Thursday, April 12, 2007
Another chilly night, although the oil-filled radiator did its job of keeping it cosy (until the ‘stat seemed to stop working – another thing to fix sometime). The bread lady came, and I bought some croissants and bread.
There was some discussion next door, as Russell was describing how he found Oscar unwell in the early hours of the morning, called a vet, who came out and diagnosed a twisted gut. Russell then had to follow the vet in his car at surprisingly high speed to the vet’s practice, where Oscar was operated on. Although the Weimaraner breed (and others of its type) are prone to this, and sometimes it can become quite serious, Russell got Oscar to the vet’s in time, and he was expected to make a full recovery.
After breakfast and showers (Annie’s was cold, and mine was cold, then warm, then cold, then hot), we took a drive towards St. Omer. We followed the river / canal for a few miles, watching a couple of unladen barges ploughing their way upstream – always a fascinating site for me, with their little Renault cars perched on the back, and a derrick there to lift them off. We came to the outskirts of St. Omer, and followed our noses until we found a Carrefour, and bought some stuff. Mainly some dishes.
We have a ‘thing’ – and this thing is an admiration for French crockery. The designs always seem more attractive than we can get back home, so when we’re in France, we always end up buying something – in this case, some bowls.
Taking the road towards the motorway, Annie saw a sign for the Auchen supermarket, which is supposed to be huge. The sign was pointing the wrong way, and was on the wrong side of the road, but we followed what we thought was the right road, and drove up a dual carriageway.
French signposts – they’re either good, or they’re very bad. Past experience has shown that signs to out-of-town shopping areas are frequent, and clear. These were neither. There was no sign, no sign, no sign … and then a sign to a Zone Industrielle. An industrial estate. As we sailed merrily past the junction, we saw the enormous Auchen sign, off to the left. Tsk. A quick trip around the next roundabout, and we were negotiating the decidedly unclear service roads.
Auchen – big supermarket, and a collection of other shops in the same building. And we bought – some more dishes. Of course. Although I did insist on buying some plates too. Let’s go wild, shall we?
Back to camp, lunch, and then a sit around, a wander, a chat or two, and a pleasant afternoon. We had a dinner of quiche and new potatoes and salad, and we welcomed Oscar back to the camp. Russell was relieved to get him back in one piece, even if he did have one of those lampshade things around his head to stop him nibbling at the stitches.
