Saturday 10th May

Had a fairly quiet morning, packing for my one night away and reading. Got a downer when Grace rang and said there maybe only one car going and so I mite not be able to join them. Luckily for me, there was no way that they could fit four people and all their luggage in one car so two had to be taken. At 2.00, the girls came over and dropped a few bags off that they couldn’t take with them, and we all raced back to help Grace finish tiding the flat before Martin and Stan arrived at 2.30. At about 2.20, Kevin arrived to collect the key but we weren’t ready and he had to catch a train so Grace arranged to drop it through his letterbox. 15 minutes later we were sitting in the cars (Liz, Grace and I in Martin’s car and Mary and the bags in Stan’s), on the way to Paris. It took about an hour to get to the holiday Inn. Well it did for us anyway. Stan and Mary got lost. While we waited we checked ourselves in and after Mary had arrived took all the bags up to the room. It was a lovely room with two double beds, a tv, and a big bathroom. Then it was back downstairs to Martin and Stan and we went to look for a cafe. There was nothing open, and it was a saturday. Very weird. We did pass a big wedding though so came to the conclusion maybe everyone was there! So after saying goodbye, and giving them some petrol money we went and relaxed before heading back down for some supper an hour later. Oh, and dad rang, he’s found a sliver seicento in good condition so I should have a car when I return. It was a very posh supper to. The hotel restaurant had silver cutlery, white table cloths and waiters in jackets. We drank posh white wine which was place in a stand on the floor ice bucket, and Liz and I had stuffed chicken with potatoes and asparagus which was in a tempura batter, while Mary and Grace had a large bowl of salad, a cheese plate and some frites. The restaurant didn’t actually have any vegetarian main course. We decided not to have a dessert at that point, as we very stuffed, but thought we might order it on room service later. Instead, we went and changed and head to the fitness centre in the hotel and spent a good hour in the whirlpool and sauna, before heading back upstairs and watching half of ‘The Island’. It turned out we were all exhausted and couldn’t keep our eyes open so switched off the film and went to sleep pretty early at about midnight.