Road Warriors

Road Warriors - May 15 Day 91

The road is a tough master and it is clear you must not take too much stuff with you on a road trip.  It is also important though to bring everything you need or who knows that you might be restlessly turning the night away in a vain effort to sleep without an essential pillow or irritatingly having to alternate four crucial appliances on the one charging socket or reaching for a neccessary tiger and finding.... nothing there.  It could all have been so beautifully, perfectly sauvage under the elms by the banks of the Loire but we forgot the kettle! 

A felicitous compromise can surely be achieved but it is a fine line and the exact baggage requirements are different for everyone - although other’s choices will always be informative. The place for each item and how they are packed is another side of the same coin.

But beware the walking of fine lines is a dangerous game and despite the lure of pivotal gains in efficiency you just must not take their pursuit too seriously.  It is better in the longer view to be without a match then to be caught in the glare of the BBQ, late in the evening, animatedly propounding the relative virtues  of lighters (and their sub-categories) versus matches with whoever you can pin down to listen. Or lying in bed before anyone is up mentally reassigning the kitchen equipment or running through the steps to erect the awning.  It will never be the best topic to broach over breakfast.  Campsite bore is a bad look mostly male and not at all the Road Warrior of our dreams.  

Jo was quick to remind me when I was trying to lay down the law about putting things away, exactly where, that we are supposed to be enjoying our holiday and it cant be all about where I think the butter should be. Nevertheless, and however dangerous the ground some brave souls needs must impose shape on the pile of gear that will be our companion for the next nine weeks.

It is a thankless and worthless task if attempted alone but constructive and satisfying if we work together “as a team” Taran said.  Without Taran and Jo the awning would not have gone up neither our beds so dry snug and cosy.  Just remind me not to snap when my keys appear in the right hand glove compartment and allow me to remind you not to put the open olive oil back in the kitchen box and vice versa.  We’ll get along fine.  After a few weeks we’ll be so slick that the camp will simply appear with a snap of our mutual fingers. Magic.

In the morning I woke early in the heavy beamed loft room.  I had been warned of the possibility of mice falling from the rafters. I like other people’s mice all twitchy noses and whiskers but saw I none.  I came down to find Deidre lighting a fire in the kitchen grate.  So I took my bicycle to the village and returned with baguettes and croissant for all.  It really must be France.

We loved Peter and Deidre’s blissfully rustic retreat.

 

Just joking – jo’s photo from the walk in their village  –  Peter and Deidre’s place is on the right here. 

 

I had been troubled by the tailgate support I had fashioned from a telescopic paint roller handle.  With the weight of the tailgate when open and fully loaded with bikes if it slipped the whole lot could fall and cut someone attempting to access the boot in half.   I had felt vulnerable when leaning in and determined to heed the warning.  Peter helped me fashion a second support from sturdier timber “belt and braces” we agreed.

Our Oxford neighbours were so hospitable it was tempting to stay and marvel some more at spring arriving in the bucolic Creuse but we must get our heads down again.  The road waits not for man or beast.  Tonight we must reach The Ardeche.

As I said: Road warriors.