Skip to main content

Seaside Towns

A couple of weeks ago the local carnival in my son's very small town took place.  It was only the schools that took  part but there were lots of floats made by staff, parents and pupils and the whole town came out to wave them past.  The children on the floats had a lovely time and the local park was given over to stalls, bouncing castles, trampolines etc.  Altogether it was a great, successful day.

Sunday we went  to Bognor Regis, a fairly large seaside town.  The roads were closed because it was carnival day so we parked the car and went to have a look.  Leading the parade was a marching band, followed by a truck with some indeterminate theme on it.  Then came some men on tandems dressed in World War I uniforms, another truck, a giant yellow thing, a St John's ambulance and a fire engine.  The most pathetic carnival parade I have ever seen.   So come on Bognor, you can do better than that, instead  of proving that the UK seaside towns really are dying.

Walking to town my 3 yr old grandson and I came across a car with a wheel and multiple pieces of engine lying on the ground.  A man was working on a piece when my grandson stopped and asked, 'are you trying to figure out what's wrong with it?'  The man smiled wryly and nodded.  'Do you know where all the bits go?'  asked my grandson.  The man looked up and said, 'I hope so'.  'Do you want me to help you?'  The man smiled and shook his head.  'That bit goes there,' my grandson said pointing to a greasy part next to the man's foot.'  I was about to pull him away before he became too annoying when the man picked up the piece and laughed.  'You're right, thank you', shaking his head in disbelief.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

D day lasts 3 days

 This morning, with my head full of things I still have to do, I got on the tram and forgot to scan my ticket.  The inspector got on 2 stops later and said I had to pay 45€ for this lapse.  Why can't I scan it now?  a reasonable question in my opinion, was met with scorn, so I  paid up.  On the tram back from the hospital there she was again and checked my ticket with glee.  While she was doing that a young man got on, sat down  and did not show any sign of even having a ticket, let alone scanning one.   The inspector passed him by without a second glance.   Today is the last day for packing and organising.  Tomorrow the removal company will arrive at 6am to take it all away and put it in storage.  Tomorrow night I will sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor and Thursday I go to the hospital to be nuked for the last time.  The sleeping bag is the one that saved me from hypothermia when a friend and I were lost for ...

I'm Free

 After being incarcerated in my son's house waiting for the results of the day 2 test I was finally allowed out today.  I went to Chichester and was saddened by the number of familiar shops that have disappeared from the town centre.  Bognor is the same.  You wouldn't die of thirst in either town though as the number of cafes has increased.  Both town centres were busy making it difficult to keep a safe distance from others but many people were wearing masks in the street. I was pulled over by Customs in Caen.  As I opened the trunk of the car one of the officers asked me if I was carrying goods.  'Yes,' I replied, ' French Champagne and French wine'  They nodded approvingly and waved me away. During my 3 days in the house, I have cleaned, filed all their paperwork, mended the shower, cooked dinner and tried watching television, the latter being totally uninspiring.  The news consists of covid, travel restrictions, forbidden Christmas parties...

How Apt

 As the sewage piles up around the apartment I think it is appropriate that we highlight World Toilet Day, which took place yesterday.  I have lived in countries where sewage systems were non-existent and where toilets were a luxury, even outside but I didn't really expect to endure the same in the middle of Saumur.  However, after 4 weeks, tomorrow will see workmen arrive to deal with the problem.  Please don't let there be a strike.  When they have fixed the broken  pipe we have to work out what we do with all that sewage just laying around.  I don't normally wish for torrential rain, or any rain at all, but please can it pour down on Friday?   The mairie phoned yesterday to say that they had spoken to the Prefecture who had given them a telephone number that I can ring to get an appointment to change the address on my identity card.  It is the same number I have been dialling for weeks and which is always busy. I read that Boris Johns...