06/07 - My shift was, as always, quite uneventful - it was tough being in the control room when it was brilliantly sunny outside. After my shift I went to Halle de Rive to buy some tasty chinese things and a beer, which I ate before falling asleep on the jetty out by the Jet d'Eau for an hour or so in the sun. Consequently I missed all the supermarkets, from which I was supposed to be getting sushi supplies for Dan and Sudan - Oops.
07/07 - I think I got about 4 hours of sleep, at the absolute maximum. My shift passed without incident, a very quiet one as usual. I headed to Bains Des Pâquis afterwards, where I walked straight into the bit reserved for women by accident. There were at least 50 topless ladies there who probably weren't best pleased by my presence. I went for a swim, had a beer and slept in the sun for a bit. I did this with my beer nestled in my elbow, and when I woke up I stretched and spilt the whole thing all over my side and my towel - pretty smooth. My towel still smells a little boozy, even now.
08/07 - I managed to have a bit of a doze in my shift today, from about 0730 to 0830, after which it proceeded much as usual. I went home and paid CHF 50 for my final month of internet with small change, which confused the lady in the office. I went for a wander down past L'Usine, where I found a dam, after which there was a bridge with a load of kids jumping off it - the current takes you downriver a bit, and there are various places to climb out and have a picnic or a beer - just down where the Rhône meets the Arve there is a cool bar with a couple of kegs and a little BBQ, so I had some drinks and watched the sun go down behind the cliffs on the far bank. After this I went to meet Dan and Sudan for dinner somewhere around Planpalais, so we went to an Eritrean/Ethiopian meal, which was amazingly tasty and also amazingly filling.
09/07 - I got up for a meeting which didn't happen, then packed my stuff and was off to the UK - there was an hour's delay on the way, which was rubbish but allowed me to finish Sherlock Holmes. Kelly and I met here friends Hamish, Emma and Anna at Donna Margherita pizzeria on Lavender hill - the pizza was awesome, but I was massively stuffed again - oops. I heartily recommend the pizza, but the starters are to be avoided.
10/07 - So today was Frau and Nickie's wedding day. Kelly, Ed and I went to Richmond where Rob Child was t pick us up - he got stuck in traffic for ages so we didn't get on the road for a while. It was really easy from Richmond onwards though, we had plenty of time to get ready and to have some drinks before the wedding. They had laid on a coach to the church, where we were ushed by Simon and Nikhil, the ushers. Frau looked remarkably composed, and Nickie looked amazing - it was quite a religious ceremony, which I did not expect. They had Jerusalem as one of the hymns, which was belted out with much enthusiasm. We then walked around the corner to the Underhills' house, where there was a marquee in garden, champagne and canapes and a perfect English countryside day. I managed to splash ketchup down my waistcoat and trousers, both of which were light blue. Dinner was good, we had stuffed chicken (some of which also went on my trousers - the waitress forbade me red wine as a result), pavlova, plenty of delicious wines, and excellent speeches by all - especially Owen (funny, risqué and breathless) and Frau (heartfelt, with good facts).
After the wedding breakfast concluded, the first dance was a barn dance - there was a compere in the middle of the dancefloor, directing us all about. I found the dancing exhausting, I did two dances then nearly died, so I had to take full advantage of the free bar. I had one more dance later, and there were DJs from 11-12ish, then coaches back to hotels. Mathers and Kam came back to our place, even though they were staying elsewhere, as they seemed convinced that that was were the party was. We had a couple of bottles of wine with us, and had a rowdy singalong in the garden without any complaints, probably because most of the guests were out with su. We went to bed at about half past two, after running out of drinks and songs.
11/07 - Kelly and I made it to breakfast at about 0945, where there was a full English buffet, exactly what I needed. I basically had two full plates of meat. We checked out a little late (they rang us at 1101 to inform us that we were late) and waited outside for Rob to pick us up. It was a lovely day and the journey back was quick, so we had a bit of a nap when we got back. Kelly had some work to do so I hung out with the others downstairs, then the two of us went down to Ukai for sushi, and got an ice cream and walked the long way home. When we got back we watched Black Book (good film, all in dutch, bit dark), then went to bed - as always, we didn't get much sleep as the plumbing was going bonkers and some neighbours seemed to be having a Sunday night party and it was too hot to close the window.
12/07 - I was up at 0615 and got the 0653 train, so I was in departures at 0734 for my 0815 flight - which was then delayed by 100 minutes. I used the time to buy some Pimms and a sandwich and some new sunglasses, then dozed on the flight and, as I got in pretty late, went home. I went to the shops and prepared some sandwiches for my shifts this week - I cooked ostrich and sausages and set fire to the hob a bit after a smokey episode. I think that's all I did, I just did washing and minced about the flat until it was time for bed. Oh, speaking of which, I seem to have broken the bed somehow - the bit of it which reclines, anyway. Hopefully they won't see this when I check out.
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