France

as uncle with the propeller named Karlsson used to say. Having driven out to a more spacious place in the village, we stopped by an old abandoned two-storey house in the shade. We decided to get out of the car, walk and look for this villa that Vanya had booked and paid for. We walk… Vanya strides ahead, I like Cheburashka with a little rucksack trail along and start falling behind, because we have to go a little uphill, a burning wind blows, nothing to breathe, we have gone into that narrow alley again, I feel my strength leaving me, I shout to Vanya: “maybe it’s time to ask people where this Villa is?” Although I know exactly, Vanya will not ask; I need to “switch my brains to English (at least!),” perhaps they will understand me. ...

“How I spent the summer” part 5. The last night in France. We drove half a day without particular adventures. When we stopped at Supercharge to fill up, it was already 15.30 on the clock. It seemed like lunchtime, but since it was very hot we did not feel much appetite. My husband suggested fast food sold next to the charging station; I refused, saying if he wanted to eat he could eat. We decided to look where we could stay the night and have lunch there in a restaurant. ...

A not bad quotation, one can even say it inspires me: “Writers write. If you want to become a writer, write.” Regina Brett. Thank you, Regina! Everything is simple, if you don’t complicate it… but it doesn’t always work out. We drive to the hotel, GPS tells us the way, we listen, look at the screen and drive. Outside it is 35 degrees of heat, and we are comfortable, you can choose the temperature; we drive into a French suburb, villas, cypresses. ...

I seemed to study well at school, but I was indifferent to geography. I remember that they started teaching that subject from the 4th class. Horror seized me when I went up to the geographical map — I could find nothing there, complete disorientation. The teacher would say: “Take the pointer and show on the map where the Volga flows into?” My feeling from a geographical map at that time: a heap of winding many-coloured lines, and among those “threads”-lines one had to find the Volga…. 🙀 So, something pulled me back into childhood. Well, you understood that I remained not very strong in geography, and I had a chance to display my illiteracy on the trip. ...