Day: 18 October 2023

RWC 2023

The World Cup is still going on. Last week was the QF round. Some disappointments in that.

But we were in Lyon for the groups stages, seeing Namibia v Uruguay and NZ v Italy.

The game between the two lesser teams was good entertainment- particularly for the first 60 minutes- until a spate of yellow/ red cards ruined the balance and momentum of the match.

The big game lacked surprise and competition. It was an All Black walkover. However, the atmosphere was good with lots of Kiwis and many Italians. Being close to Italy, Lyon has a strong Italian community related to previous migration. Also, the French locals sang their anthem powerfully.

Thanks to Raphael for picking us up after the the ABs game.

Garden update

The house in France continues to change though it is hard to keep track of it. It is easy to forget how things looked a few months ago let alone last year.

So here are some photos to show the new hedge that we planted yesterday. The grass area has been cleared progressively in the last few months. More area ‘reclaimed’ hopefully with the grass gaining presence over the nettles and the ‘wld celery’.

And the lastest for the pond which has had some lining added to help control the growth of weeds. I don’t think it will help with maintaing the level of the water. Mores stones added to the edge too.

And we have news trees- two pear trees which I hope with cope with the nature of the soil, grow and give fruit at some point.

Venice

A rip to the busy city. It was packed as you would expect, but in places not as much as you might fear.

A place to walk and take the vaporetto and enjoy the scenes from the water. We did not take a gondola at 80 euros for 30 minutes!

There is the beauty of the place; including the churches and art within.

St Mark’s