Travelling hopefully and arriving at the end of an era.

I like travelling. Not just the getting there but all the difficult, uncomfortable, stressful bits in between leaving home all excited and flopping down exhausted at the destination. I like a challenge, whether it is rude check-in staff, slow security checks, lost luggage, missed flights or other travel incidents. It is also a great way to people-watch as fellow travellers go through the same challenges.

KLM is our default airline as Schiphol airport is one of the best and easiest to transfer through. Heathrow and Charles de Gaulle are the worst and we avoid them if at all possible. Aberdeen to Schiphol usually helps us avoid CdG disasters and Heathrow anger. Nevertheless we have a history of lost luggage and missed/almost missed flights with KLM so we have come to expect it and are prepared for most eventualities. We have never failed to reach a destination and luggage eventually catches up with us. I am always pleasantly surprised when both suitcases roll of the luggage carousel at the destination airport and if there are no problems with the hire car it is a bonus.

This time a major traffic jam in Aberdeen caused us to detour through Kingswells to get to the airport with less than an hour to spare (chaotic check-ins as most people were late for their flights due to the traffic hold up and ultra-slow security checks took up most of the spare hour) and then in Schiphol we had a short connection of 1hr 20mins to get from arrivals at D wing to departures at B wing including a long queue at passport control. No problem! The travel gods were on our side! We even had time to stop for a sandwich before boarding.

Arrival at Toulouse was one of the smoothest landings I have ever experienced and we were only 5 minutes late. Traffic in rush hour Toulouse was made worse by three accidents on the Peripherique which held us up a further hour but we arrived at our destination in the mountains just before 8pm. It was a lovely evening (20degs) and our wonderful hosts had prepared an excellent meal for us which we ate on the veranda.

We have been visiting our friends here in the midi-Pyrenees for 10 years now and we look forward to and enjoy our stay with them immensely. The travel gods/daemons favoured us this time and the journey was pleasant and stress free although a little rushed. Imagine, therefore, how our joy turned to black depression when the gods/daemons of fortune took over the evening shift and we were informed that our friends have decided to put their home on the market next week and move back to Scotland! No more mountain walks, no more Saturday morning market in Saint Girons, no more meals at La Gourmandine in Seix. My life is empty. I can’t go on…unless someone wants to buy this little corner of paradise and invite me back every year.