Hay on Wye

An hour's drive south to Hay on Wye today, second hand book capital of the country! The weather started off cooler and misty, but by the time we got there it was blazing hot again.

There really are dozens of bookshops here, and they're all twisty ones with mysterious staircases and musty basements. It's fantastic. And they're not just antiquarian/expensive ones either, there's all sorts. Bought six books from various places (a Clive Cussler, 2 Garth Nix, a Jeanette Winterson, a Janet Evanovich and 'A Fete Worse Than Death', which I've been trying to get hold of for over a year).

We had lunch in the beer garden of the Blue Boar, I had the cassoulet (which was £13 but not bad, although could have done without the over-boiled carrot strips piled on the top) and Chris had a tomato and cheese bap.

It was probably a very boring day for Chris, who spent most of it waiting outside various bookshops for me. But apparently he made friends with a dog and a cat, so that's alright then.

We've managed to coincide our visit with them doing something to the direct road from the cottages to Clun, meaning every morning and evening going to and fro, we have to do a big loopy detour. The diversion is only in place this week. Typical.