Off To Visit An Old Friend In Grenoble.

Journal  Part 21 -  Journey to Grenoble Day Two (April2014)

 Woke up and went outside to discover it was bloody cold – 3 degrees – and that I had a serious eye infection again in my right eye.

Could hardly see out of it and sometimes couldn’t. This was to prove to be a trial for the whole day’s drive. After a quick breakfast and a stare at the biggest and most expensive looking motor home I have seen so far. Dutch and the people looked stuck-up and unfriendly. Got to Le Puy quite quickly, a charming town dominated by a strange religious statue up on a hill in its centre. Also as we left the town there were plenty of examples of ‘puys’, the volcanic, cone-shaped hills dotted around the place. Heading across the mountains of Ardeche towards Valence, the road was full of camper vans and all the villages we went through (not that many) seemed to be full of cyclists and walkers enjoying the May Bank Holiday weekend.

I was glad when we reached the slope going down into the Rhone Valley though I had a scare when the engine stopped and I suddenly had no power and no steering on a nasty bend. Luckily I didn’t panic and got the motor started again. It hasn’t happened before or since but got me thinking of the need for quick reactions driving the Winnie. Drove through Valence and past the music shop of my old friend Fred which burned down recently. Good to see that he has got premises organised just down the road.

Le Puy, taken as we drove through.

Out of town following the river Isere the view is dominated by the Vercors Mountains which we have to go round before heading down towards Grenoble which was reached quite quickly. Alain came to meet me in a Casino Supermarket car park to guide me back to his where he parked me up a wide alley hat runs alongside the battered building that holds his theatre company and his flat.

After getting installed and his putting eye drops in my runny eye, guests for his 58^th birthday party started arriving. I didn’t know anyone there but got talking to two ex-performers with the company, two ladies from Valence and a guy who had seen me play with Stradivarius with Alain back in the day. A small crop-haired older guy started rolling very strong spliffs and soon the four of us partaking of these went into quiet observer mode while the effects wore off a bit. Then we continued chatting while various people put on various bits of vinyl that Alain had left there to be played. Many of the guests were present or past performers in the troupe and were colourful characters.

The party or a bit of it.

Good fun.

Slept in till eleven the next day and then, after a simple lunch, took Eddy for a long walk along the Isere river and took a load of photos of the views around the town, snow covered mountains being the main attraction. In the evening we had a long aperitif whilst catching up on our lives since we had seen each other. And we chatted about Alain’s son Charlie who was at the party, a sufferer of Asperger’s Syndrome, and surviving that quite well, now in his early thirties. Alain was interested in the fact that I had worked with many young people with this syndrome. We also watched film of his first child, Charlotte, a very talented singer/songwriter, daughter of his first wife Veronique who I had known well. He is on his fourth wife, a lady from Burkina Faso, and away in Spain, the relationship being in disarray. We finished chatting round 130 in the morning. Alain has meetings and such most mornings but a trip up into the Chartreuse mountains is promised for this afternoon.

Eddy enjoying being allowed indoors.

Eddy loves it here and being allowed inside. He has spent no time inside on this trip so far – all my friends seem to have 'no dogs allowed' rules. My eye is getting better slowly thank goodness.

My good old friend Alan. More about him in another post.