When last I blogged, I’d caught  you up about halfway on our recent trip to the UK and France. The first half was a real treat, being driven around in a luxury coach with really nice knitters and a tour guide I’m still crushing on.
One of the bonuses of this trip was that it took us right across the path of our good friends Brenda and Tonia who live in West Wales. So we planned to stay with them for a few days after leaving the group. We haven’t seen each other since the Sea Socks cruise in 2008, and we missed them! Here they are in Tenby, one of our favorite places on the trip.
I love these women. They rock. And yes, that’s the Brenda you think it is — she does this, and  does it very well. We spent some lovely time together walking around in Tenby.
And then off to the Welsh Wool Museum, where I could touch very little, but had lots to look at.
I was most envious of the lucky bus trippers who chose beautiful wool blankets to take home with them. Â Ah, sigh.
The four of us parted from the tour after much hugging and waving, and it was weird all of a sudden to be responsible for getting our own selves someplace. Thankfully, B+T were on the job and soon we were at a lovely pub enjoying the afternoon by the seaside. Oh, where they live is heavenly, let me tell you. Here’s my favorite picture of our walk on the beach with Truman.
This is one of the beaches where B+T walk the new pup. Must be hard, eh, this life of theirs? We fell in love with Wales pretty much instantly and never wanted to leave.
Unfortunately, right around this time, hub started to show signs of a cold. A bad one. Which he left behind for Brenda [we’ve already apologized]. My body decided to rebel against being in heaven by having a massive allergy attack. So there was much tea made for us and gratefully consumed.
We had short day trips, including one to Narberth, where this was our motto:
Finally, it came time for us to leave, so we boarded the train for Cardiff and spent a very sniffly night there. We managed to stumble across Jamie’s Italian [yup, THAT Jamie — Oliver] and had a nice dinner which hub mostly could taste through his cold. The next morning, we were off to London.
And then on to the Eurostar, which was the super awesomest way to travel ever. Travelling with a sick hub, it made things much easier. Very comfortable, quick, painless way to travel.
By this time, hub was getting worse. Our hotel was a nice pitstop, and we tried to go for a gentle walk, but he was not doing well. By 7 pm, he asked to go to the hospital [and yes, he’s that kind of man who would never ask unless he was very sick].
The hospital staff were awesome, and they took very good care of him.
The cold had turned into something more serious, and they were great about not brushing him off as a whiny tourist. They found the problem and told us what to do about it. [And since we’ve gotten home, Â he has seen his GP, gotten further treatment and now is pretty much himself again. Whew.]
Not fun, but if he had to get sick, Paris clearly was the place for it.
Hub spent the next two days in the hotel room  [good patient] and I went for short wanders around the city. A little Bon Marche…
a little Droguerie…
a little Samaritaine…
I got to visit L’Oisive The, which was awesome [no pictures, too busy having fun]. And then hub pulled himself together for a visit [via cab, no metro for him] to the Eiffel Tower on our last night.
And then we were home again.
It was a great, fun, exciting, exhausting trip and a great way to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We went to Paris on our honeymoon and then again on our 10th, so it made sense that we should return during this trip. It would have been nice for hub not to have been sick, but at least he was well taken care of and comfortable. And he got to walk to our favorite cafe every day, because we chose a hotel less than a block from it. I’ll leave you with a picture of Le Nemrod, our Parisian home.
Looks like you got lucky and had fantastic weather for your trip! *looks outside at the Welsh wind and rain storm that’s been going on for the past week*.
Lovely photos, and glad your husband is feeling better!
Happy anniversary! I’m so glad your husband is doing better.
Looks like an amazing trip!
A beautiful trip. Happy anniversary!
It’s too bad about all the illness, glad he’s feeling better. Was it the visit to the wool museum that gave you an allergy attack? Despite not touching, there must have been so much fiber in the air? Just wondering.
Wow, you make me want to go to Wales. And ah, such fond memories of Paris. What did you buy at La Droguerie? I know you must have bought something! LOL. Sorry to hear about your hubs getting sick –but at least you got that pic at the Eiffel tower. Now you’ll just have to go back for your 50th!!
Wow, what a fantastic whirlwind tour! And happy anniversary – 20 years is no mean thing!
The 2nd-to-last picture of you and hub is just precious. Thank you for sharing the trip pictures! It was wonderful to “be alongside” with you through your journey. How fun!
irene
Fabulous pics! Happy 20th and may you have many more!
Looks like a lovely trip. I love travelling around places and seeing lots of different things ‘off the beaten track’. Wales is a fabulous place and isn’t there something exvciting about yarn departments in a different language!
Sorry your hubs got sick, glad he is better.
Hey, your husband’s wearing an MIT t-shirt! Go, Tech! Nerd love’s good love!
Lovely trip. My mother and I visited Bonmarche for the yarn as well one year(I didn’t buy any either). Glad your hubby is back to normal. Paris is a wonderful city!
I give up. What does the sign mean?
Thank you so much for this post. As a knitter of Welsh descent, I have always tried to imagine Brenda’s world. What fun to see – and DH was pleased to see the lunch, even if he didn’t get to eat one himself.
I’ve always dreamed of going to Paris, but I forgot to add a visit with Cast On. Proud of hub for recognizing when to seek medical care! My dear one always gets a cold on our trips. Thanks for thinking of us and bringing us along.