Away to St Malo

Saturday 15th to Wednesday 19th September 2007

I drive to Portsmouth on a warm sunny day to catch the 3.45pm Brittany fast ferry to Cherbourg. We arrive at our hotel (the Beaufort) at 10.30pm, unpack and go straight to bed. I ask the receptionist to put my two packs of GCSF in their refrigerator, having brought them over in a cool bag.

Sunday is a day of wall - to - wall sunshine. After a full French lunch I sleep on the beach for about two hours - lovely! Fortunately I put sun cream on my head and avoid any sunburn. Neither of us feel like eating anything in the evening so we stay in our room, reading, etc. I remember to do my GCSF injection - thanks to my mobile phone “reminders”. This hotel is a really good find!

Monday is wet and windy. We spend most of the day in the splendid hotel lounge / breakfast room with views out to cloud covered seas . I catch up with my blog - right up to date (!!!) and am able to go online with the hotel WiFi - the wonders of modern science! But I can only download emails, not send any for some inexplicable reason. We don’t feel like anything for lunch but make up with a rather good meal at a nearby brasserie in the evening.

We wake on Tuesday to a startling change of weather. Bright, breezy and fresh, with sun and racing clouds. I post the “Escape from Kings” week on to the internet blog before we venture out to the Citadel. There we have lunch, walk the ramparts and then back to the hotel along the sandy beach, by which time I have had enough exercise for one day. Again, I remember to do my GCSF injection before we are out for yet more excellent French food at another nearby restaurant.

Again I feel ok for driving and we take the coastal road to Concalle before getting on the main roads back to Cherbourg, in time for some lunch and shopping before a rough ferry crossing to Portsmouth. We are home about 9.15pm and I am tired!