Saturday 24^th October – Cross Country Day.

I didn’t have a very early start as the 4 star cross country wasn’t due to start until 1pm. I got there about 11.30 and despite going to the paying car park I still wasn’t asked to pay any car parking charges which was a bonus! There was a considerable queue at the entry and it must have taken a good 20 minutes to get through. Once inside the park I wandered up to the restaurant area and Jill found me almost immediately. She was very pleased as she thought she had found something that she wanted to take back home with her as a souvenir of a trip to Pau. We went and had a look, at one of the tack stands, and it was indeed a good idea. It was a folding mounting block which should easily go into her case and also be very useful. After she had purchased it we went and got some water and a sandwich each and walked over to the lake complex where we had decided to spend some time watching the first few competitors. Jill’s portable mounting block came in very useful as a seat and I had my shooting stick so we were soon settled and eating our sandwiches. It was very mild and I had left coat, brolly and hat in the car but we did have a shower at some point but fortunately it didn’t last for long. In the end I was thankful that I had left everything as I didn’t have much to carry around.

Although the event was due to start at 1pm it was in fact 2pm when the first rider,Mark Kylke, came through. He is a very brave man as he has 3 horses in the event today! We watched the first few horses through the lake complex and then moved around the course staying at different fences for a while. Thankfully, although there were more people there than last year, it wasn’t too crowded and it was easy to wander around and choose which fences we wanted to see. At the end of the day Dirk Schrade was in the lead. William Fox-Pitt had a stop at one fence and Oliver Nicolson was well placed.

One of Jill’s requests was that she wanted to have a “real” French meal whilst she was here and this had cost me some sleepless nights!! What a responsibility. After much trawling around restaurant reviews I had picked the “O Gascon” in the old area of Pau and booked a table for 7pm. The cross-country finished at 5pm and we made our way to the bar tent and had a drink and looked at the results. Then back to the car and we drove into Pau. We had an hour or so to kill so Jill was able to see the castle and stroll around the old area of town before going to the restaurant. Thankfully the meal, and the wine, was good and Jill thoroughly enjoyed the gastronomic experience. It was good that I had booked as the restaurant was full by 7.30 and they were turning people away. We left about 9.30 and rushed back to the car through some pretty heavy rain and I took Jill back to the hotel and we said our goodbyes. I felt quite sad leaving her as over the last couple of days I felt that we had become good friends.

Neither of us were there for the final day as Jill had to catch a train back to Toulouse for her flight to London and I didn't feel like driving down there again.

Dirk Schrade was the eventual winner.