Ilse’s Reviews > Honourable Schoolboy > Status Update

Oh dear! Id it do bad, and chance of the tea lady bringing you a treat on her tea trolley during the day?

Jan-Maat wrote: "Oh dear! Id it do bad, and chance of the tea lady bringing you a treat on her tea trolley during the day?"
Just joking ;) - but I cannot deny there is a slight sense of uneasiness, after having been on leave, having rediscovered the blessing of sun and air for a month ;D.

Ilse wrote: "Jan-Maat wrote: "Oh dear! Id it do bad, and chance of the tea lady bringing you a treat on her tea trolley during the day?"
Just joking ;) - but I cannot deny there is a slight sense of uneasiness,..."

The sun and air are everywhere, so long as you can step outside ;)

Absolutely true especially these days, no need to travel far anymore! It is hard to change bad habits, even if the door to step outside is open :)

Haha, I love the innuendo :) It truly sounds fitting to me too... Perhaps I am looking forward a bit too much for the next rest days?

P.E. wrote: "Haha, I love the innuendo :) It truly sounds fitting to me too... Perhaps I am looking forward a bit too much for the next rest days?"
It always takes me a while to tune in to work again, I was almost getting used now to that different, more easy-going rhythm of the holidays :) Hopefully some days of rest are waiting for you in the near future too, P-E?

I can get behind this dear Ilse! I nearly always find I need 5 days or so to find my footing again... Not to mention the endless stream of mail, memos and the like.

Thanks for asking :) I am about to enjoy a three-day break, and in September, I will be graced with 16 days off, which should allow me to prepare for the Utopiales festival, and the trip next year, while indulging myself with walks along the banks of the Grand-Lieu lake and regular visits to the local library!

Where have you spent your holidays by the way? Anything of notice for now or in the near future? :) I hope you are not suffering too much from the heat waves?

Well-put, I can so much relate to your experience, dear P-E! And isn't it by being free from it from some time, that the craziness of that endless stream becomes crystal clear :)?

Truly happy for you that you have those days to look forward too, I hope you'll enjoy the Utopiales as much as last year, and maybe share some of your finds and experiences with us here again? If I am not mistaken, you'll prepare travelling to Japan again next year? Hopefully the vicinity of the lake or/and a more cooler month of September will help to keep your walks refreshing - how do you get along with the heatwave? The last days of my break, J and I also spent hours in the reading café of our local library, so I can very well understand how for you as well the local library feels as a place of indulgence :)!

Thank you for asking about the holidays! The children and I went on a train journey to Italy this year, we hopped from Nice to Genua, Rome, Arezzo and travelled back home via Milan :).If that all sounds a little exhausting, that is because it was ;) but train time is reading time too, and my daughter enjoys getting a glimpse from unknown territory and moving a lot. She had been dreaming of seeing & swimming in the Mediterranean since she was a small child - and the long train journeys offered spectacular vista on the sea :). In September J and I will spend a week in Lyon, after that week I'll likely have to wait until February/March next year for another break from work, whether home or away :).

Oh, yes it is... You don't get the full picture until you distance yourself from it, that's right!

I won't fail to share this year's troves, and the same goes for the trip to Japan in April 2027, this time with my friends Aurore and Kévin again, plus his father! :)

Since January, I do nearly daily walks in this side of the town I currently live in, as there are very few people strolling there, more of them preferring the public much closer to the center. Currently they are somewhat more manageable, the last two heatwaves took a heavy toll on the animals and plants, with a maddening 42°C for a couple of days, and nights rarely going below 20°C. Even the local library had to close and the musea in Nantes opened their doors for free to help people withstand this harrowing and deeply concerning times.

I must pay a visit to the splendid city of Brussels someday, our talks about local cafés and libraries make me... curiouser and curiouser about it! :)

What was your trip like? Personal favourites? Children's favourites? Lucie — a colleague of mine who have been lending me a few kilograms of travel books lately —spent two weeks in Rome and Venice last week, she looked positively spellbound! Especially by the cuisine, and the Trastevere district among others! I am hoping you are not overwhelmed by the humdrum necessities of work!... We can all do with a little more slow-paced life, when we can afford the time to read liberally, profusely, joyously :)