Amiens and navigating the Paris Peripherique were the worst bits – the latter is still very busy at 2am, though not as frantic as Friday rush-hour (my last experience of the notorious road). The rest of the journey was OK – and a can of Monster energy drink certainly helped.

I arrived at the house just before 7 am and grabbed 30-minutes shut-eye. I was tempted to sleep longer but that was no way to try and get my sleeping pattern back to normal. I unpacked the car and was again amazed at just how much I could squeeze in the Octavia – and this time I had even been able to avoid obscuring the view through the rear window.

 The image above shows the packed car – plenty of room for more, had I needed it more than I needed to use the rear-view mirror.

The image below is items I had packed.

Impressed? Not especially? You will be. There was so much in the car that I need to take two pictures. Here’s the rest,- including 4 huge boxes, a large piece of glass (can you see it), an ironing board and a roll of cushion flooring. :

Unpacking and moving items to their various destinations, across the three floors of the house, took a couple of hours. I was now tired, hungry, hot and feeling less than fresh. I decided that food and drink were the priority and so jumped in the car and headed to the local supermarket and farm shop. Due to being tired, hot and possibly smelly, I resolved to just buy essentials (bread, cheese, butter, drink and a little fruit) and leave the full shop for tomorrow.

Back home, I decided I really wanted/needed a shower. The problem was that our water heats overnight and, since the electric had been off and I’d arrived early morning, I’ll have no hot water until tomorrow. But feeling as fatigued, hot and dirty as I did, the prospect of a cold shower was not actually unattractive – or so I thought until I was in the shower gingerly applying the spray of chilly water gradually to my body from the toes up. I managed though, and felt better for it, but I did decide I could wait another day before washing my hair – I just didn’t have the willpower to totally drench myself.

Feeling semi-human, I next had some lunch and then started assembling our latest Ikea purchase – a huge set of eight-drawers for the kitchen. First, I had to move some shelving we had put in place on our last visit. When that was done I cracked open the three large boxes. I can honestly say it is the most difficult and complex item of flat-pack furniture I’ve ever built. Had I been fully with-it it would have been bad enough, but given my current state it was a real endurance test. But endure I did  – at least to the point that the carcass was built; the drawers can wait until tomorrow.

The fatigue seems to come in waves. A couple of hours ago I was feeling like a zombie as I talked to Sally on Skype – at least feeling that way I was pretty sure I would get a good night’s sleep. Then I got a second wind (hence typing this blog now). The trouble is, feeling less tired, I’m now worried it will be another rough night. Ho Humm.

PS: At least the latest fuel injector issue didn’t rear its head again.

PPS: This morning’s display from the swallows was even more incredible than the evening display of my last visit. They were swarming around the house like dog-fighting planes. Every few seconds one or two seemed to head directly for my open window before veering away at the last moment. Beautiful!