There was only one place that I wanted to be, since Wednesday evening
Le plage.
So, my friend and I decided to make a day of it. We packed wine, egg sandwiches, lemon tarts and our towels and beachwear...and a lot of water.
She's not a beach babe, by choice, but I assured her that 'my special bit of beach' is perfectly peaceful and has sand.
It was melting heat again.
My daughter was planning to come down. She notified me that there had been a station advisory 'not to travel'. Many of the overhead cables in North London had melted and ignited into flames. Stuck trains on rails.
By the time that I had parked up, we could not wait to be on the beach. It's a quaint little journey to where I go. Unspoiled, a dusty little cafe, that appears to have been there for eons. An unspoilt coastline, white over-hanging cliffs, and many stairs to navigate, most of them spiral. It scares some people because of this. Me, no...I don't scare that easily and my feet have walked and run many many miles, negotiated rocks, unmade roads, estuary mud, stairs, ice, hot sand, wet sand, pebbles, hot tarmac, garra rufa, mountains, seas, scrubland, old places, new places, pitch darkness, searing heat, in freezing conditions, foreign lands, dance floors, blisters, cuts, lego, splinters, broken nails, pedicures. It's an adventure, to me.
We settled on a sandy bit. 11:30 Not too busy.
"Today we are German claiming our territory with our towels. Have you noticed that? Germans up first, claiming their pool or beach spot".
I claim my spot...I spread out. I always do. Bag here, shoes there, towel here, books here. Yes, wide territory...do not infringe on my personal space. Just making sure of it. Thank you.
It was peaceful. My friend plucked up the nerve to get to the sea, the tide was only just coming in, mainly rock-pool. She went for a paddle, and I had to help her navigate the pebbles. It was fun. She had not been to the beach since childhood, it was a bit of an adventure for her.
We had a glass of chilled white wine and watched the sea coming in slowly. We would, at some point, have to move.
I swam out for a long swim. Bliss. There's something amazing about swimming out, like a beach detach...and watch from afar. I feel like a mermaid, spying.
When I come back in to shore I feel refreshed and 100% AOK
Then, it's only a matter of time before I want to swim out again.
The beach, by 14:00 had become insanely busy, like a Playa in Spain, in the Costas.
Kids, buggies, families, older folk, a team of sea swimmers.
I had some plastic cups. We built sandcastles and this must have inspired some other kids who came to play right in front of us. Mission, gather seaweed to make a seaweed mountain. It was funny to watch. There was a 'commander' (bossy kid) a team and a gay kid. (effeminate, easy to spot). A tiny little girl in pink started to help out, and then a tinier little boy who could hardly manage a handful. It was cute.
I went to get us a couple of Magnums. The cafe terrace was full. There were two cute poodles roaming. One roamed down to the beach. The Life Guard got onto the phone to asked what to do with a 'stray' dog.
I had seen the owner, a frail little older lady, earlier at the cafe. Someone, I was chatting with at the cafe hatch while I was fussing the dogs, had said that she travels from Kent regularly to come to her spot at the cafe. I offered to take the dog back. So, LG and I returned dog to owner. She was very vague and advised us that this particular dog wanders, a lot. She knows the beach well.
We left at about 18:30, the beach had become rowdy by this time, and we had had seven hours of beach. That was enough. My plants needed water, I needed water, walk the pooch, shower, bed.
My brother is visiting me for the weekend. How lovely. Sunshine please, again.
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