There was a holiday

This refrain has been the backdrop to a number of visits to schools, as I was working in schools last week and this week. Although there were many descriptions of very fulfilling holidays, the back to school tiredness had caught many by surprise. Reassuringly, there was also the realisation that it was inevitable and would ease.

It did make me think about my own holiday, which, this year took on a slightly different complexion, as my daughter wanted to take her family to my holiday home in France for a couple of weeks.

I had the chance to work in Cornwall in the last week of the term, so decided to take advantage and book a few days away, to make the most of the necessary long drive. It gave the opportunity to visit Tate St Ives, the Barbara Hepworth Museum and the Eden Project, all firsts, and all in the July sunshine. It rained on the way home! But it had provided a pleasant start to the holiday.

Two weeks at home allowed days out to places not normally visited and time to catch up with different family members.

Then we got away on the ferry to France, to enjoy two and a half weeks of either very hot, or very wet weather. There was little in between, so it was either get up early and get something done, or be prepared, after 10am to find the available shade. This did allow time to read, and, for the first time ever, I ran out of books, so had to visit our local Anglo-French charity shop to top up. Eclectic tastes.

Wet days did enable some daubing of paint on paper as a pastime. I won’t ever be a Monet, but the pleasure of immersion in a task did provide space for thoughts. A few of these were developed into drafts of future blogs.

I also planned my autumn project, to take down our current shed and replace it with a purpose built shed of my own design. This has been a while in the thinking stage, but there are some days that appear to be promising later this month (a space in the diary) so will be the start point. The pleasure I get from creating like this is immense. I built a summer house in France a few years ago, from scratch. Immersion again, with a very clear focus.

And then, three days walking Paris, visiting the available galleries, many free. I fell in love with the simplicity of Zadkine, with similarities to Barbara Hepworth. The Pompidou was worth every cent of the entry fee and, as for the Museum of Modern Art, I’d have spent each day there. We covered thirty plus miles in the three days, so were very much immersed in the whole experience.

We came back early, as I had a series of School Direct days to cover during the holiday as the schools wanted the trainees in school from the beginning of term.

There was a holiday, creating a range of memories, which will provide the backdrop and colour to autumn and winter, with the promise of next year.