Beyond the Arch by David Evered

Author:David Evered
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
Published: 2017-12-19T05:00:00+00:00

19

Peter was surprised at how speedily they established a modus vivendi as July turned to August. Sally’s schedule remained as disciplined as ever and he was approaching his writing in a more methodical manner. The days acquired a comfortable routine. They would meet for breakfast and share a light lunch before swimming or walking in the afternoon. Much of Sally’s time in the first week after her return was occupied with planning a schedule for the Franco-German project. She spent long hours on the telephone to her editor. She suggested that her person-to-person pieces should be set against the background of a formal poll, soliciting opinion from people in both countries. This was agreed and she then set out a possible schedule for her time and listed the contacts she would like to make. She planned to divide her time between pre-arranged interviews with politicians, academics, journalists and businessmen while building in some time for opportunistic additional discussions with others to whom she might be signposted by her primary contacts. The magazine group would take responsibility for setting up the interviews with relevant senior people. The remainder of her time would be allocated to random interviews on the hoof in the streets, cafés, bistros and bierstubes.

As they were sitting on the terrace one evening later in the week, comfortable and mellow after dinner, Sally showed Peter the outline schedule for her two months in Germany and France. He looked at the draft itinerary and gasped, ‘God, I feel exhausted simply reading that! It’s a pity that you can’t do some of the interviewing here but I guess that “la France profonde” would not be regarded as being representative of the country as a whole!’

‘This is going to require some organisation but the magazine staff will take responsibility for the detailed arrangements – appointments, travel and accommodation. It’s an international magazine group so I’ll be able to call on local offices in the two countries for some support. I’ve been thinking about timing. The first of September is a Monday so what I’d like to do is to travel to Bonn as my first port of call over the last weekend in August, having spent the previous week in London with the editorial team. I thought I’d probably travel back to London at the end of the previous week giving me a full week to finalise my schedule. What are your plans?’

‘I also thought that I’d go back late next month. I should try and see my family and sort out the arrangements for the care of my flat. I also feel the need to bring back a better dictionary and a thesaurus. I would then return to Sarlat on the Thursday or Friday of the last week of the month. Perhaps we could travel back to London together?’

‘Sounds like a good idea. The addition of a dictionary and a thesaurus gives the impression that you’re becoming a serious writer.’

‘Serious, yes, but how good remains to be seen!’

She smiled, ‘I suspect you’re being too self-effacing.

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