Rich of March House

Yesterday people asked for proof of my new-found skill.  It's not easy filming your left hand with your right, particularly when it's full of heavy earthenware, but here is my attempt to do so.  Repent all you unbelievers:

While emptying the dishwasher just now I managed to carry eleven mugs in my left hand from the utility room to kitchen.  Can anyone beat that?

The school will only let Sam learn one instrument at a time so he's gone for violin, which means he will have to learn to play drums at home.  Clearly I need to learn to play them first.

So we took the plunge and bought a fairly cheap electronic kit last week and I've been learning from a book for the last 4 days.  I have to say, I'm actually not at all shabby at it.  It's a lot easier than learning to play a proper instrument.

The choice has been made - violin and drums.

Are there any other two instruments that could strike more fear into the hearts of the parents of a seven year old who wants to learn how to play something? 

Headaches - we face you head on and embrace you.

Day number	Overnight stay location	Country	Mileage for leg (approx)	Cumulative mileage
0	March House	UK	0	0
1	Bretagne, cabin 6307	La Manche	12	12
2	Mimizan	France	404	416
3	Mimizan	France	0	416
4	Andorra La Vella	Andorra	328	744
5	Barcelona	Spain	123	867
6	Barcelona	Spain	0	867
7	Beziers	France	176	1043
8	Toulon	France	180	1223
9	Menton	France	112	1335
10	Aosta	Italy	240	1575
11	Lichtenstein	Lichtenstein	260	1835
12	Strasbourg	France	204	2039
13	Maastricht	Netherlands	182	2221
14	Den Haag	Netherlands	143	2364
15	Stutton	UK	40	2404
16	March House	UK	172	2576

The car is cleaned.  The headlight deflectors, red triangle, spare bulbs, GB sticker and high-viz jacket are armed and ready.

I think I'm the most apprehensive about the numbers in red.  The first one is the second longest leg, and goes up through the Pyranees.  It could take about 8 hours of concentrated driving.  The second is similar, but up the Alps instead, and the third one involves a long journey travelling the length of Switzerland.

Given that we'll also be passing through countries not listed because we aren't having an overnight stay in them (Monaco, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, and a quick foray into Austria) that's 13 countries - unlucky for some but hopefully not for us.

The total mileage is also a lower bound of my estimation.  It doesn't include the distance the two ferries travel.  Also it is based on most direct route from place to place, and therefore avoids all the detours we have planned (e.g. heading North a bit from the South coast of France to drive over the Millau Viaduct, going around the Monaco Grand Prix circuit a few times, or navigating the St Bernard Pass out of The Italian Job).

Watch this space.