We are suffering from a new and unnamed syndrome: Adventure Loss Anxiety. It has put us into a bit of a funk, poised as we are on the knife edge of fearing the end of our wonderful adventure and longing to be home. Wandering as we have for the past five weeks, always moving to different places, seeing different scenes and landscapes we now want some stability, but with adventure thrown in.
We have had time to begin to think about what we have learned over the past year, what we want to bring to our Toronto life from our La Rochelle life and to try and make a few plans about how to do that. We are bringing back our unfinished projects with renewed energy to tackle them differently (including weight loss-nothing like a few Devon cream teas or English breakfasts to throw that into disarray!!). We are beginning to see that our return to Toronto will be an adventure in itself. We are different; everyone we know has been through their own year of change and adventure; we want to live a bit differently. All of this helps us to see that really our adventure isn't over and that one of the things we have learned is to see the adventure in everyday activities.
We are enjoying these last few weeks. They have been filled with visits with friends whom we won't see again for some time and we have had some relaxing times together wandering the English countryside. In spite of unseasonably cold and rainy weather, even for the UK, we managed to have some great hikes across the moors and along the cliffs.
Our friend in Cornwall took us to visit some very old tin mine sites and then to an excellent play, produced in a large tent in the middle of the Cornish countryside.
We slept in ancient hotels, full of atmosphere, and continued to meet interesting and welcoming people. One day we lunched at the British Legion Café, run by local women. As we were looking for accommodation by the seaside, I asked if they knew of a place where we could see and hear the waves. "Oh, Betty will know that " they said, and sure enough Betty sent us off to the Hartland Quay Hotel, right on the edge of the cliffs, where by chance their "best room" was available. The waves crashed on the rocks through the night, we could watch the activity on the beach and at the end of the day see the sunset—all my heart's desires in one little place.
Now we are in London, saying goodbye, before we set off for our week in Paris. Not a week of sightseeing but rather lovelier times with family and friends. And then, September 9 in the early morning we will say goodbye to this amazing time as we board Air Canada for the flight home. I expect there will be some tears; of sadness for what we are leaving behind, of joy because we will be on our way home, of amazement for all we have done and of laughter for all the funny and wonderful things that we have experienced.
We don't think this will be the end of the blog. No promises about every week but this is not goodbye but rather
A bientôt nos amis!
