The customer is always right

Just a short update - I had a wonderful Christmas, and a drunken New Year, thankyou very much, and all went well and it was less stressful, but still very busy. For a Christmas present from his parents, Dai and I went away to a CenterParcs for a long weekend - my first time on one of those holidays, but I hope not the last. It was awesome.
While I was at home, I saw some of my regulars, which was lovely. This was the last Christmas and New Year we're expecting to hold in the club, and it will be strange this year. One of the locals nearly made me cry (not hard, I know, but still) telling me how he watched me grow up and my family fall apart: but despite all that, he said he thinks I'm a strong person and that although it's not over yet, everyone has complete faith in me. Bless. If only I did half the time! I have to get back to revision now: like somebody on my course said earlier this week, blogging is so much more fun when you've got work to do!

And we're off!

Finally, the day has arrived. This evening Dai and I are off to London, and tomorrow we catch the Eurostar which will take us to Paris. I've been brushing up my French, and have a workbook to do on the train. I've also been researching vegan places to eat. The BBC book we bought effectively warns vegans off trying to eat in France, and yes, I'm expecting some difficulties. But I have done my homework, and I shall attempt to prove them all wrong by having a lovely holiday which hopefully doesn't involve too much stressing about food! My strategy has been to do research: the Happy Cow site is invaluable as ever (it helped a lot when I first went vegan and we went on holiday to Edinburgh and London, we had a lot of fun discovering new places).

I also plan to maintain my normal view that if it goes wrong, so long as it's not too wrong, then I won't freak out or beat myself up: at the end of the day, I do what I can to the best of my ability. I don't mind making a fuss, and making an effort to help everyone understand, but I don't want it to ruin a good evening out or someone's day. Or in this case, a holiday. I'm not a vegan to make my life difficult, it's to make the planet's life easier. That's part of the reason we're not flying (although I've never promised never to, as I still want to travel. I haven't flown for many years now though). So I will do my best, and will report back on the whole thing when I return! After a few panics this morning, now the packing is done, I'm looking forward to the trip immensely. I haven't been abroad for so long, or on a holiday for ages! Yay!