Bliss to horror in one night

It had been a pleasant evening. The Fox had done a wonderful job of cooking that halibut in a surprisingly sweet, white wine sauce. The fish was accompanied by some sauté potatoes (we haven’t had those for a little while) & some sliced green beans. We also had a fabulous New Zealand sauvignon blanc to set it off. It was one of those meals where everything just came together.

After I had got changed we decided to spend our evening just chuntering over some drinks (a non-alcoholic mojito for me) with some French music in the background (Charles Aznavour). Much of our talk concerned our potential French holiday for next year & where to go. We’re both dithering on destination at the moment – plenty of ideas but no decision. We concluded that at present we’re just feeling so content at being home, & getting back into our normal routine, that we really needed to be tempted right now or just leave it. We’ve decided to leave it as nowhere specific has caught our eye & maybe decide later in the year or even leave it until next year.

This was followed by an episode of “Highlander”, an old series which we have on DVD, & we enjoy.

So it was I was late to bed. I then read a little, my book, “A Flower that’s Free” by Sarah Harrison. It had just got to the section where the little boats set sail across the Channel to rescue the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) from Dunkirk at the end of the Phoney War part of the Second World War. I had to stick with it until the soldiers & the little boat were safely back in England.

I then switched off the light & switched on the radio, catching the end of “A Good Read” on BBC Radio4 11.00-11.30p.m. As I remembered some novels by Nevil Shute I’ve enjoyed & questioned why he has gone so out of fashion as a writer, I gently dozed off.

Suddenly I was wide awake. The radio hadn't switched itself off yet. News of the horrific killing in Paris was all over the radio. I couldn’t shake the horror of at least 100 people being killed. I tried going to the loo & re-settling in bed but I just found myself getting more & more restless. The radio was full of incoming news. Various other incidents all over Paris were being reported. Now they thought it was going to be 140 people killed & many wounded.

I got up & joined the Fox for a cup of tea, took some painkillers (the stress had caused my muscles to tighten up increasing my pain levels), watched the news on the TV, had something to eat, more tea. Eventually I got back to bed, after 2 a.m. I read a little more, once more put out the lights & put on the radio. By 3 a.m. the World Service had moved on to normal programmes as nothing immediate new was happening, though obviously news programmes were full of the killings.

When we had chatted over our toast & tea, we discussed why the event seemed so shocking. Part of it was that we’d had such a pleasant evening, with France much in our thoughts, being remembered with love & affection. When the shooting had occurred in January & the Charlie Hibdo incident, the fact that the magazine was targeted was understandable, though not to be condoned, due to their rather insulting cartoons about Mohammed. The same could not be said here. So many young people killed at a concert & diners at restaurants, passersby caught up in the massacre.

Terrible!