Our host insisted we had to vacate our holiday home by 10 am. When Maggi suggested that would probably be OK he pushed back and said we must go by then.
By 9 am he had texted Maggi to say he would be at the villa for 9:45. He needn’t have worried everything packed in the cars by 9:30 and ready to go. The usual helpers showed up early and the usual laggards stayed in bed until the last minute.
I think we only left one thing behind, some cheap jewellery belonging to Sadie or Carrie. Weirdly both of them denied ownership.
The oil
I drove along to Taggia where we bought 6 litres of their best olive oil. I think that buying a years supply of oil quite important and should require some sort of ceremony. The oil company look at is as just another box leaving the premises. If feel a little cheated.
I moved the car around the corner and parked outside a cafe where we, Maggi, Alex, Greg and Carrie, sat down for a cafe and a snack.
A few minutes later Adam and his party arrived to do the exactly the same thing, buy the oil and have a coffee.
We left Taggia and drove back to La Colle where I dropped Alex and Greg off at the Chateau. They are spending the night at this hotel while the rest of us and their children stay with us.
In La Colle
Back to the house to find the gardeners having their lunch under the awning which they had pulled out and raised the shutter on the kitchen. I didn’t mind but they should have asked if we wanted it put back when they left.
A small snack for lunch and then back to the flat for a siesta.
In the afternoon I tried to get Claude to pick a 21st century playlist based on my 20th century choices. It made a big hash of it, because it couldn’t tell the difference in track dates.
A couple of swims to keep cool.
Evening At Pizzati
In the evening we all walked down to Pizzati for our evening meal. Maggi, Adam, Sarah and Alex already had a couple of home made Aperol Spritz before they left. Greg already held a large beer as we arrived at the restaurant and he subsequently ordered a couple of margaritas for Maggi and Sarah and 2 bottles of red wine. Adam and I seemed quite sober only drinking the red wine. At the end of the meal a round of limoncello arrived free of charge. I gave mine away thankfully. I’m sure Greg had at least two. He planned to return to the hotel and have a conference call. I wish him luck.
