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The car has been playing up again, so it had to go back to Dr Deke to be given the once over. That meant that I had to drop Linda off at her office before zooming off to the garage. Liam, in the meantime, remained at home, unwilling to be dragged away from his PC - although not too anxious to be dragged away from the phone, however. While I was up at Linda's office, I decided to have a quick stroll and take a few images. Her new workplace is in the middle of an industrial estate that is under construction. From it, there is a very good view of both Powrie Castle and the Black Watch Memorial. Also, on the other side of the road is a large field planted with linseed, which makes a very photogenic sight for competent photographers. Alas, however, I seemed to have left my competence at home, since none of the pictures was any good.I didn't want to hang about too long, however, as I did have a date with Deke. On the way there, the car cut out twice - necessitating the introduction of the radio's code and the resetting of the dashboard clock. In a display of absolute mastery of his craft, as soon as I described the problem, Deke had the bonnet (hood) up and went straight to the culprit... a loose battery connection! Boy did I feel silly! My friend, Michel Cahen, called to let me know that he had arrived in Dundee. I met up with him and his lovely family and took them out to a local rural inn where we chatted for a while. I dropped them off in the city centre before heading up to pick Linda up. I got stuck in traffic, and arrived 15 minutes late - just as Linda was about to go back into her office to call me. I had arranged to go back into town to meet up with the Cahens again, so off I went to keep the appointment. I found them wandering the streets of Dundee, looking in the window of every bar, searching for price lists and signs of cigarette smoke. I passed them as I turned a corner, so I tooted and came to a halt and they all piled in. After much discussion, we decided to go to Broughty Ferry for a walk and something to eat - so this we did, although we had some difficulty in finding a place - all the bars stop serving food at 8pm - it was just past that cut-off time when we were searching. Eventually we found a bistro with a very bland mid-1990s decor and typical meal menu that was prepared to serve us food. A very pleasant couple of hours was spent in the bistro with Michel, Dominique and their two teenage children. Before leaving, Michel gave me a present of some delicacies from his part of France (Bordeaux): Magret - which is the dried and cured breast of fattened duck; and Sausson de Canard - which is like a chouriço made of duck meat. I look forward to trying them out tomorrow. It was great seeing Michel again, and it was nice to meet his family. Before parting company, we decided that we cannot leave it for three years before meeting up again. Tomorrow they are off to Aberdeen, then the following day to Inverness, from where they will leave for the Hebrides. I hope they have a nice time, get some nice weather and don't get attacked by midges.

Michel Cahen


I was having a mundane time last year