Well we are back home again after visiting the family in UK for Christmas.

We travelled over on Le Shuttle on the 22nd. Eurostar and the Tunnel had just had major problems, and the weather in Northern France was supposed to be awful, so we set off very early and got to Calais with about 3 ½ hours to spare, as all the problems had disappeared. Luckily they were able to put us on an earlier train, so we were able to visit a very old friend, Dave Makepeace, and his family who live very close to the Folkestone Shuttle terminal.

We then went to stay with our daughter Rachel in Tooting in South London. We visited our son Nick and his family in Leigh on Sea, my brother Martin and his family in Kingston (twice), Judy’s sisters Carol and Gill and brother Chris in Stevenage, another old school friend Richard Allnutt and his family, and we even managed to squeeze in some culture visiting the Turner exhibition at the Tate. We had a great time – especially thanks to Rachel.

We came back yesterday – a long day’s driving, and we were very glad to get home. It was noticeable on the motorways that there were lots of cars with Parisian plates also heading South – the French like to spend the big holidays with their families we are told.

We have cranked up the central heating again, I have slept for about 10 hours, and am gathering my strength to sort out the bits of official post we got when we were away – utility bills, health stuff etc. It’ll wait!

Happy New Year!