Diary entries - 26th - 27th December 1973

Misty and horrible. Thought the bed was vibrating during the night! Too much rhum and coke I guess! Played hangman, battleships , cards, dots and other party games listening to records from my room. Eating and getting Christmas sicknss in France.No letters or parcels pisses me off even more. Eat turkey, Lynne's special victorian gravy; sprouts spuds mincemeat stuffing and listen to canal men. Play cards. A greasy man comes to the door selling beds. Lynne and Bill cannot understand him but he is evil looking they say. Off to Albi to the flics later. Search for ages to find a decent one with English and eventually find VOX opposite the gare (station ) , a little pea flit , strange 50's entrance but unfortunately modernised inside, small for small audience of neat and tidy french. Horrible films. One about french fish guts, another that I didn't understand about women telephonists etc. and the feature was a spaghetti western dubbed in French starring Henry Fonda..............(Thursday) Ah! at last! A nice letter from Dick ( with Tony Eve's address ) and a present from Barb - The Goon Show Scripts by Spike Milligan. Great ! Then it's reply to T.E. and rest of gobbler. After a trick in the van over hill and dale to dead ends and little houses, binoculars looking water mill, river and round about a nice little village called Salles with a rickety church tower, dogs, that we climbed through holes, and old ladies came out. Bill found a deri. Whilst I was in the van, and two old tins of tapioca that looked like beans. Blown a cleeping hairy eight legged monster that sounded like leaves rustling. Nice carved heart and club on brick arch on one deri house near mill. Rhum and coca cola.