i went to condom, hehehe

Hehe a condom machine at Condom

The forecast had predicted thunderstorms this weekend, which a few days ago seemed incredibly unlikely. However, overnight, it made good on its threat. Dad got up in the night to bring in some towels drying on deck. I was woken a couple of times by the boat moving in the wind and the thunder. There was also a little bit of lightening. It calmed down a bit by the time we surfaced, but it put paid to my idea of a morning run.

Today was our last day on the boat. We have it for another night but we have to have it at he port at Valence-sur-Baise by 9am tomorrow so we spend the night there. We'd found some more English books at Vianne so I spent most of the morning finishing off mine - sort of a Dan Brown Di Vinci Code type thing. The French must think us English speakers like our thrillers. They are the only type of books we've been able to find. We pulled in Condom for lunch. And yes, we all had a chuckle at the name. After lunch, which has been ham salad sandwiches for more than a week now, and a fruit salad to clean out the fridge, we left Dad to snooze while the rest of us explored the town.

It was a Sunday so not much was open - although it always takes us a while to work that out. It's very easy to lose track of what day it is plus most stores close for a couple of hours over lunch. Seems like a very nice way of doing things to me. I'd happily work a couple of extra hours to take a nap in the middle of the day. I've quite become accustomed to a little nanna nap, or two. It's usually quite unintentional. I lay down to read my book and before you know it, I'm being woken when we stop for a lock (although I usually pretend to still be asleep to get out of rope duties).

The only things open in Condom were restaurants and cafes. We stopped to look in some windows and check out some real estate ads. So far I've picked out several places I could live. After checking out the local church and winding through a few narrow streets we head back to the boat, wake the father, and set off again. One of the last locks we meet closes a little bit earlier so we want to make sure we get there in time.

Over the course of the day the sun makes an appearance, but the heat is nothing compared to what we got earlier in the trip. We arrive at Valance to find out that everyone is enjoying the weekend. And we do mean everyone. Kim and Toby went for a ride and the only place open is a restaurant at the port. Luckily, the showers and toilets here are left unlocked as the port office is also closed. That means the first shower in a couple of days for me - and well earned too after I went for a run around the town. Running past paddocks of sunflowers and an abbey certainly makes a change from the Shorewell Creek track with Cassie.