Chapter 39 - France

Albin and Charli visited Le Champs, a picturesque region of France and stayed in a hotel just on the edge of the small town.

The hotel was a very popular one, full of travellers from around the world.

They made the decision to leave the medieval era behind and wear more contemporary clothes whilst on holiday. Charli found it rather freeing to wear trousers again and have her hair around her shoulders, it made the holiday even more special.

Albin found that Le Champs had some local underground caverns and was excited to go and explore them. A shopkeeper; Aimme Lefebvre had lost her lucky baseball in one and begged Albin to go and get it for her.

The place was called the burial mound. A staircase ran down into the mountain revealing underground caverns.

Albin found the caverns exciting, whilst Charli wished to be back up in the sunlight, sipping wine and eating cheese. She was afraid of the dark and the caverns were damp and she could hear faint scratching noises. The whole place made her skin crawl.

They appeared to be specifically set up for tourists to enjoy. There were hidden doors, pressure plates and statues to drag across the floor.

There was also an small underground maze and lots of treasure chests, containing jewels or broken old pottery.

In fact, Albin was a little confused by this, as some of the gems looked very expensive. Surely the tourist board of this little town couldn't stretch to filling caverns full of expensive gems?

Albin found the baseball in the centre of the maze and was able to return triumphant to a grateful Aimme who told him it was her lucky charm and she hadn't felt safe venturing back into the cavern without it.

The next day Charli visited the Le Champs Nectary.

This was where the famous french nectar drink was created. They were happy for Charli to harvest some of the grapes and let her have a go at stamping them down in their nectar machine.

Charli enjoyed it so much that she bought a nectar machine to take home with her. She was planning to grow some of their french variety of grapes and then make her own nectar drink.

Albin on the other hand went to visit a the local museum. Finding a hidden switch he unearthed a hidden staircase and more caverns much to his delight.

Down in the depths were more chests and puzzles and Albin spent a happy morning exploring.

Albin and Charli then met for lunch to talk over their different activities.

By the end of the holiday Albin had reconnected with his wife and fallen in love again with the woman he had married. She made him laugh and could always cheer him with a word. He now felt that when they returned home he would be a different man, much more cheerful and peaceful. He would accept the situation he found himself in and try to make the most of each day.