Friday 21st September 2007

There are some downsides of staying in a city apartment. Firstly, I have to get up and be taken out for a walk first thing in the morning to relieve myself. Secondly, there are no bushes to pee on and no privacy for me. Thirdly, I have to suffer the ignominy of my mistress following on behind me with a little bag and then carrying it through the streets until she can find a bin. Then of course, I got a bit of a surprise when I went out onto the balcony and realised there is quite a drop to the road below. It reminded me of Rincewind in the Terry Pratchett books saying he is afraid of the ground rather than heights, essentially the hitting of the ground when falling from a height.

I was taken for a walk up to the Chateau. That is to say, I feel a little cheated. It may be called the Chateau but there isn’t actually a chateau there at all. It’s just a big hill with good lookout point, a children’s playground a few rather large cacti and an artificial waterfall that is like a curtain of water over the rock. Oh it’s nice, but when you are taken to a chateau you expect there to be a building. Maybe I take things too literally. I have done a tour of the local lampposts and have to report they are not dissimilar to lampposts in both Belgium and England. I have also had a nice walk down to the sea front, which was all a bit exciting because of the other dogs we kept meeting. It reminded me of the walks I go on from our home in Middlesbrough, except for the sea, and the sunshine and the people talking a foreign language. Although now I come to think of it I don’t usually understand people in Middlesbrough either.