Friday 26th May - It occurs to me I haven't mentioned the ninja-kittens. The local cat (we think it belongs to the chateau's caretaker) had a bunch of kittens who would run for cover at the merest sound of you breathing when we first arrived. To most of us they seemed to be incredibly cute, but I do think that maybe they were (literally) milking us for every moment of sympathy. Charles' patience paid off later in the week when they finally took food from his hand and by Friday some of us had managed the trick too (us feeding the kittens, not us taking food from Charles). Ellen was convinced that the poor little things weren't fed properly (I'm not so sure), so when she and I went to the store later, the cat population got some treats in our bag too.

I woke up on Friday morning begining to appreciate the problems that Kerry sometimes has with her sinuses. Whether it was an overdose of lavender from the garden the evening before or not, I did feel a little bunged up and the scent of lavender was ever-present. People were acutely aware that though most weren't leaving Biarritz until the following day, that this was the day for packing up and readying the exit strategy. Food was there again in the morning, though I had major sympathies for Kerry once again when the last of the eggs were used before she could make a vegetarian alternative (the veggie version having been consumed earlier). Much discussion ensued on a) what we'd all been doing on 9/11, how we watch our news and how to spend the final day beyond the necessities. Paintball was ruled out and (if memory serves me right) Charles and Michael took a walk to the local pub (about 5km away) only to find it closed. My sympathies go out to Charles who was in the hammock ouside for more nights than I'd have handled and now a long-promised afternoon libation was snatched away too!

Holly was off to the villa/townhouse to stay with Dean and Fran as they were all off VERY early the next day. I have to admit that I'd been thinking (wrongly) we would all be getting back together for the proposed last supper on the evening, so the first round of actual farewell and adieuing was suddenly there and then gone. I've promised to stay in touch with Holly as us top-level (and highly modest) journos have to stick together. Besides, she's a Michael Connelly fan and who can argue with additional good taste that?

On our trip to get food (CHOCOLATE!!!!!!) from the supermarche Ellen and I had spotted an alternative resteraunt to the one that she, Holly and I had spotted on the UDO (Urt-ish Day Out) and found it could easily cope with the remaining Chateau-dwellers. We got back to the chateau about 5:30 and, with Kerry's tele-linguist skills confirmed our booking for just after 8:00pm.

Everyone got ready, smartly dressed (or at least what we hadn't used/packed already and we car-pooled off for food. The nosh was delicious though Kerry ordered a dish that clearly seemed to be vegetarian until she got it and there, not so cunningly hidden, was lashings of bacon. The karma gods certainly owe her one, especially as she proved to be the best translator at the table. Otherwise the food was terrific and the atmosphere a delight. On hearing that we were celebrating both the wedding and our last night in Biarritz, the owners gave us all a free round of liquer. Charles got some alcohol after all!
It was a great final evening for us and could only have been better if everyone who'd joined us through the week was there too, but in that case we'd have taken over the restaurant itself, rather than just a good 1/4 of the main room. It was after midnight when we left, all well fed. Tomorrow would be a long and tiresome day, some would be up before 5:00, but for now some rest was needed. The chateau decended into an unusually quiet night...