Hassells in the Highlands

DRIVING Driving on the left seems normal now. However, when we have gone to other European countries that drive on the right side, THAT feels normal as well. I can’t decide if I am confused or well-adjusted. I don’t get to drive very often because we only have one car and Mike takes it to work. But whenever we drive to Inverness, Mike lets me drive that fun, curvy A9 road along the coast. And every once in a while I have something to do outside of town that I need a car for, so Mike will hitch a ride to work with another Dounrey employee. the gorse in the haar When that happens, l feel carefree as I shoot down the road. I still do not care to pass other vehicles, (that is not new to the UK), but I am pretty comfortable driving 60 mph on these roads. I also enjoy the freedom that driving brings.  Who doesn’t like to drive?  I admit, I miss it.  I don’t really have a need to drive here, but when I get behind the wheel, I really enjoy the driv...

We went to France! To Marseille, (pronounced “Mar-say”) in the south of France – to have access to a beach on the Mediterranean, to have sunshine and warmth, and of course, to eat French food. And because we could. What we learned after the fact is that even though Marseilles is the second largest city in France (behind Paris), it has not long been a nice, tourist city. It seems that until about 5 years ago, it was overrun with Mafia and drugs.  Someone decided to clean it all up. It seems they did a pretty good job. We had tourist guides telling us of the many structural changes that have been made in the last 5 years and what a nice city it is now.  (If we had known all of this prior to our trip, it may have caused me to consider someplace else – like Nice.) We stayed in a flat we found on AirBnB – and chose it because of its location and reviews – and for the view. It had this wonderful view of the Basilica Notre Dame (not to be confused ...