Be my Valentine

The day kicks off with hope as a steaming mug of tea appears whilst I am still in bed. Such sloth at 6.45 am. 'Have a lie in darling' His Lordship murmurs. Bewildered I rouse myself to deliver a Cadbury's Cream Egg to my other valentine who is contemplating a jumbled array of clothes for a Valentine's Day evening in Toulouse tonight. 'You have it' he say's. Now that is love.

I'm despatched down to the garage whilst it is still dark on some errand (great lie in). I trip over something which has been deliberately placed in my path. Strange, someone has left a chic looking mountain bike in our house. I trundle back upstairs. 'Get on your bike' says His Lordship and smiles. I kiss him and pass on my creme egg. Excitedly I don my clothes. It is lovely, it is wildly exhilarating and I do a little tester on the drive. I'm off. Moments later I'm on the track amongst the vines bumping along the deserted path. My neighbour waves from his tractor, the wind catches my hair and suddenly I feel a long way from home huffing and puffing and marvelling at the breathtaking scenery that is all mine for the taking. The road takes me to the next village and from there I get a wonderful vista of our village and there in the distance is my house. I stop and pause for breath and admire it from afar. Down hill most of the way back I can feel my adrenalin pumping wildly.

A quick screech on the brakes and I'm outside the village shop at Lasserre de Prouille, one of the small circulade villages that dot the countryside of the Aude. I breeze in and grab a large crusty baguette. Tucked carefully under my arm I cycle home in a lazy fashion.

I feel on top of the world. For cyclists and walkers alike this is paradise and I'm in it !!