View from the Back
Ramblings of a retiree in France
One from the Vault:Things my OH has lost – golf clubs and cart
After so many trips away, the cupboard is bare! By which I mean I have depleted my stock of posts. Consequently, I’m going to be revisiting some oldies for the next few weeks while I re-build the stockpile.
When we first moved to the Cote d’Azur, my husband drove a 4 x 4 which spent most of its time collecting dust in the garage while he circumnavigated the globe. The move to the Cote d’Azur was supposed to herald a change in lifestyle. In particular, my beloved was looking forward to improving his golf handicap. He’d been a member of a club in the UK, not far from where he’d previously worked in Amersham. It was one of those clubs where you had to become both a shareholder and member, and couldn’t relinquish your membership until you sold your shareholding!
My beloved travelled extensively even while working in the UK and therefore had neither the time nor opportunity to play much golf. If I look at how much money was expended on his membership, it was probably around £500 per game! Most of the courses in France are pay and play, no need to be a member, though membership does convey the benefit of much-reduced green fees. My beloved assured me that he’d get his worth from membership of the local club. I was less convinced but nonetheless paid the membership fee. You’d think I’d have learnt my lesson by now, wouldn’t you? Again, a significant amount of travel plus his growing love of cycling, left him with little time to work on his handicap or profit from his membership. More money wasted on golf!
Prior to moving to France, our belongings were spread across three properties in UK, France and Germany. My beloved had golf kit in all three locations. Once, we moved to France he consolidated and added to his growing collection. One birthday, my two sisters bought him a trolley for his heavy golf bag. Generally, my beloved kept his golf kit in the boot of his 4 x 4 or in our storage cave in the basement, not far from our parking spot in the underground garage.
One week-end, for reasons best known only to my beloved, he took his golf bag and trolley out of the car and left it in full view in our car parking spot. I kept urging him to put everything away. I got quite exasperated with him, fearing someone would take them. My beloved said no one could see them, only our immediate neighbours in the garage. Well, of course, one fine day after about three weeks of nagging him, the cart, the bag and most of his clubs disappeared.
Initially my beloved thought I’d put them away, but I hadn’t, I thought he had! But no, persons unknown had taken them. However, I suspect another golfer took them because the thief knew their clubs as the ropey old ones were left behind. The thief probably concluded that as they’d been there for three weeks we no longer wanted them and just helped himself. I was furious with my beloved and, of course, the theft wasn’t covered by our household insurance as he’d left them in an open garage. My beloved can be very cavalier with his possessions, unlike me. He claimed he wasn’t too bothered as he had yet another bag and set of clubs – he did – albeit no golf trolley.
In the ten years or so since the theft he’s barely played any golf, probably no more than half a dozen times. I can’t even remember the last time he played and I have an elephantine memory! There’s two reasons. Firstly, I don’t play golf, it’s not my type of game. I can strike a golf ball quite well thanks to good hand-eye-ball co-ordination but I’m hopeless at putting. In the limited free time he has available, my beloved prefers to ride his bike, swim or go down the gym rather than play golf. I can’t argue with that and these are things we do together. Maybe when he fully retires, he’ll resume playing golf. He’s still got plenty of golf clothing, and one full set of clubs and drivers but no cart.
German Summer Adventure #18
You may be thinking:
Hang on, haven’t you just gotten back from a trip?
Yes we have, but the ability to travel as and when is one of the many joys of being retired.
After 5 days in Hamburg, 6 in Berlin and 3 in Munich, we’re now on the last phase of our trip. I had proposed we stay in Konstanz but, the hotel we normally stay at is updating its facilities so my OH suggested a few days in the Allgau, an area he’s more familiar with than me. I was happy to comply and we spent the next 4 days relaxing, biking and hiking.
German Summer Adventure #17
You may be thinking:
Hang on, haven’t you just gotten back from a trip?
Yes we have, but the ability to travel as and when is one of the many joys of being retired.
After 5 days in Hamburg, 6 in Berlin and 3 in Munich, we’re now on the last phase of our trip. I had proposed we stay in Konstanz but, the hotel we normally stay at is updating its facilities so my OH suggested a few days in the Allgau, an area he’s more familiar with than me. I was happy to comply and we’ll spend the next 4 days relaxing, biking and hiking.
German Summer Adventure #16
You may be thinking:
Hang on, haven’t you just gotten back from a trip?
Yes we have, but the ability to travel as and when is one of the many joys of being retired.
After 5 days in Hamburg, 6 in Berlin and 3 in Munich, we’re now on the last phase of our trip. I had proposed we stay in Konstanz but, the hotel we normally stay at is updating its facilities so my OH suggested a few days in the Allgau, an area he’s more familiar with than me. I was happy to comply and we’ll spend the next 4 days relaxing, biking and hiking, plus meeting up with friends.
German Summer Adventure #15
You may be thinking:
Hang on, haven’t you just gotten back from a trip?
Yes we have, but the ability to travel as and when is one of the many joys of being retired.
After 5 days in Hamburg, 6 in Berlin and 3 in Munich, we’re now on the last phase of our trip. I had proposed we stay in Konstanz but, the hotel we normally stay at is updating its facilities so my OH suggested a few days in the Allgau, an area he’s more familiar with than me. I was happy to comply and we’ll spend the next 4 days relaxing, biking and hiking…….once the rain stops.
German Summer Adventure #14
You may be thinking:
Hang on, haven’t you just gotten back from a trip?
Yes we have, but the ability to travel as and when is one of the many joys of being retired.
After 5 days in Hamburg and 6 in Berlin, we’ve moved onto Munich, another old favourite. We’ve spent time here more recently, back in 2022.
German Summer Adventure #13
You may be thinking:
Hang on, haven’t you just gotten back from a trip?
Yes we have, but the ability to travel as and when is one of the many joys of being retired.
After 5 days in Hamburg and 6 in Berlin, we’ve moved onto Munich, another old favourite. We’ve spent time here more recently, back in 2022.
German Summer Adventure #12
You may be thinking:
Hang on, haven’t you just gotten back from a trip?
Yes we have, but the ability to travel as and when is one of the many joys of being retired.
After 5 days in Hamburg and 6 in Berlin, we’ve moved onto Munich, another old favourite. We’ve spent time here more recently, back in 2022.
German Summer Adventure #11
You may be thinking:
Hang on, haven’t you just gotten back from a trip?
Yes we have, but the ability to travel as and when is one of the many joys of being retired.
We’re now back in Berlin after our 5-day sojourn in Hamburg catching up with old friends.
Berlin’s another city we’ve both visited frequently but, incredibly, our last visit was in 2006. Where have those 20 years gone?
A bit like in Hamburg, we’re looking forward to seeing the changes since our last visit.
German Summer Adventure #10
You may be thinking:
Hang on, haven’t you just gotten back from a trip?
Yes we have, but the ability to travel as and when is one of the many joys of being retired.
We’re now back in Berlin after our 5-day sojourn in Hamburg catching up with old friends.
Berlin’s another city we’ve both visited frequently but, incredibly, our last visit was in 2006. Where have those 20 years gone?
A bit like in Hamburg, we’re looking forward to seeing all the changes since our last visit.
View from the Back 
