Oh how they must love me!

Hotels I'm talking about.

It's now almost a month since we laid Dudley to rest and probably only now has it sunk in. Besides the obvious upset that comes with losing a friend in such a way, there is the upset to the planning, in which I have been so meticulous, specifically, the hotel bookings.

I have had to revisit the bookings made last summer and scale down our requirements, cancelling rooms as appropriate. This hasn't been helped by the uncertainty that surrounds Biggsy's attendance on the tour. In some cases, it has been fairly straightforward, for example, where I had two triple rooms or four singles booked. With doubles I'm having to play a waiting game.

In one of the places I have booked in France, a farmhouse run by an English couple, they were letting us have a family annexe. The owner, Tina, is the only 'person' I have been in contact with when doing any booking, all the others having been done through Booking.com or individual hotel chain direct booking websites. I explained to Tina the situation we now find ourselves in and that we are still unsure if we will be a 2 or 3. Bless her, she has come back and said we can still have the family annexe, at a reduced cost and we can have either 2 or 3 beds, depending on our final requirement, with the cost adjusted to the number of beds. I'm so pleased, as the place looks beautiful, a real home from home and I wasn't looking forward to cancelling for a night in a Formula 1!, though I did make a contingency booking just in case. You'll find the B&B, Les Cheres Meres, at Day 15, down the page.

In Pisa, I have downsized our caravan! Yes, I said caravan or if you prefer, mobile home, though I expect they are all static. I had us down for a two bedroomed mobi on a campsite (check out Day 9 on the list) just on the outskirts of town. Hedging my bets, I have booked a twin bed caravan and a triple bedded one too, much to the consternation of a young lady at the site, who questioned if that was correct and my sanity probably.

Biggsy's attendance depends on him selling his house. When we saw him at the funeral, it still wasn't on the market but I believe Tetbury is quite a sought after area, so he may get lucky and sell it quickly. I'm meeting him for the Ride of Respect on 1st June, so that will be the cut-off point I think.

94 days to go!