Swimming at Paddington

I came back to London and this year, things were different. After two months of summer swimming, I decided to look for a gym with a pool rather than going to the pubic pool at Swiss Cottage.

After a couple of reconnaissance missions to inspect showers, pools, number of swimmers, pubic hairs, distance from home and many other criteria, I decided to join a gym in Paddington.

The added bonus of a 20% corporate discount and the fact that it takes me five minutes by bike to get there, convinced me this was the right place and so far I’ve been three times.

The pool is clean and quiet, there’s a nice steam room and sauna which I suspect will be very appealing in the winter and so far I’m very pleased.

And now back to watching YouTube swimming videos to try to improve!

Now where was I?

Time has passed and I’ve been back in the UK for almost three weeks. It was quite a shock coming back to London, I was struck how green and lush it was which meant it had been raining for months. My UK avocados were enormous from all the rain so the little courtyard garden had thrived in our absence.

The London flat seemed filthy and cluttered, a little claustrophobic and no private garden, pool or view. It all seemed rather dark and cold after the bright sunlight and heady temperatures in the South of France.

Agnes went to bed in disgust while I quickly put on the first jumper I’d worn in three months. Summer was definitely over for the two of us.

Before long we’d adapted and were soon back in the routine of going out four times a day for Agnes. Indeed, my first morning in the park I had an argument with some dog owners who wouldn’t return Agnes’ Peppa Pig ball.

We were definitely back in London!