Mystery Sunday

On Sunday it was James' turn to arrange a day out for us! "How could he live up to the standard I set the previous week?" I asked myself. I was a bit worried about what he would come up with especially when I saw the climbing boots and rucksacks laid out at the front door. I was informed that I needed to be ready to catch a train at 9.30 a.m. Off we went, suited and booted for a walk. We took the train right through town and out the other side, to the station at Bowling.
This of course reminded me of one of my Dad's favourite jokes:
"I'm a little stiff from bowling."
"I don't care where you're from!"
When we got off the train we walked the short distance to the Forth and Clyde canal and walked in the direction of Glasgow. I was gratified that James had not chosen a hilly walk - it was completely level along the canal. We walked along through some quite picturesque areas, and there were lots of other people out in the November sunshine walking and cycling. Cat had told us that she was in London at the Remembrance Day Service at the Cenotaph, and Ally went to the one at Glasgow University. As it happened, just as 11 o'clock approached, we saw a small crowd at the Old Kilpatrick War Memorial and we observed the one minute silence, albeit from the opposite side of the canal!
We had a sandwich lunch just outside Clydebank Shopping Centre, perhaps not the most idyllic spot, especially when I foolishly threw a bit of my sandwich to a pigeon and we were then crowded by hundreds of aggressive birds, in scenes reminiscent of the Alfred Hitchcock movie.
As we continued towards out ultimate goal of Anniesland, I found myself becoming increasingly weary, and I begged James to cut the walk a little short. He consulted the map and announced that we could go to nearby Westerton Station instead. I was delighted to find that we could get a train directly home from there. It was a good walk, and despite cutting it a bit short we had still walked an impressive (to me) seven miles!
Back at home we visited Grandma, had tea, and then went to see "Les Fantomes d'Ismael" at the French Film Festival, which I felt was very thoughtful of James. I love French films, but even I admit that they can be a bit "hit or miss". Unfortunately this one was more of a "miss!" I enjoyed it more than James did, because of the French atmosphere and language, but the plot was rambling and the characters were all unpleasant. The lead characters were played by Matthieu Amalric and Charlotte Gainsbourg so it should have been amazing, but it veered strangely between tragedy and slapstick comedy, and it was all over the place! From time to time I could hear James emitting a small whimper of despair.
So how was James' Mystery Sunday for me? It was well planned, thoughtful and fun!