This morning was devoted to catching up with emails etc, while we had a reasonable signal strength on the SFR Webtrotter. Around noon, we then cycled to Coussan to catch up with Terrie and Phil Chatfield, and see how their house renovation had worked out. We have been there for the past two years, and it was impressive to see what they have achieved in that time. We then had lunch with Terrie and Phil, their daughter and a friend of their daughter (who were both visiting from the UK). After lunch, and much chatting, we walked down to the River Garonne, where Rita checked the water temperature. It was so nice, she dived in fully clothed!

It was then time to head back to the house, where people dressed in more normal swimming attire, and tried out the new pool in the backyard. This seemed to go down well with all involved.

We then played/learned the game of skittles, with some lucky early attempts being hauled in by those more experienced later in the game as we tried to win by scoring exactly 50. Good fun, and can be played with a beer in hand!

Early in the evening, Phil and Terrie and the two girls jumped in the car, and Rita and I jumped on our bikes to head across the river to go to the Marmande Night Market. Sadly this turned out to be a real fizzer, with just two food/drink stalls, a small stage being erected for some music, and a limited number of chairs and tables laid out in the hot sun on a bitumen parking lot. With only 10 minutes to go till the announced starting time, there was hardly a soul in sight. So we weighed up the prospects, and decided to return to Coussan for dinner at Phil and Terrie’s. On the way home, Rita and I sidetracked into the town centre, since Rita wanted to see if her favourite bookstore was still open. It was, but they didn’t have the book she was looking for, so she bought two others.

Then it was back to Coussan for dinner on the now shady side terrace. As darkness approached, I gave hints that we should be on our way soon to no avail, since there were still too many other things to be talked about. So, a while later, we attached our limited supply of headlights and tail-lights to our bikes and cycled home in the growing dark, by the light of a crescent moon.