Bear is due back at ten to nine this evening.

To make the most of fine weather and our last stressfree day for the forseeable future we decided to take a little trip to Dinant.

Thursday being my day to meet up with Yvette we invited her to come along and she was thrilled at a chance to go out. We picked her up at 12.30 and set off. She chatted non-stop in a mixture of French and English and Jay kindly refrained from playing his usual music.

Dinant was busy but not as crowded as it can be during the Summer so we found a table fairly easily, manoevred Whale into position and waited to order some ice cream. The waitress was a miserable woman who wasn't prepared to offer a greeting or a smile but the icecreams were HUGE and very good. Yvette insisted on treating us but decided the waitress did not deserve a tip.

Pushing Whale about along the uneven pavements was hard work, so after buying some bread and a 'coque' (speciality of Dinant: spiced biscuit made in various shapes which you can keep as a decoration) to send to Jay's friends who have recently moved to Spain, we headed back to the car and took another route back.

Yvette had made a lemon tart as a thank you and she also gave us some acacia flowers, explaining that you dip them in batter and deepfry them. They smell delicious but I'm not sure I'd want to eat them.

It was a very pleasant afternoon and, hopefully we'll take her out another Thursday - with or without the Bear.