Françoise returned from her yoga at around 11:30 so do we go to Bath or do we not? She wants to find a suitable piece of luggage to take away with her when we go to London in a couple of weeks.As the sun is shining and the forecast is good we decide to go. We jumped on our most useful bus which is the 172 from Bristol to Bath via Radstock and return.

Our first stop was Morrisons, a branch of the huge supermarket chain which is conveniently 50m from the bus station. They give great meal deals and we participated in one which is a medium portion of mixed salad to which you help yourself, supported by a cold health drink in my case orange juice without the Pips, plus a bag of crisps all for the princely sum or four pounds. That pretty much set us up for the day. Françoise could not finish her portion and she had the rest later on for supper.

We visited Marks and Spencer’s to try and find a suitcase. Françoise felt that the under seat bag size was too small full her needs but others were too big so the day did not result in any purchase. An outlet within Marks and Spencer were offering hearing tests for free so I had myself checked and both my ears are within the safety level. To do this I had to go in a soundproof box and listen to sounds produced by headphones. If I could hear the sounds I was to give a thumbs up. My motto – if it’s offered free then take it

We wandered up and down and noticed a man campaigning evangelically with a loudspeaker, one of the Jesus saves type of pproach. Had a large poster on his bicycle and he rode around the town giving the good news of Jesus. This is definitely not my style but I do admire people who can do this.

We crossed town to the scientific and literary Institute to find an extraordinary exhibition on crystals called Riches of the Earth. A commentary on the various works were available by QR code but they had printed out a copy for those of us who were unable or unwilling to use this method. I never realized how many types of copper there were in various parts of the world

I noticed a flyer about an event which to me is completely indiscipherable. I also saw an advertisement on a bike for a nightly event to explain the more bizarre twists and turns of this historic city and I enjoyed seeing the river in fairly full flow. I never see the same river twice no matter how many times I visit Bath. It depends on the weather, the temperature, the humidity, previous rainfall, you name it.

I enjoy signs in french warning people not to feed the seagulls.

We came across a huge oak tree which is in one of the squares for which bath is famous

This was the first time this year when I noticed a substantial number of visitors, some student groups, speaking Spanish, French, and there were some Japanese. Bath is a town that will always draw people. The many advantages include the compactness; all these sites are within a very small geographical distance. You could almost say six football fields worth will cover most of the ‘must do’ things.

I love little spontaneous conversations. We were passing Marks and Spencers when we met a cyclist stuffing a lot of material into a fairly small rucksack. Me being me I commented on its age and said I had a similar one that I did not want to throw away. He said he never threw things away and found waste disgusting. He said at of young age his grandmother had taught him to sew and he found this a very useful skill which he applies to this day.

We arrived at our Chinese shop where we normally buy supplies of sweet pepper sauce. We were much entertained by a man who was buying basket-fulls of food. It appears he was preparing for a dinner party of 70 people which he was going to offer this weekend. The whole stack of grocery came to 166 pounds and this did not include the main courses. The customer asked one of the young Chinese men to help him to his car.

Before that I attended near a market stall where they were just breaking down and getting rid of everything at a low price. I bought two punnets of fresh raspberries and two sweet corns for the princely sum of two pounds. I love a bargain. I have always loved bargains. I always will love bargains. The amount of money I have at the time in my bank account is not relevant. It is the thrill of the chase.

So, another lovely day, not a brain stretcher but an opportunity to leave my computer alone and enjoy the simple things of this life. ‘This is the day that the Lord hath made, rejoice and be glad in it’.