Whilst they’re burning, I pack my hand luggage and we’re ready to leave at 9:15...
An hour later we’re at Byres Road in Glasgow’s West End and partake of a fine breakfast at the Tinderbox, now officially my favourite breakfast venue in Glasgow. I opt for a waffle and a latte and Anne settles on a croissant and white coffee..
Then a quick visit to FOPP and Lost in Music, the little 2nd Hand Shop in DeCourcey’s Arcade, where I stumble upon a veritable cache of King Crimson Collectors’ Club CDs....
I purchase ProjeKct One’s “Jazz Café Suite”, a set of three “suites” compiled from the four nights of purely improvised music played on consecutive nights from 1st to 4th December 1997 by Robert Fripp, Trey Gunn, Tony Levin and Bill Bruford...
Oh, and even though I’ve packed Bill Bryson’s “A Short History of Nearly Everything” (I think it’s called), I buy a magazine for the plane, because of its Pet Shop Boys cover. It’s called “The Word” and is rather good and has a free CD attached...
Then back to the car and drive down to Prestwick Airport which is now totally non-smoking – and, in fact, has been so for a month already, ahead of tomorrow’s smoking ban in Scotland...
I hate the Scottish Parliament with a vengeance but have to admit that this act takes a bit of the sting out of the millions being poured down the drain to allow a bunch of failed union reps and teachers to partially legislate over the nation...
Overpriced airport lunch of a baguette for me and soup for Anne and, shortly, we’re on the plane where my headphones (Shure E2cs) completely block out all extraneous noises...
I use a map Anne has brought along, to track our route from the airport to the apartment we’ve rented in the heart of the Luberon region of Provence...
Marseilles is warm and sunny and the car hire goes smoothly but, within minutes of leaving the airport we have taken the almost inevitable wrong turn and all my plans made during the flight are rendered useless...
Nonetheless, within 90 minutes or so, via motorway and twisty windy roads negotiated in gathering darkness, we reach our target, the very small town of Cereste...
We are renting a converted tower (actually half a tower as it was partially destroyed in the French Revolution) in a 12th Century (built 1150) Castle owned by a nice wee lady who seems to have done it all up on her own and who lives in another, larger, part of the conversion...
We unpack and go out for a walk. The town is very small indeed and we decide to dine at the local hotel (the only hotel), taking advantage of their menu of the day. We each have a salad, a steak and some apple pie – but all in best French style and so all very tasty indeed...
Washed down with a bottle of lovely local red wine...
A good start to the holiday...
Highlight of the Day : The ex-Tower apartment outdoes our expectations...
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