A view of the village at night

Today was a beautiful day, sunny, bright blue skies but rather cold. We had an appointment at the vet this morning as Xena had to get the required de-worming and microchip checked as part of the pet passport travel requirements. Xena has a Swiss passport as our vet back home asked us to get one to save them time and us money -  since Brexit the EU pet passport is defunct and now our vet is required to complete a 10 page very detailed document every time we travel with Xena, that frankly is a pain in the **** for our vet and is very costly for us, so a Swiss passport is a much better option. However we heard from friends who also have a Swiss passport for their dogs that strictly speaking we have to be permanent residents to get a Swiss pet passport but the Swiss vet today did not say anything about that and was happy to stamp Xena's Swiss passport, she said it was all in order and acceptable. Maybe a problem that will arise in the future but for today it was fine.

We walked Xena up the Monbiel valley after her vet visit, and as it is in constant shade at this time of year it is at least 3 degrees colder there than in the village. It was also icy in parts and I found I was slipping a bit, but when Gavin slipped and fell hard hurting his elbow and hip we decided to turn back. Gavin's elbow is very swollen but we hope it is just bruising and not a cracked bone. 

This afternoon I met a (English) friend for coffee - we chatted about various things including Harry's airing of dirty laundry to the media - he really should shut up now, it is getting a bit tiresome and I am not sure how many are taken in by his endless whining. 

I have made breakfast and lunch for our journey home again tomorrow - we are sad to leave this beautiful place but all good things come to an end, and we will be back. I must go pack as we leave early tomorrow morning for the long drive home.