Back at Lavausseau

I returned to Lavausseau on the 19th after a 6 hour journey from my friends (David & Catherine Marks) at Puymaurin, near Toulouse. I had stayed with them for a couple of days. They live in Nairobi from November to April each year, and the summer in France. They had only been back at Puymaurin for a few days when I arrived, but the beautiful house looked like it had been lived in without a break.

On the way from Moraira, I stopped in Barcelona for a night to break the long journey. The weather during the week in Moraira had been atrocious - cold, raining and very cloudy. The day I left, and ever since, has been glorious.

I called in at Valencia on the 16th, as it was the first day of the America's Cup elimination rounds. Unfortunately, I missed the entrance to the harbour and decided to move straight onto Barcelona.

I managed to stay at a superb hotel for the second time - the Hesperia del Port, which was designed by Richard Rogers, though a 3 star hotel.

Today we reopened the pool, and took greater care than last year in peeling off the plastic cover. The secret is to make sure all the water is emptied from the surface of the sheet before trying to remove it. Last year a lot of the dirty water escaped into the pool.

Regarding my diet, I'm down to 93.5kg today. I had to stop the diet for the last two weeks, in view of my hosts providing such lavish meals. Now that I have returned I have recommenced the diet to achieve my target of 87kgs as swiftly as possible. Already I am down to "M" size shirts from "XXL" versions that I had to wear only 2 months ago. So I'm very pleased with the progress, which is a weight off my mind, if not my stomach!