Woke after a much welcome deep sleep and had tea in bed for the first time since leaving the motor caravan. You were right Alison, it was good to be back on the boat. We are berthed close to the quay. It is not far to walk to the boulangerie for our morning croissants etc, although we do hear people walking past. At 8.15 a.m. we were roused from our bed by Southern Princess John knocking on the hull to let us know that a lunch had been arranged at the hospitality school where Sabine's son Mark works, and we had a minibus booked for 10.45. Basia and Williwaw were going by car, and Southern Princess, Storyteller, Harmonie and Lady Kay were going in the minibus. It was great to see everyone again.

The school restaurant was very pleasant. The restaurant is in a wooden structure in the local style. The college is building a larger one but I doubt that it will have the same atmosphere. The students tried very hard and we had a great lunch and, apart from a slight disaster with the first batch of banana flambe, all went smoothly. We stopped off on the way back to buy some strawberries from the strawberry farm, and it was interesting to see that all their strawberries were grown on benches high off the ground. They were very tasty but went soft very quickly so we cooked up the remainder.

Got back to the boat, had a drink with Don and Anne and then had a quiet couple of days working on the boat and provisioning before the cocktail parties started on Friday. You were right Tony! See next instalment!