APAPS 20.7: Reflections

 A reasonable quorum of seven gathered at Mira Rio for a 7.30 am start where we welcomed Rod´s return to the walking side of things.

                                                            Terry, Jill, Becky, JohnH, Maria, Yves, Myriam, Rod.

 It was a peaceful morning with the river full from the high tide. A moment of panic shortly after the start when our professional photographer let slip that he had left his equipment back in his car. Terry and the Leader looked at each other and simultaneously said

“You can´t get the staff these days!”

plus other rather less complimentary remarks. After all, what´s the point of engaging a photographer who doesn´t bring his camera? Well, he was politely asked to nip back to the car and fetch his gear, which he did at some speed. And just as well he did so, because he was then able to take this atmospheric early morning shot.

Regular readers of this page may remember that recently we challenged Yves to contribute to the blog, and this week he did so, describing what happened next. (Those of a sensitive disposition may wish to look the other way for the next paragraph.)

So over to Yves:-

Quote

"Yves, balls in the water, over there!"

Now, when that cry went out I was naturally taken aback a wee bit: it sounded like like an instruction, an order almost from our own 'Petit Caporal': 

I tried to object that access to the water was difficult and the water might be cold but my protestations fell on deaf ears: 

"Come on, you can take a good picture of balls dangling in the water!"

When it comes to tricky or sometimes mildly perilous tasks, I am no shrinking violet, most of the time, but my mouth went a bit dry then: the walks and the blog are for consenting adults but there are limits!

Only when I came past a large bush that was blocking the view of river did everything become clear, to my and most other people's relief or disappointment...

A bullet had been dodged, phew!

                                                                          The Petit Caporal

Unquote

And this - thanks to Terry for the photo - was what it was that had now become clear to Yves.

                           Ah, it´s the little things that make us walkers happy.

A bit later, we turned away from the canal and then moved uphill, where we found signs of recent bulldozer activity: some new tracks through the bush plus a huge boulder placed in the middle of an existing road - quite why, no one knows. It was too much even for Terry to shift.

After that effort, the rest of the walk was taken at a fairly relaxed pace.

The pace was so relaxed in fact that when we came to the Vale da Lama village we stopped for a leisurely chat with a friend of Maria´s who presented her with some flowers

and who also educated the rest of us on the use of plastic water bottles to stop dogs from messing in your garden.

The Track and the Statistics

The Breakfast

Back at Mira Rio, we were joined by two very tanned Whittles, returned from their trip to the Azores in time for the Event of the Week and we were very excited to meet up with Paul resplendent in his latest Tilley, a Fedora so we are led to believe. 

As I am sure Ingrid and Janet will confirm, it was worth waiting for the unveiling of this new classic.

The extra black material is to protect his ears from the airstream when he is driving his open top jeep-type vehicle.

Hazel provided green vegetables from her ever-productive horta.

The meal was of the Restaurante´s usual excellent quality and great value, with melons provided on the house.

Sometimes we like to conclude the blog with something entirely unconnected with either walking or breakfasting, so here is a brief anecdote from France.

The price of gas in France

After careful planning, the thief got past security, stole the paintings, and made it safely to his van with the loot. However, he was captured only two blocks away when the van ran out of gas. When questioned how he could mastermind such a daring crime and then make such an elementary error, he replied

“Monsieur, that is the reason I stole the paintings-

                    I had no Monet

                       to buy Degas

                          to make the Van Gogh

                              Je Magritte rien.

        I am telling you this tale because I figured I had nothing Toulouse:”

                        See if you have De Gaulle to tell this to someone else."

And, for our finale, Edith Piaf rolls her Rs to perfection.