Shenanigans in Chamonix
Something about the mountains made us want to stay. So we ditched the plan and stayed an extra night. It felt like Stan needed some quality walking time so we decided to find a forest. That shouldn’t pose any major problems now, should it?
All of the major lifts are closed in Chamonix at this time of year. I wasn’t sorry though as, in theory, it made our day out easier. In theory, that is! A walk to La Cascade du Dard seemed to offer a good option. Putting the destination into google maps confirmed it was only a ten minute drive. So imagine my horror when we appeared to be entering the Mont Blanc tunnel. A swift turn into the lorry park area to the right of the entrance seemed to offer a thinking spot. How would we get out of this? We didn’t want to spend an extra hour going all the way through the Mont Blanc tunnel and back.
I hastily entered the office building to the right and a really nice guy helped us out. He told us all we need to do was to drive across the traffic. ‘Drive across the traffic, you say!’ ‘Across all that traffic, with lorries and cars and everything’. ‘Are you sure?’ ‘Will I die?’ He smiled, said no and went away. OK, so I gotta do this. Yeah, this wasn’t feeling great. But, lo and behold, from nowhere the guy appeared - he chivalrously stopped the traffic and moved traffic cones so we could safely pass. PHEW!
So, finally, we were in a position to discover La Cascade du Dard. Oh how I smiled as I smoothly turned left off the road at the correct turning. We managed to catch the hour long window of decent weather to see the waterfall in all its glory. It gave me a chance to use the long exposure feature when photographing with an iphone to create the beautiful shot of the flowing water - it’s really worth learning how to do. Check out our social media for a video of the walk - it says it better than words can!
Walk complete, rain pouring, we decided to head into Chamonix. We’re staying in Les Houches a small satellite village about ten minutes from central Chamonix. It’s very quiet at this time of year so it was nice to be amongst people for a change.
Chamonix was about 50% open for business I’d say. I’ve never been before and it lived up to its reputation as a high end ski resort. A chance for window shopping only for us and a fabulous lunch at Chez Constant. Every day I holiday with Stan, convinces me he is the perfect companion. With his raincoat on he got lots of attention from the cosmopolitan visitors to Chamonix. And, for his part, he couldn’t fault the food at Chez Constant. He’s definitely partial to a bit of tartiflette!
In hindsight, I think Stan may have got a bit carried away with his popularity. Chamonix hosts two famous statues depicting the mountaineers who scaled it. And there’s a story behind them. In 1786 two local men scaled Mont Blanc, they were named Dr Michael Gabriel Paccard, a Chamonix doctor and the somewhat exotic sounding Jacques Balmat, a hunter and crystal collector! The first statue shows two men facing the mountain, an arm outstretched. You’d be forgiven for believing the pair of them were the original duo that scaled the peak. But, no, Balmat is depicted accompanied by his ‘financier’ Saussure who had not even been part of the expedition. Fortunately Stan, being of a high moral calibre and thoroughly decent chap, was drawn to the second. He took the chance to be photographed next to Paccard. Paccard’s statue was added 200 years later than the original. A symptom of the incredible story-telling (i.e. lies) behind Balmat and Saussure’’s account of the climb.
And the moral of the story is, look out for exotic sounding men they aren’t always what they are cracked up to be!
Thanks to Lenscaper for the account of the story of the Chamonix statues
Seriously, you want me to drive across that!
Did I really take this?
Stan taking his, not so rightful, place next to Paccard
Every cloud has a silver lining….
So being honest, last night wasn’t the best. I was taken back to my early parenting years as Stan required as much attention as a toddler. Don’t get me wrong I’m not cross with him … just exhausted. OK, maybe just a little bit cross.
As one might imagine Stan struggled to settle, so I struggled to settle. Around 4am I realised the only solution was to take him outside. But having left the lead in the kitchen I decided just to open the front door and let him out, confident that he would obediently return to me as soon as I called. What I did not know is that Stan was on a secret bone mission. Eating Coco’s dinner the night before simply wasn’t enough. As a result Stan was gone, nowhere to be found. Memories of the Blair Witch Project came to mind as eerie shadows cast their darkness over the garden and branches scarily scraped my cheek. I perservered through the garden to no avail. Eventually when said bone was discovered and I tore it from him we managed to get a good two hours of decent sleep.
In the morning it was evident that Stan’s shenanigans had also woken the lovely owners. That said, they were very understanding and haven’t barred us from returning on the way home. I will have to have a serious word with Stan about stealing Coco’s food though.
We were on the road before 8 to complete what is the longest leg of the journey. Some 7 hours to reach Chamonix. But it has gone surprisingly well. Such is the perceived ease of the journey it feels as if the car is static and the road is moving beneath us in a rotating world. And if you’re worrying or feeling sorry for Stan, please don’t. He used the travel time to catch up on his sleep. He was so quiet at one point I had to reach back and check if he was still alive. Besides the French seem to be remarkably well organised when it comes to dogs - or, at least, their toileting. If I’ve got this right the canisette pictured is a dog toilet. Now I’m sure all you responsible dog owners are excellent at commanding your dog to poo, but I’m afraid Stan and I haven’t mastered that yet. Maybe next year!
I’ve done this journey many times before but never like this! Over the brow of each hill a picture-perfect portrait of nature comes into sight ready to be painted. And around Troyes the sun came out so the sunnies came on. I don’t know about you but journey’s often get me contemplating where my own life is headed.
Without wishing to over use a cliche it really is true that life is a journey. In the past I believed that with excellent planning I could engineer that journey, make it reflect exactly what I wanted and lo and behold life would deliver. Until the WTF moments …
But in doing that, I always had one eye on the next stage. Looking for the next stage left me absent from what was happening right in front of me. I’m learning that life isn’t about planning, working and succeeding all the time. Because rarely do those plans work out as you imagined. When they do go wrong, the secret is in accepting those events as a rich part of your life. For a long time I wished things hadn’t been the way they were. Wished that it could have been different. But I’ve learnt to accept them as part of my journey. For if they hadn’t happened I wouldn’t be who I’ve become. And I’m different from the person who has made this and countless other journey’s in the past. Living without judgement, without wishing things were bigger or better or just different takes me one step closer to contentment. And at the end of the day that’s my focus - finding contentment. I hope that wasn’t too deep for some of you!
Oh and, of course, I have to share that the sun really did come out when we made it to Mont Blanc. What a wonderful sight.
Every cloud really does have a silver lining
An early morning, rainy start
Is this really a dog toilet?
Sunny Mont Blanc
And we’re off …
To a great start! We started the day at 5am - even though the alarm was set for 6, the adrenaline had kicked in way too early.
I had a hypothesis that traveling with Stan would make me feel less lonely and encourage others to have the occasional chat! I was right. That said this new friendlier travel experience has had some unexpected consequences. Stan has so far eaten a poochiecino from Le Shuttle terminal, some French cheese in the lovely town of Compiegne and horror of horrors the dog’s dinner at the place we’re staying. To say he’s blotted his copy book is an understatement.
So first things first, how was the journey? Absolutely straight-forward. Though we hadn’t bought a flexible ticket we were allowed to travel on a train an hour earlier than expected. Handing over the paperwork for Stan ignited trepidation - what would I do if we were turned away! That kind of thing - but everything was in order. The Bip and Go, beeped as intended as we approached the toll booths and, with some degree of concentration, I managed to remain driving on the right hand side.
And what about where we’re staying! This did not go as smoothly. Whilst we were always intending to stay at the place featured on the way back, it wasn’t our planned stop on the way down. The lady I was exchanging with went AWOL which left me without anywhere to stay the day before we left. Fortunately Perrine was able to accommodate us on short notice and it’s nice as we’ll see her on our way home too. Homeexchange were great at helping when things went wrong with the original swap, but since I’d already got an alternative lined up we didn’t really need them. The family that own the property are here, but we have a wonderful room and used their second kitchen to cook dinner. What a life! Thank you Perrine and homeexchange.
And, how about Compiegne? I’ve never been here. And I’d like to come back. It’s an exceptionally beautiful, historic French town. We had a lovely walk around the town and took in the architecture. The most impressive building was without doubt the Imperial Palace, Louis XV and XVI spent their summers’ here and you can visit the rooms dedicated to Marie Antoinette. However, the best part was visiting the stables. Like the Imperial Palace they date back to Napoleon 1, it wasn’t hard to imagine the pomp and circumstance that would have been an everyday occurence. The copious stud can accommodate over 270 horses. It’s free to walk around the stables and it’s fine to say hello to the horses. Stan didn’t seem to like them too much so we didn’t stay too long!
Next time I come, as well as going inside the palace I’d like to take a trip to the railway carriage in which the Germans signed the Armistice in November 1918. Ironically this same location was chosen as the place at which the French formally surrendered to Germany in 1940. Perhaps we’ll have time on our return trip to drop in.
But for now - we’re shattered. Tomorrow we drive to Chamonix so night everyone I hope you sleep well!
Your dog ate my dinner …
The beautiful Compiegne
Night night!
Are we ready yet?
All day long Stan’s been on high alert. He knows something is up. By now I think he’s realised that packing away all his food, treats, and clothing means that if Mum is going somewhere he’s coming too. And since most other journeys conclude in being in the countryside, Stan is excited! In fact he’s so keen, he’s been contemplating driving himself there! He’s ready to go.
And, so am I pretty much!
The important things arrived today, my wheels! Now I accept it’s no head turner, but this faithful SEAT is about to embark on an 866 mile trip to Liguria. We’ve got all our documents - the VE103 and mycardirect have been absolutely amazing! The car arrived at 9am giving us lots of time to get ready.
One of the things I’d been dreading is the tolls. Yes the tolls, not the trolls! I couldn’t figure out how we’d get through the toll booths with me driving a UK right handed car. Stan had offered to hold my credit card in his mouth whilst he politely passed it to the operator. But, I’d pointed out to him that if it got covered in drool it might not work so well. Plan B was put in motion. Buy a selfie stick and extend it towards the booth! Both of these ideas are, of course, excellent, practical and fully implementable - you think! However they pale into obscurity when compared with the actual solution.
Drum roll, please! Please give it up for …. Liber-t and Bip and Go. This handy little object fits neatly behind the rear view mirror, but what few people know is that it makes you feel like royalty. For years, I travelled extensively for my job. This gave me, yes, you guessed it - status! I rarely had to queue, upgrades really did happen and business class lounges were de rigueur. But those days are behind me for now. So who’d have thought on this the most arduous journey I’ve made in a long time, I’d have status. Liber-t is an electronic payments system that automatically tracks your progress through the toll booths. What’s more the app Bip and Go lets you see how much you’ve spent. The toll payments are made monthly and you decide which account to use. But that’s nothing compared to zooming through the toll booth free from queues! Yes I will be that person speeding along whilst others wait!
So, that’s it for now. We hope we get to sleep tonight and wake up rested. See you on the road!
If you don’t hurry up, I’m driving!
Bip and go!
E-tag installed and status restored!
Stanley is one hot dog!
With one week to go, Stanley is getting ready for his trip.
Like all good holiday makers, he had two important tasks today. Firstly, sort out his passport and secondly, go to the spa.
Good grooming is the mark of a sophisticated poochie and Stanley likes it provided Mum does it. Stan’s had a great groomer who was incredibly patient with his foibles. Let’s cut to the chase; Stan did not like being groomed. He moved from the lovable, chilled, couch potato Sealyham into a more aggressive dog that was not well liked! So something had to give.
I started grooming Stan about a year ago and bought a Wahl Arco Pro clipper from a German retailer. I was inspired by my sister, Kath, who can turn her hand to pretty much anything. So Stan doesn’t need to go anywhere but the garden for his spa time and, frankly, I’ve saved a lot of money.
The clipper choice was mistake no.1. When the batteries refused to charge up in the summer I realised that returning them to Germany wasn’t an option. Germany doesn’t allow imports of lithium batteries - the things you end up knowing about - who’d have thought! So after much to-ing and fro-ing I got my money back from the ebay reseller who sold me the kit. And then I went for a walk in the park.
Never underestimate the power of park networking I’ve had some of my most productive, enlightening conversations at the park. Last week was no exception. At Gillespie park I came upon the most beautifully groomed standard poodle frolicking with his mum. It did not occur to me that this was a mum with specialist grooming skills - a groomer herself. She told me everything I’d been doing wrong with grooming starting with my kit. A beautiful new clipper arrived yesterday, the Andis Ultraedge 2 Speed Clipper. And, my word, what a clipper it is. I will make no comment on the quality of Stan’s groom. In fact, I’m experiencing trepidation about what you think. I don’t hand strip him because he’s my pet, so I might offend the purists. And, I’m absolutely a beginner at this gig. But I think you will agree, he does look rather smart. And the clipper was so fast! It turns out that the Wahl clipper is fine on smaller jobs like legs and paws but not cut out for a full body groom. When I get back from Italy, I’ll be visiting @the_canine_gossip so I can hone my craft. But for now thanks so much for the grooming advice - he is one hot dog!
Vet in the city made his final visit. When I explained to a friend that the vet came to our house to provide all Stan’s vaccinations and the final paperwork for travel I think she thought I was a millionaire. It sounded so posh and convenient for the vet to come to me. A bit like having your own private doctor popping round when you’re ill. Despite explaining that Stan’s normal vet didn’t offer the service, I secretly enjoyed the idea of Stan having his own private vet. So, bottom line, the @vet.in.the.city service is incredibly convenient and if you want to show off you don’t have to explain he’s not your regular vet. To travel, Stan had his rabies vaccination some months ago so today involved checking his microchip and handing over the paper work I’ll need to show when we go to the chunnel. It’s an Animal Health Certificate similar to the one featured here. Each of these visits have taken under ten minutes. Stan was not at all distressed by the rabies jab. When I shared our plans with the vet today he even promised to send me details of common medicines that might help if Stan get’s a little sick on the trip. So, if you’re London based I can’t imagine a better service. And, if you live elsewhere and you’re worried about taking your pet abroad there’s really no need. It’s all pretty straightforward!
Given that I’ve referenced a few products and companies in this post I wanted to make clear that I’ve received no benefit from sharing their details. So, yeah, it just reflects our experience.
Before … you’re not going to try grooming me are you?!
Man, I am one hot dog!
The Animal Health Certificate replaced the European pet passport. It’s official Stan can travel!
Getting ready for guests
So we’re one week away from the car arriving and are in full planning mode.
Forgive the mundanity of this post, today is all about getting the house ready for my swaps.
Preparing the house can be painful Anyone who knows me wouldn’t put tidiness at the top of my virtues. Frankly they wouldn’t even put it on the list of my attributes. When married, my husband liked things tidy and was happy to do it. Happy days! But he did that kind of tidying where you scoop all the odds and sods in the room into one pile and cram it into the first available cupboard. Since he left and I started swapping I’ve had some revelations (spoiler alert, these are very basic):
have a best friend who is good at this stuff and shamelessly copy her. My friend, Leigh, has impeccable taste and just knows where things ought to belong. Thank you Leigh for sorting my kitchen when I was at my lowest ebb and sorry it looks different now!
when you live alone and put something down it remains there. I’ve taken to gradually putting items that belong together together! Simple - so a box for dog items, cleaning products, all pens in pen holder in study (you get the picture) - it’s not that hard to know where to get things in the house these days
put off things that will give you pain until you’re ready - I left one cupboard full of photographs until today. And I’ve done it - sorted through, some god knows how many, photos. I bought perfectly sized photo boxes and my cupboard is transformed.
See I told you no mention of feng shui after all! Now I’ve done a few swaps the house is better organised so a; I keep it tidier and b; it takes less and less prep time each time I go.
What about valuables, I hear you ask? Good point. So my granny was born in Liverpool before the first world war - her family had a dairy in Everton. I had no idea how common city dairies were at that time. There were literally hundreds of them in Liverpool. I digress, I inherited an old Victorian safe from her. As a child I recall it with great affection, as every now and then we’d sit together and go through its contents. Nothing of tremendous value - antique feathers and flowers that would have adorned a ladies hat. Many of those items remain in the safe today.
Do you have to store away all your clothes? The short answer is, no! I have a spare room that we cleared out completely so there is a good storage area there. In my main bedroom, I clear a half of my wardrobe so there’s plenty of space for my guests to store their items. I’ve become a fan of those vacuum seal storage bags and store bulkier and/or unwanted items in those and place them in the cellar.
What about a cleaner? I share the rota for guests with my regular cleaner and she manages the change over.
So I told you this would be practical. But to keep you inspired for my trip - these are some of the spaces we’ll be swapping with! And if you have any questions I haven’t answered feel free to add a comment!
Stan and I are looking forward to hanging out in this lovely urban Rome garden
Our place in Florence is close to the Arno!
Yes, we really are staying here in this 13 bedroom chateau -
we hope it’s not haunted!
Solo travel scares me!
Don’t get me wrong I’m really looking forward to starting the trip. I have this curious combination of trepidation and excitement all rolled into one. Now and then it makes me feel anxious, so I’ve worked with myself on understanding what is really behind my fear! Reframing my worries in a positive way and recognising all the resources I have to help me has proved a great way to manage the emotional ups and downs.
So here are my positive statements:
I’ve done this before so I can do it again. In August right before the Alevel results came out, I took a two week trip to Majorca alone. I did it. The first three days I cried, constantly seeing images around me of the holiday I might have liked to have but wasn’t available to. And then, I learnt to scuba dive - I got new skills but I learnt some techniques to enjoy holidays alone.
Including activities in holidays is empowering and provides vital interaction. So when I get to Italy I’ve got a plan. I’m going to replicate that Majorca experience by signing up for Italian language courses in my first and last week. I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw that my first two destinations are amongst Italy’s best dive sites. Being on a boat with other divers is liberating; you’re there because you love the ocean and that shared passion connects you.
Music really moves me so I’m going to get my playlists ready. In Majorca there is an amazing bus service so armed with my headphones I entered my own private world and it felt amazing! Classic tracks lift my mood and really do make me feel invincible.
I don’t need or want to talk to people all the time. Being in Spain really made me think about how important friends, family and proper human interaction is. I learnt that optimally I need to chat to people daily - not for too long but enough to share a reflection, or observe and share something funny. I won’t lie I was sad when the bus driver who had ferried me to Soller or Palma wasn’t on his shift! But he was always replaced by a different friendly face. This trip I’ll be joined now and then by friends who mean the world to me.
If I hit an emotional speed bump it won’t last long recognising that we all have ups and downs and that’s completely normal can be hard to do. When you’re feeling down you can struggle to imagine it will pass. But, for me, it does. But sometimes, in the midst of it, I forget. Maybe this post can be at my side to remind me of the truth.
Last but not least - this time I won’t be on my own. I’ve got Stanley with me - so happy days.
Learning to dive gave me an amazing sense of achievement
The perfect combination music and Stan!
How to travel accommodation cost free
Since making the transition in my career to work as an executive coach I undertook an exercise to see how I could keep doing the things I love to do whilst simultaneously spending less money. Who doesn’t want to achieve that!
Now that my son has left for university I knew that I would have more freedom to do something I loved - travel! But how can you do that when you’re starting a fledgling business. Step forward Homeexchange.
Homeexchange facilitates swapping your home with people all around the world. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it. The first question I get when this topic arises is; aren’t you worried your home will get trashed? Or your belongings stolen? So far I’ve not experienced this so that’s a good sign. And second of all I’ve developed a new relationship with the loss of material objects. We can’t take any of this stuff with us that we’ve accrued through life. It’s more than likely going to end up in landfill or at best a cherished heirloom in a distant relative’s shelf in a home you’ll never see. So, whilst I love my home and everything in it - if something gets broken I’m not going to be distraught.
So with that objection handled, we’re free to start exploring all that Homeexchange can offer! So far I’ve done three swaps - a delightful lodge in a forest park in Devon (complete with jacuzzi), a fabulous Paris apartment within walking distance of the Louvre and this summer my longest solo trip to date two weeks in a wonderful Mallorcan village home. Every home I stayed in was beautiful. Being connected to someone who lived there gave me the insight track on where to eat and what to do! I felt like a holiday maker and a local all at the same time.
And who’s visited me. A french couple enjoyed London at Christmas. An Italian family stayed whilst my son and I went to a music festival in Paris - they even took care of Stan. The American couple that owned the place in Majorca stayed and told me my neighbourhood reminded them of Chicago!
A note on Stan sitters, I’ve only left Stan with a family once and I make sure to vet them by having a video call to check that there is a good match. I also have friends locally who are around. Good news now is that Stan can come along!
I’ll share more with you about how we do the swaps and the logistics of getting ready for a trip when we get closer to travel day! For now enjoy the photos of some of the experiences Homeswap has enabled me to have and all completely free!
Two weeks in a wonderful village home in Fornalutx
Celebrating exam success at Rock en Seine in Paris
Stan’s story
Since you’ve all been so kind to follow along I thought it was about time I introduced myself properly.
My name’s Stan and I’m about 3 and a half. I believe in serendipity because nice things have happened to me ever since I was born. Like the breed itself, I was born in Wales with my brothers and sisters.
But I found my real family just before the lockdown. It was a bit scary actually because I only just made it home before COVID shut down all travel. It wasn’t hard getting to know my mum. In fact when she got my kennel club paperwork she couldn’t believe it. My official name was Stanley chosen long before she’d met me. And, guess what, she’d already chosen to call me Stanley. That made me feel safe and right at home.
But it wasn’t just mum I got to meet. I had a new playmate in her son Hector. I think having me around gave him someone to mess around with. But it was pretty cool that he also liked to share the odd cuddle.
My mum says I’m like a cat ‘cos despite living a generally calm existence my obsession with food has got me into trouble now and then. It resulted in dramatic brushes with death. It’s Christmas Eve, two years ago I went to stay in Scotland. That’s when my extra special food detector system unearthed a wonderful box in grandad’s bedroom. It didn’t bother me at all that it was wrapped in paper. I knew that somewhere inside that box there was something meant for me. So I persevered, through the outer wrapping, into the tin box, before breaking open the card protecting these lovely chocolate mints. Little did I know the kerfuffle I would create. I didn’t like having to be sick or staying overnight at the vets. And it was awful to see Mum so stressed. Still the next day I felt fine - I still don’t know why everyone was so cross. I guess if I’m honest I do need to work on my obsession with food as it has gotten me into trouble a few times. Be it eating a chicken bone off the street and having to get it removed by the vet or making new human ‘friends’ at the park only to learn that no they didn’t want to share their picnic with me.
Enough of food for now, what do I like to do? Like all Sealyhams I'm the perfect combination of couch potato and olympic athlete. I think it’s healthy to have a balance between chilling and adventure. So I love to climb the mountains of the Lake District on our trips but I absolutely adore getting comfy on the sofa.
Anyway you’re going to have tons of time to get to know me on the trip, so stay tuned for more adventures.
Hector and I hanging out
I’m sorry I ate the After Eight mints
Stan and I need wheels
Here’s the practical post (almost entirely).
I gave up my car when I embarked on the principle of ‘Doing more with less’. More on that in another post; but essentially the goal was to remove erroneous expenditure for things that either didn’t give me joy or had no use. The car certainly fell into the latter category.
So the task of sourcing the short term use of a car, with the right to travel to Europe at a cost-effective price was a fun research project. I knew I didn’t want to buy a car and go back to having something I didn’t really need long term - so either hiring or leasing were my options. Hiring a car for 5 weeks costs a bomb; so leasing definitely provided what I needed - if I could get it at the right price and with the right to travel to Europe.
My first ambition of doing the trip on public transport were dashed by the cost of getting Stan across the channel but the desire to ‘leave nothing behind’ was still on my mind. So first stop, electric vehicles. Was there an electric car our there that would meet my requirements and be kind to the environment?
And I really did try. There are some amazing short term leasing deals for electric cars through providers like Onto and Drive Fuze. The latter did not permit European travel for longer than 28 days. Onto did allow European travel. So I started to explore what it would look and feel like to drive an EV all the way to Italy. I dived into the mesmerising world of google maps to figure out it was feasible. You can find tons of EV route planning tools just by googling. The challenge for a journey of this length was figuring out which stops would have the fast charging points that would make the journey viable (i.e. no two hour stops waiting for the car to power up). Now if you have a TESLA it’s a lot easier by virtue of Tesla’s own fast charging points. I learnt that some of these were accessible to other car manufacturers but I couldn’t quite find a reliable source about which were and which weren’t. All in, after a particularly painful dream about being stranded with Stan whilst attempting to reach an EV charging point and running out of power I decided that, until the lower priced EVs had more range, this wasn’t a viable approach for me! Maybe next time.
So back to more standard options. I landed with a company called mycardirect and we’ll be traveling in a SEAT IBIZA. We took the car on a 3 month lease. What made them stand apart was their customer service. It was complicated needing to have confirmation that the European part of my journey was acceptable before the lease contract started. Some other firms either rejected the length of the trip, didn’t allow it at all or just said yes to every question with an eye on the income rather than the experience. It really did help to use review functions to see what others said about the companies’ reputation. Mycardirect had both a really cost effective monthly cost and could guarantee the VE103 paperwork on time for my trip.
So the car arrives two weeks today, the countdown is on!
Driving from London to Liguria
What got you here won’t get you there
Cancer treatment in 2019
It’s ironic that this phrase comes from business (Marshall Goldsmith) given its relevance for our personal lives. If, like me, you’ve had your AHA or WTF moment, be it sickness, death, divorce or all three, then perhaps there’s a tiny bit of you that has come to terms with or is even welcoming the fact that change isn’t a nice to have. It's essential.
And don’t get me wrong you don’t have to have a WTF moment to know that change is afoot. Last week my son headed off to university. The chats with other mums showed they were in the midst of a natural realignment of what their lives should be about. However you got there it can be both daunting and exciting to know your world focus is shifting.
I was incredibly driven throughout my life, so a key fear for me centred around whether I could find fulfilment outside of the challenges and rewards provided by work. My first opportunity to realise that came when I was diagnosed with early stage cancer. Weird I know, but bear with me. I got time off work.
Not just the two week annual holiday but proper time off work. I came to realise later that being off work for cancer treatment was not technically ‘time off’, But it did grant me a period of time where my focus, by default, had to be me.
The Chunnel is booked
In just over two weeks’ time Stanley and I will be on our way to the channel tunnel. It wasn’t straight forward figuring out how to get to Italy.
Initially I wanted to keep it simple and take the train - and then I discovered it’s not at all simple! No.1 you can’t take dogs on the Euro Tunnel so the dream of jumping on the tube to King’s Cross and arriving relaxed some days later in Paris and then on to Genoa were dashed.
Next up was seeing how I could get him across the channel - ferry or the Channel Tunnel. So, here’s the rub! The only way to get a dog over to France is either to book a taxi (yes, it’s expensive) or to use the service of Le Pet Express. I loved the idea of traveling with them - for 165 each way they take you and your dog in a custom van (cage on one side and seat next to it). But they were fully booked. Plus in the Summer Stan and I traveled to Scotland and when we returned by train he fell between the train and the platform. I did not want to experience again.
So that settled it, we were going to hire a car and drive to Italy. How hard can it be!