Tuesday 6th August
Good evening from Toulouse, we are moored up in the centre of town which instead of being the metropolitan hot spot we expected it is closed. France closes down for August but naively we assumed that places which attract tourists would be open. They aren't, probably two thirds of the restaurants/cafes/bars are closed and those which remain open are very busy.

So why have we come here? To visit Gill's aunt Margaret who is now in her 90's and in a nursing home in Toulouse. She is a lovely lady who married a Frenchman soon after the war and they moved to Paris where she had a son, Charles – Gill's cousin. Her husband died in the late 60's but she never remarried, she is a very lively lady and used to have interesting holidays visiting places like China before it became mainstream, something we always aspired to.

Living in France she of course always spoke French so when she speaks English it is in a strong Huddersfield accent circa 1945, her sister (Gill's mum) lost that accent living in London. Now Margaret is quite frail Charles has moved her to a nursing home close to him and his family in Toulouse where he has spent most of his working life with Airbus. Whilst she is frail she has not lost her sense of humour nor her Huddersfield accent, it was lovely to see her again.