19 April

Still no sign of either ADSL or an answer to my snotty letter by the time we left on Friday. Pleasant drive up to Annie's, with a stop for lunch in Moissac, where I spent some time during a boating holiday 35 years ago. (I grew a beard during that trip, and my chin hasn't been shaved since!) From there we did a bit more motorway as far as Agen, where we headed over to the beautiful Auvillar and Nérac and thence to Annie's via Casteljaloux. The road runs practically dead straight for mile after mile, part of it through the pine plantations of the Landes.

We arrived at Annie's to find a number of problems. The water heater had burst in the frosts. The water was off at the mains, and when I tentatively opened the stop cock outside, there were instantly shrieks of 'turn it off!' from inside the house. Fortunately, we managed to find an isolating cock on the boiler, so if there was no hot water, there was at least indoor sanitation and water for cooking. That wasn't all: her co-owner had left food out in the kitchen: it took the three of us two hours to clean up all the mouse shit. Worse still in the linen cupboard: something large had been nesting in there, with consequent mess. Fortunately the sheets and towels were in closed plastic trunks. Despite all that, we spent a couple of nights there, enjoying each other's company and the pretty countryside round about, and catching up with some old friends.

We left yesterday at sparrowfart, so the road as far as Bordeaux was practically empty - we passed three other vehicles. The traffic came and went a bit, but by the time we reached Le Mans, our average speed (not counting lunch and comfort breaks) was 73 mph. Even taking into account all the stop-go stuff in Le Mans (which was lousy with motorbikers) and at the tunnel, as well as the return through Kent on speed-limited roads, our overall average was still 64 for the whole journey, and we got over 38 miles to each gallon.

Nice to be home. It was a good surprise that a lot of my seedlings have survived being dumped in the cold frames for over 2 weeks. The daffodils are going over, but other things are starting: fritillaries, polyanthus, primroses and aubrieta are in full flower, as well as a few stalwart pansies. One or two of the echinaceas I started last year from seed are growing strongly, and all the hostas we got from a colleague are starting into growth in their pots. Of the four in the ground, only one is showing signs of life so far. The grass needs a cut, but with Green Thumb coming to do their stuff on Wednesday, it's too late: I won't be able to tackle it till next weekend now. Good excuse for a lazy day, eh?