Last Saturday I was praying for the Volcanic Ash cloud to stay away and yesterday I was praying for it to come back so that we could stay in our Paradise for a little longer. Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be and I am now consoling myself in the Lyonnais sun, knowing that I’ll be going back to the Western Algarve in just 4 weeks so I’m now back to hoping that that Icelandic volcano that no-one can pronounce stays away again.
I’ve unpacked and have spent the morning wondering how men can travel so lightly? How on earth do they do it? I was quite proud of myself last week when packing, as my pile of clothes on the bed waiting to be packed appeared to be quite small compared to what I had been used to packing over the years. I congratulated myself thinking that my sailing trip last winter where our baggage was restricted in size and quantity had done me some good. Maybe, but not as much as Hubby! He put me to shame and my pile seemed like a mountain next to his little hill.I was so worried that he really hadn’t taken enough clothes and had forewarned my Mum that we would need to do some washing. He had packed 1 swim shorts, 4 t-shirts, 4 shirts, 1 pair of shorts, 1 jumper, a pair of Crocs and had jeans which he was travelling in.
I on the other hand packed 4 dresses, 2 bikinis, 7 tops, 2 pairs of trousers, 3 pairs of shoes, 2 beach wraps, 4 jumpers/cardigans plus the clothes and shoes I was travelling. This really didn’t seem like a lot and I definitely had plenty to wear, but unpacking the suitcase now I’ve realised that half of it has gone unworn! I was never a Girl Guide but did go to the Brownies a couple of times so could it be them that trained me to pack for every eventuality?
Our suitcase weighed in at 25 KG so I’ve made a mental note to myself that if I ever travel Ryanair I will have to get Hubby to do my packing, otherwise my excess baggage charges may just be as much as my ticket! Thankfully we were travelling Easyjet so no problems, how I love Easyjet!
What really annoys me though, is that I had left a load of my toiletries in Portugal to save weight in the suitcase and to save me having to pack them again in 4 weeks time. Shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen… you name it, I’ve left it there to make more room in my suitcase (for more shoes maybe?). I was seriously regretting the sunscreen this morning though as I’d vowed in my quest against ageing never to go in the sun without adequate protection again and to my horror, this morning I realised that I had left all my sunscreen in Portugal bar my special factor 50 face cream!
Determined to be able to enjoy the sun whilst respecting my resolution to protect my skin, I searched amongst the hundreds of lotions and creams I appear to collect and eventually came up with some spray on sunscreen, factor 20. Perfect I thought, until I started spraying it on. A weird odour of celery caught my nose before the stinging sensation on my skin started. I think the lotion has turned into a celery scented vinegar! Anyway, it’s on now and I’m writing this sitting in the sun and so far no adverse affects…
Jims British MarketWhen we arrived back in Geneva yesterday, I remembered that there was a British supermarket not to far away so I convinced Hubby to take us there on the way back to Lyon. Battling with TOM TOM who did not appear to want to go anywhere, yet alone a British supermarket we eventually made it there and I entered into English heaven as I explored the aisles of food and delights.
I noticed how brightly coloured all the packaging was compared to French supermarkets and everything just seemed to scream BUY ME, YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT ME! I was shocked by the prices, everything was so expensive but compared to some of the websites some people here had suggested at least I wasn’t having to pay excessive delivery charges and I suppose that Jim (whoever he is) had gone to the trouble of getting all this to France to start off with so given the price of petrol these days and the fact that he is a French business, mark up does have to be high for him to even begin making a profit!
Anyway, not put off by the prices I indulged in several items such as proper bacon, tomato and onion relish, sticky toffee pudding, Kettles Crisps (how good are they compared to the skinny Lays crisps in France!), Angel Delight, Lazy chilli and my favourite, a chicken and mushroom pie amongst other items.
I did notice that they didn’t have any Cadburys Cream Eggs with dismay, but it’s not really the season and I am well stocked up again thanks to my Mum and Dad who made sure that they bought me some more stock 🙂
Jim’s British Market & Tea Room Website
So this morning, not only am I sitting in the sun all relaxed and covered in sunscreen, but I’ve also enjoyed a somewhat English breakfast of bacon, egg and tomatoes!
Now I think I’ll have a go on the Google Pacman they’ve set up to celebrate Pacman’s 30th anniversary – you can actually play it by using your arrow keys, quite addictive! Gosh, who’d have thought I’m nearly as old as Pacman? I hope I haven’t aged as much as that game has!
I really don’t know how men do it either. D packs like he’s going away for a weekend and not two weeks. Me? I pile my clothes up, then remove some, and still I end up not wearing it all! Why does this happen?
And I love Pacman! Pacman’s only 30?! Oh lord, I’m older than Pacman?!?!
Maybe we should spy on them and watch how they go about packing? There must be some thought process that goes into it which we’re missing?
Pacman… my fave game for ages and ages! Its gone from Google today but I had fun playing it yesterday 🙂
Oh, that bacon + fried english breakfast, I am literally salivating…
Celery scented vinegar! Is your skin still ok??
Breakfast was absolutely delicisous, but the bathroom scales were not too happy this morning!
My skin is okay, although I think I was lucky – it came up in spots so I will be throwing that stuff out and buying some more!
Oh Yum!!! That is wonderful! My mouth is watering and I can smell the bacon and tomatoes.
Easyjet is the BOMB. I love Easyjet so much and have had the best luck with them. I mean, they are definitely budget, no frills travel. But they are very cheap and very easy. I make Easyjet sound like a loose slattern, lol. Really, though, I love booking with them for no hassles.
But they are *very* stingy with the suitcases and when they say “one carry on bag” they mean ONE — none of this purse and carry on business, unless the purse is one of those itty bitty little document bags or something else small that can fit in the larger carry on.
I think women pack more because we have X chromosomes and uteruses. I cannot figure it out, either. And while I am here, spell check is saying that “uteruses” is not a word, lol. Does anyone know the plural for uterus? Uteri? Oh. Apparently “uteri” is correct, ha! I did not know this.
Yes, sounds like some new sunscreen is in order. The way you describe it makes it sound like it smells like pee. Anyone who has had little ones around in diapers will know that diaper pee takes on the odor of cooking celery (IMO) once it has been around for a while. I love it when my sunscreen smells like a piña colada, thankyouverymuch!! 😀
Karin, I have a way round Easyjets on bag rule! I only ever book one suitcase (you’re allowed to have up to 32kg) and then I have a big travel bag (squishy one) and a normal size handbag (I think this is what you call a purse oui?). I can then carry a few books, sweaters, anything I forgot to put in suitcase (except liquids of course) and then at the last minute I put my handbag in the squishy bag (quite often the handles and part of the bag are still sticking out and I can barely lift it) and hey presto! One bag! Coz it’s squishy I can even pretend it fits in their boxy thing…
OMG – it could have been pee that I sprayed all over me! It stung my skin as well, not that I have ever had pee sprayed over me but I would imagine it would sting no? THAT’S DISGUSTING! Someone must have peed in my sun screen! It was the clearish stuff so probably the same colour and there wasn’t much left so probably about pee size! YUCK YUCK YUCK!!!
I am not good with English words so uteruses or uteri, either will do 🙂 Although if you hadn’t said what you were talking about I would NOT have known what uteri meant! I have taken on Frenglish – watch out! May happen to you!
I’m going to have to send my husband to you for training. He always takes HUGE PILES of clothes, at least four times as much as me; although on our recent holiday he did manage to screw up by forgetting his long trousers and jackets – but never mind, he remembered to pack the smart suede boots which he had nothing to wear with. 😀
Your OH must think that he’s either going to get dreadfully dirty and have to change lots of times everyday, or he’s a boy scout, preparing for every occasion 🙂 I’m sure my Hubby would train him well although I think mine’s just as bad in the forgetfulness department… Last holiday was very similiar to you, packed the nice shoes but nothing to wear with them!
Yummy yummy! That has just made me so hungry! I think I might treat myself this weekend…
Can you get proper bacon easily where you are then? If so, I’m so jealous!
That breafast looks so so good! The first thing I do when back in Dublin (besides Starbucks) is put on a big fry!
Thanks! That breakfast is probably solely responsible for my weight gain – LOL! I love fry ups, thankfully for my waist I can’t get the ingredients.
Oh how I love Dublin! I got the chance to go a few times and fell in love with the city… and the taxi drivers! I’ve never encountered such nice taxi drivers in my life 🙂 Are you from Dublin?
Starbucks! I have one a ten minute walk away from here, sometimes I go for cravings and cinammon buns but its just a bit too far to walk to get take out coffee which is a shame.
My mother is from Dublin. I moved there from the states and lived there for six years before moving to France.
Ugh! Why can’t they put one Starbucks in Provence! I think there might be one in St Remy or something (maybe) but that isn’t close to me at all. All I want is to be able to go shopping in Aix or Avignon with my grande vanilla latte in my hand.
[…] many expats live around here and there aren’t any Brit food stores (the closest one I know of is Jim’s near Geneva). So imagine my surprise when I was in Monoprix yesterday and came across Mince Pies?! I yelped […]