3rd and 4th June - Goodbye meal

We're making the most of our last week by heading out on our walks on as many occasions as possible. Today, Monday, we did our 'fields' walk, which takes just under an hour. After a bit of a touch-up we met our good friends Mats and Marianne at Le Comptoir for coffee at 11am. We have known both of them the entire time we've been in Ceret. Mats is Swedish and Marianne Norwegian. They got together as a couple perhaps 8 years ago. Mats is retired but is a very keen renovator. They've just decided to sell up Marianne's large house and garden, buy a small apartment in the centre of Ceret and spend more of their spare time with their extended families in Scandinavia.

John and I have both thoroughly enjoyed getting to know a number of Scandinavians here. We seem to be on a similar wavelength with those we've met and have shared some great times together. Magdalena, who we met yesterday for coffee, is Romanian but has lived and worked in Sweden for many years as a doctor. Her children are at a similar stage in life as ours, and she had one son working in IT in San Francisco for many years. 

As we were staying our goodbyes to Mats and Marianne, Mats asked if we'd like a lift to Barcelona airport on Friday morning. Our plan had been to catch the 6.40am 1 Euro bus from Ceret to Perpignan, then the Flixbus from Perpignan to Barcelona, walk (shuffle) with our bags the 1.4km to Place de Catalunya and catch the bus to the airport. It's our usual mode of departure. It is doable, but would take an extra amount of energy with all our luggage this time. However, M&M said they were very happy to take us to the airport and then spend the day in Barcelona. We have taken them up on their kind offer. 

The afternoon was given over to shuttling a lot of stuff to the bins in the nearby carpark. We have also filled the clothes recycling bin to the hilt. We'll have to take our last load to another recycling bin further away. The mezzanine is now all shipshape and cleaned. We spent quite a while weighing our bags, extracting some things already packed and juggling items between bags. The end result is that the bike box weighs 20.5kg, one suitcase is 14.5kg and the other 15kg. That totals 50kg, our combined limit. The cabin bags weigh 7kgs and our 'handbags' are far too heavy to contemplate and we hope they don't get weighed. In addition, I'll be wearing a winter jacket under my heavy raincoat, with pockets filled with cheese (a must), nutbars and umbrellas. John's 'handbag' will have the laptop, electronic gear, toilet bag and miscellaneous items. He will also be wearing a heavy jacket with his pockets stuffed. Alas, we've had to pull out the bottle of amaretto we bought in Spain. Our new owners will no doubt enjoy it. 

Tuesday morning saw us walk our Le Ventous route but we did it backwards this time (in direction not be walking backwards!). The days are definitely warming up and by mid-morning it's typically reached the mid-20s However, the temperature is topping out at about 27 at the moment. After I'd cleaned all the windows and we'd vacuumed and mopped most of the floors, we feel as though we've got our countdown to having the apartment all prepped pretty much under control. 

Another shower and we were off to a rendez-vous lunch with all our English and two Aussie friends. A local restaurant had been booked for 12.30pm. The day was very sunny and hot but the sun umbrellas helped immensely. Some nice words were exchanged and it was made pretty clear that we are generally thought of as being rather mad with the way we exercise so much and seem to disappear into the hinterland on trips of exploration. However, our friends were prepared to overlook this oddity and have enjoyed our friendship over the years. Likewise, they have definitely contributed to our experience of Ceret. 

Our farewell lunch

It will indeed be sad to say farewell, and some of those present had tears in their eyes. 'Drinks' have already been organised at Le Comptoir for Wednesday evening, prior to our departure on Friday morning. John and I have struggled with the exceeding regularity of evening drinks while here, but guess it is the English equivalent of going to the corner pub frequently. Having said that, a number of those present at lunch longer drink alcohol because of health and other issues. 

In fact, probably half of our friends have at least one very serious health concern. One couple has had to abort their stay here, change their airfares and head back home next week because of adverse blood test results. It's all rather disturbing. Most are 10-15+ years older than us, but not all. 

We felt the rest of the afternoon called for us to be horizontal, with our feet up watching the tennis. First though we popped into our local AXA office and terminated our car insurance. One more thing off the list, tick.

It will be just salad for dinner!