Ripon 2025 - Day 12 and The Voyage Home

Our last day in Ripon was here. Saturday (9 August) was sunny again, and still windy as it had been all week.

After breakfast, we walked to the Leper Chapel once more, knowing this time we would find it open. You've seen pictures of it both inside and out several times on my blog, and nothing has changed really, but I still took another one, just as a cloud was blown away from the sun and the inside was filled with sunlight.

Almshouses in the foreground with the Leper Chapel in the background.

We then bought a few more things for our Mum's birthday (which was yesterday, 12 August) and went back to the cottage, where my sister made us lunch using up what we still had in the fridge. It was a very nice meal, starting with soup (bought ready-made) and then a plate with watercress salad, an omelette with zucchini/courgette in it, coleslaw, goats cheese and toasted olive bread. 

After a rest, we went to say good-bye to Mary. Of course you never know what happens to any of us even just the next day, but when someone is 91, "see you next year" carries more of a realistic possibility that there won't be a next year for this person. We hugged, and when the wind slammed her gate shut and I walked back towards the house with her to open it for her (the gate is rather heavy-going), she said "one more" and we hugged again - I found this rather touching and felt a bit tearful.

It would have been nice to sit on our bench in front of the cottage with our mugs of coffee and a flapjack each, but it was too windy to enjoy sitting out, so we sat inside. 

And soon, it was time to leave for our date with our former landlady at the Claro Lounge, a relatively new restaurant in Ripon. The building used to be a NatWest bank and is very spacious inside, nicely decorated. Service is friendly, and our food and drinks were good. Of course most of all we enjoyed seeing our friend once more.

My room, as it was before packing and stripping the bed

On Sunday (10 August), my sister-in-law picked us up at around 8:15. Our train in Harrogate was at 9:15, but we always plan generously - you just never know, and we ended up not having a very long wait at the station after all, what with tractors in front of us on the road between Ripon and Harrogate.

It was a pleasant train ride directly to London King's Cross through summerly countryside.

Arriving there with a 7 minute delay meant we had just under an hour to make the short walk to St. Pancras and then start the process of border controls (first the UK one and then the French one), luggage checks and waiting for boarding the Eurostar.

We reached Paris Gare du Nord mid-afternoon and had almost 1 1/2 hours before our TGV from Gare de l'Est to Stuttgart was due. Another uneventful train ride followed; even the re-introduced border control upon entering Germany was quick and smooth: Two very young, very fit looking chaps from German Border Police rushed through our train on long legs, not wanting to see anyone's ID or checking any bags. I wonder how effectively this really stops unwanted people from entering the country, but my boss says it's all about making them feel the risk of being discovered has increased and they rather not risk it. Still, I believe that someone with enough criminal energy will always find a way to avoid being found out.

In Stuttgart, we caught the next possible train to Ludwigsburg. We said good-bye at the station, and I was home at almost precisely 10:00 pm. Phew!

From 14C in Harrogate that morning to 34C in Paris that afternoon to still around 20C in Ludwigsburg at night, we covered three countries and as many climate zones within 13 hours (not 14, since we "jumped" one hour the moment we arrived in France).

My posts will now revert back to the usual weekly reports, plus I have a few book reviews waiting to be written.

My downstairs neighbour always takes care of my plants and mail when I'm away for more than a few days... This time, she managed to let my hydrangea die :-(