Usually at this time of year we are somewhere on the Brittany Coast enjoying French sunshine, warm seas, cider, French bread and mussels. This year plans have been a little different, not least because booking a holiday involves sitting down at the beginning of the year and making a decision. A valuable lesson has been learned for next year, and decisions will be made.

Not booking a formal holiday we decided to use our own flat as an opportunity to get away, with a four day trip to London to bring the holiday to a close. We’ve had our own place for nearly all the time we’ve lived in the parish.

Before parish life, we started marriage in a small, modern two bed house very close to a railway line. So close, my dad was convinced passengers could watch our very large television from the train as it paused before entering the station. Once we moved for the first time we decided to sell this, but with the arrival of a child began to recognise the need for somewhere to escape to that was ours. Perhaps sensibly for us we were also looking to the future, and having at least a deposit for the place we might want to stay in should we leave a parish or eventually retire.

While the children were much smaller, we spent half term holidays at the flat, and the odd Friday to Saturday if we wanted to escape. It contains much of the furniture we have had from the early days of marriage, including the settees.

In deciding that this would be our holiday, we also agreed that we would behave as though we were in France.

Tous les matins mon mari reveille, et il va a la supermarche et il achete une baguette et trois croissant. Pendant les matins nous faisons des visites, et pendant les après-midi nous allons a la plage.

Excuse the lack of French acutes, I can’t find them on my limited keyboard.

The absolute bonus so far has been the weather. The sun and heat were not what we expected, but have made our chosen town seem like the Brittany Coast. And just to top it off, regularly we find ourselves accidentally in the company of French people.

The sofa and the bed are as uncomfortable as they would have been in a gite, but at least here I know the resolution lies in my own hands.