Dramatis Personae

Any number of readers have asked me to give a list of the characters involved in my little trips as they are finding all the different names confusing, so here goes:

Woolybanana: Me, the leader of the pack so to speak, to my eyes, Prince Hal, to my kids, Polonius; to others Falstaff or perhaps Pistol. Getting a bit long in the tooth, that is tooth singular as they seem to have decided they no longer wish to live with me. The dentist goes quiet when he looks in there. Prone to dribble!
Not to be confused with my sister Randy who is very fond of Le Port d'Amsterdam, so to speak.

Benny: The large dog in the blog if you just scroll down a bit. He follows me round, sits and my feet and when we are in the CC sleeps next to me with a paw under the accelerator to make sure we dont go too fast. As soft as a fresh cowpat and a real charm who, unfortunately, likes to kiss on the mouth. He is deeply attracted to border collie-type dogs as he is convinced that his mother was one, which she was not, as I met her. Wants no more than a wide open beach and a few sea birds to chase for miles.

Tad(pole): Passed to me quickly in a car park in Niort, he is Benny's little mate and is the classic "steal the sausages and run like hell with the butcher following him with a chopper" dog. Part terrier, he likes to hunt and hunt and hunt; Anything on two or four legs will do. If he doesn't like you he will piddle on your leg. Then he sleeps on my lap all evening. When travelling, sleeps under the CC table; has been known to stand on the table at the wrong moment with disastrous consequences when the brakes are applied.

Emily: An irascible lady duck who gets bad PMT and then pecks my feet when we are driving along. And so often gets left behind. Though she likes cross country skiing (sliding really) in Switzerland. We often have to pick her out of the snow where she is upside down with her ample posterior exposed to the wind. But don't you dare laugh or she will fly into a rage and lose her feathers, and have you ever tried to buy clothes for a bald duck in a Maman et Bébé shop? "I want a babygrow outfit for a bald duck please" does tend to send the over preened staff a bit daffy!
She has told me she wants to walk the pilgrim route this summer to St Confit de Canard so if you seen a stroppy duck on a lead with her feet dipped in pitch ..........

Thyril the Irish Snake in the Grass: As his name suggests, he is a unique survivor of his race. Needs watching or he'll be up to no good behind your back. Lives in the CC, as a kind of guard, in the cupboard where the valuables are kept. When the CC was being repaired, the mechanics were terrified of Thyril as he took pleasure in hissing and spitting at them and wrapping himself round their necks. He is a bit thin at the moment so I need to find some guinea pigs or a small terrier.... here kitty, kitty, kitty.
When stopped by the gendarmes I bring him out whilst handing over the CC papers. Gendarmettes are invited to stroke him but most seem to blush at the sight as if it reminded them of something seen before.

Which brings us to
Sabrina (who used to be known as Gertie then Alf ): Who is a not new but very comfy CC with a new lease of life thanks to the replacement engine. In fact, on the way back from Paris she was jumping round like a flea on speed. More worrying however was her new taste in big, powerful trucks with huge bonnets. As we drove along, she seemed to pull towards them and when one had been overtaken, she slowed right down so that they approached her from behind. particularly Volvos and Macs. It is the first time that a vehicle has forced me to park in the lorry part of the motorway services. And now she wants the van painted a delicate shade of puce. I think that a winter passed in the big Iveco truck garage has confused her!