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 As predicted, a week after my last post I was over the Atlantic. My flight -departures, arrivals, and baggage went without a hitch, except for trying to find where Kelley was parked when I arrived. Interesting setup in the washroom so you don't drip across the floor. The dryers are at the sink also. 

Now, to recap the final week. On Thursday evening, at basketball practice, Tedy hurt his ankle/foot. They called Karen, who rushed over to the gym, to discover he couldn't walk, so she had to piggyback him home. Thankfully, the gym is just around the corner from their place. 

She called David, who was in a meeting, and he borrowed a van, as he certainly couldn't take him on the bus.  They waited at the hospital for over an hour only to be told to come back in the morning. So, they did, and again consumed the morning- waiting, seeing doctor, getting x-ray, and then being told it was a sprain in the foot. He got a prescription and was told to get a wrap at the pharmacy, and no sports for 45 days. I think that hurt Tedy worse than the sprain as he had to miss a flag football match on Saturday and also a basketball game.

Friday, I did my usual walk up Route de Grenoble,  down what we call the walnut road and then along the Trail. It's a bit over 5 km.

Saturday, I visited the Canal again( a favourite walk) and then took these pics at the kids' school. 

 

 There was a sign left from Thursday's protest.

 I went to Intermarche again in the afternoon and there are still some empty shelves and a sign at the cash explaining why. That gave me over 8 km. For the day.

Sunday I walked the Friday path again in the opposite direction. 

Monday I thought I'd better make the most of the time left, so I did a long walk out the Trail and back for 6 km.

Tuesday I set out on our dog walk, but it was so cold that I went only long enough to take care of business. I had stopped wearing my hat and mittens in the nice spring weather,  but this day I was sorry not to have them. 

Sam had planned to come out on Monday but wasn't feeling well so he messaged me Tuesday to see if I wanted to meet him during his afternoon break between meal services. He suggested a cafe called K fee des Jeux. We figured out how I would get there and David told me the app would talk me through the walk from the tram. 

For some reason she didn't, so I tried to follow the street signs. Finally, I recognized where I was but had no clue how I would get to where I wanted to be, so I called David. He gave me new directions and this time she did talk to me but that map was on driving mode (which I didn't know at the time)so I went over a bridge, and then texted Sam. I was walking down a street on the other side of the river when he called and said,"turn around". There he was waving to me on a pedestrian bridge I had just passed. 

 So, we finally connected, had a coffee and played a round of Phase 10. It's a wonderful concept for socializing. You can choose from endless walls of games and stay as long as you want, with no expectations of buying drinks or food. 

 

That night I persuaded David to give me a haircut.  

And this is the new me.

Wednesday was a much nicer day. Again I headed for the canal for one final time. As I walked I heard church bells ringing continuously and I remembered David telling me that was for a funeral. Sure enough. As I walked along by the cemetery to get to the canal, I first encountered the hearse, and then crowds walking toward the cemetery. I almost wanted to turn and walk with them to experience how it's done in France, but I thought that might be disrespectful. I visited the little park, and the tiny library, and then home by a different way.

In the afternoon, I tackled the packing. Do you think I got it all in this one suitcase?

 Yes, I did, with the help of my backpack, I left nothing behind.

When I finished, I made beef and broccoli (one of my specialties; requested) for supper.

Thursday morning we left the apt. about 8, took bus to tram, tram to bus to Lyons, and checked in. I got my bag checked for free instead of 51€, because my itinerary said complimentary. He was baffled but after much computering (my word for long on the computer) , he thanked me for my patience and checked it in. The reason I knew to ask was on the way over I had said on check-in online that I had one bag and they charged me $75. Then when I was looking over my itinerary I saw the complimentary part. I asked at Halifax and she gave me a number to call when I got back. 

After check-in we said our goodbyes and David returned to Grenoble on his scheduled bus. Security, Gates, etc. All went smoothly and we were in the air by 12:45. I was frantically trying to finish a library book that was returning in 9 hours, so I read most of the time, between meals and snacks. I did watch one funny movie called The Holdovers, with Paul Giamatti. It was good. Unfortunately, my book got taken back 14 pages from finish. But, it's ok. I was in the epilogue and knew the conclusion. 

And so, here I sit and write the final memories of an awesome trip. My body arrived on Thursday but my mind is just getting back now...slowly. Maybe I'll have some tea and Ricard and reminisce. 

Thanks for traveling with me. Until next time - jusqu'à la prochaine fois. 💝