Au Revoir

Stella

Oh, before I start telling my wonderful adventures with you, I just want to say that there are no more jokes of the day.  I know that you’re all a little sad, but cheer up, I’m going to tell my adventures with you now 🤩. So we awoke to a sunny  day and all of us had breakfast  Ah so peaceful.

Ok I’m back to being serious. We went to another museum (Natural History Museum) and it was so cool  but quite crowded.  We went to this really cool part were there was a dug up skull  of a ginormous T. rex. We even saw a skull  of a mammoth  and some birds and old fossils.

Then we went to the next museum (Science Museum & Planetarium) and we saw some things that you watch and you press a button and you move to see pictures of rocks and pictures of the planets.Today was so cool. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Mum was telling me and Daisy about solar eclipses. Today was so much fun 

Daisy

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow! The museums were absolutely amazing, fantastic and beautiful  all at the same time. It was so epic – you should have seen all the amazing, amazing, amazing, ok I think I’ll skip most of the 10,000,000,000,00 amazings. There was a gigantic, enormous geode. Inside of the geode was filled with amethyst, it was so beautiful  . Did you know that the rarest amethyst is called deep rusen. It is extremely rare and found with Dimonds. We also saw loads of stuffed birds, some were very funny .

Jac

I considered calling in sick today, thinking my copy would be one sneeze short of a blow! However, I decided to cough something up so I wasn’t left with a hanky full of disappointment and guilty residuals! If only I had a Days of Our Lives-esque clause in my contract which says “Unfortunately, due to illness, Jac’s writing space will be filled by JK Rowling”*

I’ve been sneezing my way through Dijon, having succumbed to the common cold. However, there is nothing common about sneezing in a 13th century Gothic church because the acoustics are amazing. The crescendo of an “ah ah ah” followed by the release of a strong ending ‘choo” reverberates around the ancient walls and saturates the air with a cumulus cloud of human essence. And when someone says “bless you”, it somehow completes the spiritual experience!

*Member of the international relief writers pool for those not wanting to permanently / temporarily commit to turning up each day to produce a 500+ page turner.

Dan

Words came tumbling out of my head when I awoke this morning.

Insomnia 

Talking men.

Stomping feet.

Slamming door.

Breathe…

Restless legs.

Moving sheets.

Creaking floor.

Breathe…

Ruminate.

Perseverate.

MEDITATE!

Breathe…

Quiet steps.

Sliding door.

Whispering child.

Breathe…

Dawn is breaking. 

Snuggle in.

Sleep at last.

Breathe!

After my restless night, I was keen to recharge the batteries. Call me crazy, but having a suitcase full of clean clothes really delivers the goods! This time around I had to seek out a laundromat, and I was all the more richer for the experience as I was fortunate to meet ‘Madame Laverie’ in the process.

Just a 6 minute walk to the Laverie in Place de la Banque (which actually took 15 as we overshot the turn off) Stella and I arrived to find all the 7kg front-loaders in full flight, with a 20 minute wait time, and Madame Laverie (ML for short) transferring her freshly washed clothes from the 13kg monster into 4 massive dryers in the corner.

An expert in her field, she assisted all who came in, offering advice & direction on navigating the payment & machine programming systems.  When it came time for me to access a machine, she dutifully came to assist and, before I knew it, I was sitting with Stella watching all the ‘Laverie’ action.

To be honest, I was surprised at the number of people requiring help, especially in how to add detergent (3 required this service, excluding myself). But the winner of the day was a 20-something sporty guy (SG), who would have looked much more at home on the soccer field. He accessed the ‘how to add detergent ML service’ before exiting the building. However, in trying to cram 3 bags of washing into the 13kg machine, SG neglected to notice that he had jammed the sleeve of a red top in its door. As the machine filled up and began its cycle, water started trickling out of the door and over the floor. SG, outside on his phone, was unaware of the unfolding drama. ML was also busy, organising her partially dried clothes between her allocated machines. Stella however spotted the problem and went over to alert ML, who she thought ran the joint.

Of course ML took immediate action, opening the door, calling out to SG and instructing him to come back to stop his machine. However, it wasn’t that simple. The pause button on the machine wasn’t working. Other customers tried to assist but nothing would stop that machine turning and the water flowing.  In the end SG was directed by ML to phone the number on the wall for assistance. SG exited the building on his phone and we (Stella and I) were left watching and waiting for a solution to unfold.

Which, inevitably, it did. The red shirt miraculously dislodged itself and the leaking stopped – just before the owner arrived.  This was the cheapest two hours of entertainment, in a laundromat, that I’ve had in a very long time!