A Triumph of Planning and a Long-awaited Bus Victory

Our route back was:-

Dunkerque, Tours, Le Queroy, Toulouse, Girona, Barcelona, Athens!

This all worked well enough, with a few areas of heavy traffic, hot weather and some hotel bargains. At George and Gregory's we moved into the space vacated by a big family party, and were probably in the way; but we got the chance to clear out the car, met some delightful neighbours and had a good old chinwag. In Toulouse we stayed in a very newly developed part of the city, and wandered round the eating area, and in Barcelona we stayed as before in the Arc de Triomf area, and ate tapas in an old bar. Next morning we saw Plaza de Catalunya, where the central area has been closed off after the occupation by protesters. Nothing of note happened in Athens/Piraeus other than getting stuck in our usual taverna with a local and thus missing Lidl and the wine! We arrived back in Paleo on the first bus of Sunday 21st.

Here's what had changed during our month away:

• A second Chinese shop selling cheap clothes has opened in what was Michaelis' pastry shop.
• The plinth still has no statue.
• The Blue Flags are at last a-flying on the beaches.
• Cosmogonia has stopped live music since "overdoing it" and a large fine.
• The Samaria is back after safety-refitting & is once again on the Sfakia run or moored at Skala.
• The private clinic on the stony seafront is open for business.

Chez nous we had a house-sitter (Steve "Wolves") for three of the four weeks, and the family happily fostered Pathos (or Mini-beast to them!). On our return we found a much grown and very handsome creature who must have been fed elsewhere for the final week but is still keen to visit along with Scaredy. A sort of peace has broken out between them.

Finally - the very good news! During the taxi drivers' strike in July many new bus runs from the Chania bus station to the airport were introduced, and - rejoice!- they have been left in place! There are now buses at hourly intervals making public transport a feasible option at last, after years of disgraceful kowtowing to the taxi drivers. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot!