Age is just a number!

I haven't written anything for a while as I have had "man-flu" and, before that, had a long week-end in the Loire valley in France.

The week-end in France has to have been one of the most enjoyable times of my life. As everyone who has had any dealings with the French know, their parties go on for days and their hospitality knows no bounds.

When I was at school in the early 1970's, I had a French pen-friend, as many of us did, but the difference with my pen-friend and I was that we kept in touch. When we left school, Patrick came over for a holiday with his mates and when I went to work in an hotel in 1978, after training at college, I stayed with his family for a week on the way home.

Patrick was my best man and his parents and wife came to my wedding. His family are really my family and vice-versa. When he rings my parents, he says "Hello Mum!"

My wife and I travelled to France the day after the tunnel was closed due to the fire, but the organisation was superb and we actually arrived on French soil a little earlier after travelling by ferry than we should have done if we had caught our scheduled train! The trip on the motorway was uneventful till we got to Paris and we took a wrong turn and ended up in the middle of Paris! Luckily, at a traffic light, I asked a lady if I was going in the right direction and she told me that I needed to turn around and go back! We got there in the end!

The party started then, Friday night, family meal and Saturday morning family breakfast. The rest of the 100 guests arrived at 1pm on Saturday and that went on with aperativs, lunch, wine, champagne, family entertainment, disco, band, dancing, magic, sing-songs etc etc till 1.30am.

The Sunday started with family breakfast for 30, lunch for 27 and dinner for a more cozy 12.

It was great to see my pen-friend's parents again as they have moved to the south of France and I haven't seen them for 19 years. Patrick and I generally get to see each-other and immediate families most years, but it is great to see the whole family and friends again. One of his friends, who also had an English pen-friend, was there and it was great to see him again after all these years.

We left at 5.30am on the Monday and came back to reality, a fantastic few days, reminding me that I can't really be 15, as Patrick was celebrating his 50th birthday and, as he always was six months older than me, I must be heading up that way too.

Can't be can I?

Glynn

:)