My days of adventure have officially begun. I don’t mind counting yesterday, to be honest – because my only goal for this trip is to make the most of every single day I am given on this continent. I’m here for five weeks, but on the calendar it looks like a month. It’s super intriguing, but I’ll take all the time I’ve got.
This morning my AirBNB host told me that the stores shut at 12:30 on Sundays. I quickly had breakfast (yes, I’ll be cooking all my meals here, so I can eat pretty much only the things I have the capacity to make), and borrowed her cycle so I could go to the close by supermarket – the one away from our town, on the highway. So I genuinely cycled along the French countryside, on a proper racing-style cycle. Which was the closest I fell to being a Tour De France cyclist – and the closest I ever want to feel. I didn’t speed. My biggest challenge, honestly, was to stay on the correct side of the road. I did a pretty okay job of things, and got the shopping done.
I spent the rest of the day cooking lunch: I made dal!, and waiting for my friend to arrive. We unpacked, and to our contentment, we’ve discovered that we have enough space to ensure we don’t have to live out of our suitcase for the next five weeks, as we initially imagined we might have to do. The house is small, area wise, but storage wise, we’re all good. We spoke about routines and everything – which I imagine might be a challenge over the next few weeks, but only time will really tell.
I’m exhausted. Time to recharge for the most exciting first week ever.
Tejas Rao 