Chapter 22
Beryl sat at her kitchen table with a map of France spread out in front of her.
She had Frank at one side writing in a notebook, Sid directly in her eyeline and Winnie sitting on the other side pouring them all mugs of tea from Beryl’s biggest teapot.
It was bright red with a knitted cosy, and the mugs matched.
A piping hot cup of tea always made the day go with a swing, thought Beryl, and if it was accompanied by a custard cream or two, life couldn’t get much better.
‘So we’re settled on the route, are we?’ asked Frank, picking the book up as he prepared to share his notes with them.
‘Go on, read it out to us,’ said Sid. ‘It’s going to be a grand trip.’
Frank stood up to make the most of his moment, smoothing down his pullover. He took a sip of tea. ‘I’ll just wet my whistle,’ he said. ‘Right, here goes. I’ve done bullet points. I do like a bullet point, don’t you?’
‘Get on with it, Frank,’ said Beryl. ‘You’re making a right meal of this. I mean, I do appreciate you all coming round to help but we still have to arrange a meeting with the other four and we need to make sure we know what we’re telling them.’
‘Do you think they mind us doing the preliminary plan?’ Sid asked. ‘I’d hate to tread on anyone’s toes.’
‘There’s no point in us all chipping in at this stage or we’ll end up having a road trip that goes on for a month instead of a fortnight,’ Beryl said firmly.
‘Rick’s had a look at his diary and he says he can manage two weeks at a push, but he’s got another job on after that and he’ll be finishing off Venetia’s house in between times. ’
‘I wish it could be a month. That would be fine with me, Beryl,’ said Sid.
‘The longer we’re away the better, as far as I’m concerned.
I love a good adventure. Haven’t jetted off anywhere since I lost Jenny, in fact the last time would have been before she took ill.
All this has made me realise how much I’ve missed our holidays. ’
‘Yes, but the young ’uns have work to do,’ said Beryl. ‘They’re not footloose and fancy free like us. Now, Frank, go for it before I lose the will to live.’
Frank cleared his throat importantly. ‘Right, here’s the plan so far. You’ll have to imagine the bullet points as I read. I’ve added extra information and tips.’
‘Oh, good heavens, it’s going to be like one of those interminable parish council meetings,’ Winnie muttered to Beryl but luckily she was sitting on Frank’s deaf side. He launched into his list.
‘There’s no need to take notes, if you were thinking of it,’ he said.
‘I’ll make everyone a printout of their own when we’ve all agreed on this itinerary…
so here goes… We leave Willowbrook on 2 October at 6 a.m. precisely; drive down to Dover, with Venetia at the wheel.
Ferry from Dover to Calais, approx. ninety minutes.
We’ll have a snack on board unless anyone has the collywobbles.
Remember seasickness tablets if you know that’s a likelihood.
Note: Apologies to Sid. We have ditched the Brittany starting point because of Anthea’s tendency to be nauseous on long ferry journeys. ’
‘No problem,’ said Sid. ‘It was just an idea, I’m happy to go wherever the rest of you want to be.’
Frank nodded and carried on.
‘Arrive in Calais. Drive down through France to Rouen, Rick at the wheel. After this the two of ’em can sort out their own driving rota.
Arrive approximately 4 p.m. local time. Dinner and a night in a motel.
To be arranged later, as with all the overnight accommodation.
October 3rd: Rouen to La Rochelle. Approx.
five hours’ journey. Suggest we stay for three nights because plenty to do there.
October 6th: La Rochelle to Bordeaux. Approx.
two hours. Another three-night stay. October 9th: Bordeaux to Lot-et-Garonne and the village where Yolanda lives.
Approx. two hours. I’ll add its name later, because we might not be able to get accommodation there if it’s a very small place.
I haven’t added dates for coming home because we’ll need to see how long Venetia wants to stay with her aunt, but we’ll travel back to Dover over two days if our drivers are agreeable, stopping in Chartres overnight en route and avoiding too many toll roads which will keep the overall costs down. ’
Frank sat down and Beryl, Sid and Winnie gave him a spontaneous round of applause.
‘It all sounds grand,’ said Sid, his face flushed with excitement. ‘I can’t wait.’
‘Right,’ said Beryl. ‘I’ll need to round the others up for a full team meeting. Are you lot still free tonight? We can go to the pub this time, if you like. Seven o’clock?’
The others all thought this was a good idea, so Beryl sent texts to Rick, Vee, Maurice and Anthea.
The latter two replied immediately. Beryl suspected they were together and grinned to herself.
Anthea was really getting into the swing of this new engagement.
Beryl hoped the relationship would fare better than the last ones.
There was nothing from Vee or Rick as yet, so the group decided to adjourn to the nearby annexe where Frank lived alongside his son Barney and daughter-in-law Nell.
‘Our Nell was making chocolate chip cookies this morning. I smelt them as I passed by their kitchen on my way here,’ he said. ‘Let’s go and see if she’s got a few to spare.’
Sid stood up, ready to lead the way. ‘And as soon as we hear from the youngsters, we can get at least a couple of those overnight stays booked. I’ll be happier when I know where I’ll be laying my head at night.’
They set off along the lane and round the corner to Frank’s home, chatting as they went about what they’d need to pack, or more importantly what they might need to leave out to save space in the minibus.
Beryl brought up the rear, delighted that her travelling companions seemed so enthusiastic about what had felt at the start to be something of a wacky suggestion.
All she needed to do now was to contact Yolanda, check she’d be around at the right time and prepare her for the onslaught.
Beryl was usually supremely confident of her welcome when she visited friends.
This time she wasn’t so sure. It had been a long time since Yolanda had left Britain to settle in France and Beryl was aware that Vee and her aunt hadn’t been in touch very often during the intervening years.
Maybe it was just a case of distance emphasising the old saying ‘out of sight, out of mind’, but the more she pondered on this interesting subject, the more Beryl wondered if there might be more to the situation than met the eye.
She only hoped that Yolanda would be pleased to see Vee and her entourage.
If not, it would make for a very sticky end to their new adventure.