In a few days we’ll be driving to Orly and flying to Barcelona. This won’t happen without certain things falling into place. The couple from Auckland who are petsitting for us arrive tomorrow afternoon. Naturally this has sent Susie into a veritable frenzy of dusting and vacuuming, whilst I, an oasis of calm, sit at the computer raising my legs when required to allow for the passage of a Dyson (it could be a Vax but I’m not sure which is designated for ground floor use).

We are almost packed, though this task was not completed without some drama. Vacuum bags designed for packing your clothes had been purchased. Not a brilliant idea, as by the time you have rolled up the clothes and expelled the air the resultant package is twice as bulky as laying the clothes flat. The idea was ditched when we couldn’t get the case closed….

So, our clothes and other essentials are in the case which is a couple of kilos below the limit. Apartment owners in Girona and Barcelona have been contacted. Susie has printed out reams of instructions, tickets for buses and airplanes, confirmations of restaurant bookings and of course the many pages of her chocolate research. It’s about this time I begin to wonder if we’ll ever get there. Thankfully though, one of us is organised….and it isn’t the one writing this blog.