Where were we?
No prizes….
But we remain safe and healthy and we continue to comply with all lockdown requirements. The surroundings could be a lot worse.
Where should we have been?
We hesitate slightly to put this in here, but we sort of want to keep track of what could have, should have happened. If it starts to depress us too much. We’ll stop.
So, in the Covid-19 free parallel universe, on Sunday, after a lovely five days in Paris (where we enjoyed meeting friends) and armed with new Mongolian visas, we got a late train to Mannheim. We changed trains there (at about 11.30 pm – no one was scratchy and tired at all) and got our first overnight train (all six of us in one compartment) arriving in Hamburg for breakfast (some of us had hamburgers – because we “had to!”).
Then on to another train to arrive in Copenhagen for lunch, as you do. Two and a half great days with friends there who we hadn’t seen since we got married. Then on to an overnight boat to arrive in Oslo yesterday morning. We are staying with more friends – including one of Aurora’s best friends: she’s been waiting for this bit all trip.
What did we do?
Much of this week was the same as the previous three, but here are the bits that were different, and the things we learned:
Gel nail polish does not set properly in the sun.
At our sister-in-law’s suggestion, we filled in one of those “tell us your story” boxes on the BBC sport website: Have your plans to go to the Olympics changed because of the Coronavirus? We got a very speedy email back from a journalist and Harriet ended up being interviewed over Skype on Tuesday. We will let you know as and when we have a moment of fame.
Ben completed a jigsaw that is so hard it is only attempted once every twenty years. Actual fact.
The tooth mouse (we’re in France, no fairies here) is still operating despite Coronavirus. We do not know if mice are suceptible to the virus, but we trust it washed its hands.
Some years ago we were here on holiday and Sophie’s tooth fell out. The tooth mouse came and left her a €2 coin (excellent exchange rate from the tooth mouse there) and in the morning, a parent, who shall remain nameless, took her to the boulangerie and, in the spirit of excellent dental health, allowed her to spend her new coin on anything she liked. She came back with a meringue the size of her head which she proceeded to eat for breakfast….
Apparently this is now a tradition.
Five out of six of us have now downloaded MarioKart. We compete against each other. Some of us consistently come last.
We spent a lot of time and had a lot of fun exploring the river at the bottom of the hill. Shoes and socks don’t dry as quickly in the sun as you might think.
Skipping is like riding a bike. You really don’t forget, even after a thirty year hiatus.
The hawthorn on the way down to the river is bursting into a froth of white blossom.
Aurora had a day in charge. She set her own schedule (presentation not her finest point), designed an academic schedule (write about your dream holiday… Erm… Not having a pandemic would be a start), planned and helped cook the meals and sadly didn’t manage to beat Ben at Risk.
Magnus wowed us with his holiday descriptions. Spelling notwithstanding.
Ben met a baby mouflon (prehistoric sheep) in the mini-market.
It has been too hot to sit in the sun without burning (we are factor 50 types and that was another thing we planned to buy en route – even we didn’t need it in Germany in February). We could call that a bad thing, but our vitamin D stores are loving it.
The 1984-era Trivial Pursuit set has come out for late-night competitiveness. Harriet is currently 2:1 up.
About seven and a half years ago, and about three weeks after we came up with the idea of this trip, Harriet bought herself an Olympic t-shirt in Sainsbury’s. It was on sale as the Olympics were over. It has sat, unworn, in her drawer and then rucksack ever since waiting to be worn at the Olympics this Summer. With the Olympics now postponed, and the weather really too warm for merino, it came out this week. It already has hair dye (Aurora and Sophie) on it.
Magnus also had a day in charge. We’re in the middle of it as we type. We’re having fondu for supper and then challenging each other on Mario Kart. Plus ça change…
Our photo competition this week, in which we were inspired to recreate classic paintings, was a huge success and lots of fun to do.
How was it?
Good bits
Harriet: The weather has been glorious. It is so good to spend time outside in the sun. Some of our walks have been wonderful as a result, albeit short. It has been fantastic watching the children explore down by the river – we are so lucky to have that within five minutes (downhill anyway) of the front door. Our photo competition was brilliant. I’m so chuffed with all of the results and they really were all properly collaborative efforts. I was very proud of my hot cross buns!
Sophie: We’re about to have Fondue tonight. Aurora’s day was more fun than normal days, I’m not sure exactly why, but it just was. Being a cherub was fun, and clambering about in the river to get Lucy’s photo was good too. My friend Zara sent us girls some nice bracelets.
Ben: Having little variation to the days, and very few obligations, has been both a blessing a curse. As far as the blessing part goes (this is the good bits bit after all) our walks, the weather, the food, and the views remain spectacular. I loved our recreations of artworks, and the reactions they got.
My runs have been getting longer, and I have enjoyed feeling healthier. The simple pleasure of a clean house is also not to be sniffed at, especially when you have as many allergies as me.
Lucy: It was lovely to feel thought about getting bracelets. It seems daft but I enjoyed Daddy bringing Head and Shoulders 2in1 from the supermarket. The river has been really fun and an enjoyable way to spend the morning. The video call to Ele was a nice way to see them [Ben’s parents]. We found the best way to listen to Harry Potter during quiet time without arguing – with Sophie and Aurora on the bed drawing and me making pom-poms on the armchair. Hot Cross Buns.
Aurora: Hot Cross Buns, and I liked bossing people about on my day in charge. Watching Jumanji was fun. I am looking forward to Fondue tonight. I had a good facetime with Maia and others. I enjoyed dressing the same as Sophie for a day.
Magnus: I enjoyed everyone joining MarioKart tour and racing against them. I waited so long to be boss for a day, and it happened today. Playing cars with Daddy was good. I liked eating tarts with Ele on the video call for her birthday. It was funny because it was a bit crazy. Throwing rocks in the river was the best part of our walks.
Bad bits
Sophie: I had to climb up from the river twice (once for a walk and once for Lucy’s photo) which I did not appreciate. This week has been better though.
Aurora: I still miss Duplo A loads. Sometimes my family annoy me.
Harriet: If I’m honest – and this is me putting myself out to be judged here, which is not something I do lightly or with any degree of comfort – I am finding the increased contact with home, which in many ways is so delightful, a challenge too. I am realising that I find being (or perhaps feeling) under an obligation difficult – if people expect me to do things, albeit something as simple as calling them at an agreed time – there is the risk that I may let them down; Be late; Say the wrong thing; Not have good enough internet; Not do what they expected me to do; Be not good enough. By taking myself away from our usual life I took myself out of all obligation to anyone other than the five people I live with and I now realise that that lifted a huge weight of anxiety and pressure off me. I cannot live as a hermit and so this is something I have to learn to deal with: I suspect that people’s expectations of me are not quite as high as mine are of myself.
I also worry slightly that we are becoming a group of people who are living separate lives (jigsaws, crochet, books, Instagram, lego) in the same place and not really interacting with each other at all. Or at least enough.
Lucy: I haven’t enjoyed when anyone has been scratchy generally. It’s slightly scary that we are already a good way through the Half Blood Prince and have finished the massive Order of the Phoenix.
Ben: Last week I wrote about enjoying the slower pace, and the lack of obligations. This week I have enjoyed those aspects less, particularly passing both the 60 days and 2 month milestones without seeing an end to lockdown on the horizon. We still have almost two thirds of our trip ahead of us, in terms of time, and there’s a lot of adventure to be had in four months, or even two or three if that’s what we get.
This sounds like a whinge when I read it again. Many people are in much worse situations, whether health, company, job, location or any other aspect of this bizarre situation. I am very grateful for what I and we have.
Magnus: Fighting. I hate it but it seems like I’m at the centre of every bit, and I don’t know why.
How are the tadpoles?
Doing well, thank you for asking. They don’t seem particularly interested in our lovingly frozen and defrosted manky ends of salad, preferring to nibble at the algae and other things (lots and lots of tiny worms) that appear naturally in their various pools. The outside sink colony are properly hatched and swimming busily. They still have their external gills. The bird bath crew are growing well (maybe now 3 cm long) and are getting more of a frog-like shape to their bodies. Up close you can see that they are becoming more greeny grey and spotty too.
What did we eat?
A mouflon was, actually, the second most exciting thing that Ben found in the mini-market that morning. He also found live yeast.
So we made pizzas. And hot cross buns.
And we had lovely tarts too.
And the plastic?
Again, more of the same really. We have redisovered “pot pots” (ie fruit puree in yoghurt pots – why don’t we have these in the UK (other than branded as weaning food – that’s business idea number 3,857 by the way) which are delicious but do generate more plastic waste, as do yoghurts. We need to wean (pun intended) ourselves off them.
What’s next?
The French government has confirmed that lockdown here will continue beyond 15 April, although we don’t yet know when it will be extended to.
Lucy’s birthday is on 21st April so we are busy plannning that. the original intention was for us to be in St Petersburg then (and then on an overnight train to Moscow) so the reality will be slightly different, but at least this way she will get a home made cake. We’ve even located some candles. Like everyone else we’ve had lots of practice at singing happy birthday recently…
