1) I was the third person in the door when Liz’s Café opened and I very much enjoyed a smoked salmon omelette, coffee, and the gleam in the waiter’s eye while continuing with Olivia de Havilland’s biography.
2) Beach day! I arrived at Herring Cove about 11 and left shortly after 5. Much of it was like being in part of a comic strip story a couple friends did many years ago (that I cannot find on the internet, alas) called “The Trouble with Twinkies.” In it, a remote space station manned by two astronauts picks up an emergency signal from a small spacecraft. They connect to it, and a slim blond twinkie enters searching for a cosmo. The next thing you know the space station is overrun with twinkies. The two lines I remember are “Our highly advanced communications network is now . . . a stereo system!” and “I’m not old. I’m 44!” (The latter to loud cackling from the twinkies.)
2a) Seriously, I was surrounded by young men (not in a good way) with dueling disco soundtracks for much of the afternoon. There were even party boats directly in front of my line of vision. I haven’t seen Herring Cove this crowded in years!
2b) With all that I did run into three or four friends, and did manage some amusing conversations. The boys from DC behind me, when I asked why they weren’t re Rehoboth, let me know exactly why Rehoboth doesn’t even compare to P’town. One of them was fascinated with my hippie bedspread beach throw (which I got at Shop Therapy years ago).
3) When I finally slogged back to Hochmina-sur-Mer, it was locked up tight, and I had to relax for just over an hour on the terrace with Olivia and a large bottle of water. The idea that I could even go into town as is - sweaty and nasty, clad in rags - simply could not be contemplated.
4) Four of us enjoyed a late dinner at ye Crownye Pointye. There was a delay in getting seated, and the manager was awfully nice about offering us a round of free drinks. I confess I was feeling remarkably mellow by the time dinner arrived and didn’t attend to the conversation as much as I should have.
Sur la plage.