Remember how I was going to the shipyard in France for work, fly then to Istanbul to meet Elizabeth, enjoy the glories of Turkey, pick up a Seabourne ship and cruise to fabulous destinations throughout the Aegean ending in Athens where we were going to spend a magnificent few days absorbing culture?
Remember how I worked on these plans for months and how I was going to leave September 12th? Didn’t work out, did it.
So then Elizabeth was NOT going to Turkey and anyway by the time flights were available the yard was grumbling for me to ‘get to the meetings, and now would be good’.
Amazingly enough, for me anyway, without even an hour on the internet, without calling for days to get agent rates, without even a guide book I decided to stay in France, rent a car and visit the Pyrenees.
This is Le Castel Marie-Louise in La Baule, a very elegant resort town just down the road from the very less than elegant shipyard. Usually we stay in shipyard facilities and this time I got to stay in La Boule at the Marie-Louise. Things were looking up.