Poisson d'avril?

This is no April Fool!  Or, as the French would say 'poisson d'avril'.  The custom is to pin a picture of a fish (a normal, run-of-the-mill goldfish, from memory) on the back of the person you want to prank, and see how long it takes them to realize.   All of this was very confusing to the 12-year-old me, on my first exchange to Bourges, Easter 1973.  I was all ready with my 'pinch and a punch for the first of the month' so was unprepared for gentle pats on the back followed by sniggers.  I'm not sure how long I wandered around with a goldfish on my back, but I do know that pinching and punching people - however gently - did not go down well!

Today is 1 April but this post is no joke: with only 3 weeks to go before Easter, I am a mere 56 km away from Paris!  I haven't walked/run very far since my last post, partly because I have been getting my home ready for a new arrival.  I had fallen in love with a picture of a little long-haired black cat called Coco, but by the time I had made up my mind I would like to adopt her, she had already been rehomed.   Having set my heart on her, I decided to look for another black long-haired cat, and came across 'Hetty'.  She was taken to Cats Protection as a stray a little over 6 weeks ago and needed a quiet home with no other pets, no children, and with someone who could be very patient because she was so very shy.  I went to meet her but didn't actually see her, as she was hiding in her black fleece igloo - I only knew she was in there when she opened her big green eyes!  She allowed me to reach in and stroke her and I decided there and then to offer her a home.  The rest of the week was spent tidying up and eliminating all the nooks and crannies a scaredy-cat could hide in, and I went to collect her on Saturday.   I've renamed her Minette (French for Kitty) and if it weren't for my cat-cam, I wouldn't know she was there as she doesn't come out from under the bed while I'm around!

All that to say that I haven't recorded anything other than 2 park runs since my last post but they have brought me to Saint Gervais in the Ile-de-France, a pretty little place, from what Google shows me:

It's a glorious day in the photo, and it's a beautiful day here in England, too.  Let's hope the weather stays fine for the final 56k to Paris.  I'll make sure I'm there for Easter!