Stac Pollaidh

In a burst of enthusiasm this morning I announced to James that I would have a go at climbing the small but steep Stac Pollaidh on our way to Lochinver. First we said our goodbyes to our friends who would be remaining in Torridon, most of whom were planning to climb Ben Alligan. Steven and Hilary however had just received a phone call to tell them that their daughter had gone into labour with their second grandchild, so they were setting off home a day early.*

We arrived at Stac Pollaidh and it looked much bigger than I remembered. I was soon regretting my earlier optimism about the walk; I'm fitter than I used to be but steep hills always make me overheat. It was a lovely sunny and warm day so I overheated extra quickly and half way up I announced to James that I could go no further. However after some coffee and a Picnic Bar I gave it another try and soon we were on the saddle of the hill. The views were absolutely amazing - turquoise blue lochs, Suilven and lots of other mountains. I scrambled the last few feet to the east top and had a lie down in the sunshine. Walking down was steep but not a problem. 

We continued on to Lochinver and checked into the Albannach Hotel. Our room was gorgeous and after a jacuzzi bath I got ready for dinner, which was a delicious six course tasting menu; we enjoyed identifying all the combinations of flavours. Although each course was appropriately small it all added up to a very substantial meal, and we felt very full as we relaxed with coffee and petit fours in the lounge.

* Abigail Lily was indeed born later in the day! 

Diabeg to Craig

It has been a brilliant weekend so far. After a jolly evening at the pub I slept well in my girls' dormitory. I had just one roomie; a lovely girl called Lynsey who is also on a hill-walking weekend with a different walking club. On Saturday morning there was much discussion about routes; Steven, Hilary and I decided to go on an 8 km coastal walk from picturesque Diabeg to the bothy at Craig and back. Steven kindly drove us over the Goat's Pass to Diabeg - the views of mountains and sea were stunning. We set off in grey weather which gradually brightened to a warm and sunny afternoon. Steven and Hilary are such pleasant company; we chatted merrily as we walked along and had a good laugh. When we arrived at Craig we explored the bothy, which has clearly seen better days. I enjoyed swinging on a buoy which was suspended from a tree outside it, although I couldn't get Hilary onto it despite both of our best efforts and much hilarity. We had a few rests on our way back, basking in the sunshine. 

Everyone else had enjoyed a great afternoon too and after our showers it was time for the traditional communal meal. 

This was a veritable feast! The starter was James' pea and mint soup - the ingredients are from our garden. Then we had Hilary's home made lasagne with garlic bread, which was both delicious and plentiful. Then arrived Bob's apple and bramble pie, followed by Kenny's cheese board. A pleasant and convivial evening.  

Separate Rooms

We are driving north up the A9 towards Inverness and then on to Torridon. We have been having a nice chat in the car about the amazing summer we have had, both the excellent weather and the fascinating places we have visited. Let's hope that as a result we are full of energy and Vitamin D ready to face the winter ahead of us! 

Just James and I are heading north, because Ally and Davie are on their way to Dundee where Jamie is having a party tonight. Then Davie is going to the University of Dundee open day tomorrow, and they are all planning to go hill-walking in Glenshee on Sunday. I spent most of this morning buying them rail cards, train tickets and food.

So it's just the two of us going to Torridon, which could have been quite romantic except that James was too late to book one of the twin rooms in the hostel so we will be sleeping in separate boys' and girls' dormitories! 

The Last Wall comes down in Paris

Paris is full of music! Last night we went to our concert and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. We took the train to the Stade de France and walked round to our designated entrance. Going through security took AGES and we were worried that we would miss the start of the concert - so were the rest of the people in the queue, who whistled and shouted angrily as we all moved through very slowly. Eventually we got in to the stadium and we squeezed through the crowd to a prime position with an excellent view of the stage. I was not looking forward to standing for ages; I booked the tickets as James' Christmas present but chose the standing area because the seats were unfeasibly expensive. I did find that my back got sore by the end of the concert but there was so much to look at as well as to listen to, that I didn't really mind standing. On the stage there was a partially built wall which was added to throughout the concert until it went right across the stage. Roger Waters and his group sang their hearts out and I enjoyed the music and all of the amazing images projected onto the wall. Needless to say James loved it and sang along with every song. It was quite a spectacle; at the beginning a plane crashed into the stage and towards the end a giant pig floated above the crowd! Some of it was quite moving as tributes were paid to all the people who have died in wars or because of terrorism. It was the last "The Wall" of the long 2010 to 2013 tour and perhaps the last ever - Roger Waters could be seen wiping a little tear from his cheek as he left the stage, At the end of the concert we turned the wrong way out of the stadium (my fault!) and had to retrace our steps for quite a long way, but eventually we arrived back in St Germain where we had a drink sitting outside at one of the many pavement cafés. It was a lovely evening, in fact rather romantic.

And today the music continued as we walked around Paris. It was a warm and sunny morning so after a leisurely breakfast we decided to walk to Montmartre via Notre Dame and Beaubourg. A jazz band were playing at the corner of our street, an accordionist was playing La Vie en Rose on the bridge to Ile de la Cité, an old man was playing the fiddle at the Place du Tertre. The whole of Paris seemed to be full of music. It was also full of smoke - the Parisians love to share their cigarette smoke with unsuspecting passers by. I know that smokers do this in Glasgow too but the French seem to take it to a new level! However this did not spoil our lovely day; we had lunch sitting outside in Montmartre and later on we had a coffee at Les Deux Magots before making our way to the airport. A brilliant weekend. 

It's still summer in Paris!

James and I flew to Paris this morning and found it to be a good twelve degrees warmer than Glasgow! It's sunny and more like summer than autumn so after divesting ourselves of our jackets and fleeces at the hotel we went straight back out for an afternoon walk. We headed to the Luxembourg gardens which were busy with families engaging in wholesome activities such as tennis, cycling or sailing boats on the pond. Lots of people were sitting around on benches and chairs reading in the sunshine. We had drinks in a nearby café and watched the world go by - including a protest march about Syria. The marchers were shouting "Non à la guerre, oui à la paix" I have no idea which side they were on. We got chatting to a pleasant American couple who are on a tour of Europe, and I have noticed that Paris seems to be particularly full of Americans this weekend. We are now back at the hotel for a brief rest before going to our concert this evening; tickets for Roger Waters' The Wall at the Stade de France were my Christmas present to James, and that's why we are in Paris this weekend. 

Raspberries

I'm not long back from FitStep and I felt as if I was fitter this week - but for some reason less coordinated! I enjoyed it and I like the music. I also followed Deborah's advice to eat a couple of slices of toast and jam for tea to give me energy, which worked. I have been thinking of Mum on her birthday today. Now I'm eating raspberries and drinking camomile tea while watching Lara Croft Tomb Raider with James, Ally and Davie. Nice evening. 

Shopping and Lunching

The rest of the weekend continued to be very pleasant. The weather on Sunday was intermittently rainy so, having had our sunny walk the day before, we spent Sunday in town shopping and lunching. I would like to be able to say that we had planned it this way according to the forecast, but in fact we had made our arrangements weeks ago, so we were just lucky!

James and I are not big shoppers but this turned out to be a useful and pleasant trip. The secret of a good shopping trip for us lies in planning, decisiveness, and speed. We both had items to exchange in different shops, then we met up and chose a pretty blouse and matching scarf in John Lewis for Grandma's birthday.

By the time we had achieved this mission it was time to go for lunch with Heather and Ewan; a very nice way to end our shopping trip. We all met up in Prezzo and had a good chat and a delicious lunch. I chose the chicken, bacon and avocado salad and it was gorgeous - but more calorific than I expected! 630 calories to be precise! I cannot regret it because I enjoyed it mightily.

As a result I awarded myself only a very small portion of the Chinese meal that we ordered in later to celebrate Grandma's 84th birthday. Grandma seemed to enjoy herself and we of course had birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday. It was a nice occasion. After tea we all looked at some of Ally's holiday photos. He and Cat have organised them into sections which is useful because they have more than 4000 in total. We looked at the first two sections; Dubai and Bangkok. Two very different cities but both looked fascinating.