Halfway mark in the Coldplay tour and we have a 10 day break after 2 shows in Cardiff. It can be a real eye-opener for foreigners working it. As one tech guy said, “Britain is the only place where the customers turn up already drunk for the show, and cause us problems”.

Rule Brittania.

Cardiff was OK. Friendly people, a nice castle right by the stadium, and a lot of shops. I sneaked in to use the rugby club’s gym, and was surprised to find the lowest weights they used were 20kg ones. Needless to say, I ached for 4 days afterwards. Now I needed a break.

But the break also means a 10 day gap for my French girl and me. I cannot get a read on her. It won’t surprise anyone to learn that I very much wear my heart on my sleeve, but she is a completely closed book. So much so, that sometimes I back off, unwilling to unburden my crazy on her.

But, of course, I’m not a train wreck, but more like the aftermath of a train wreck; trying to get the engine back on the track, re-rail myself, see if I can get enough steam up to carry on with my life. But she’s fighting her own battles, and I give her as much space as i can, although we do spend a lot of time together.

I told her all this. Of course I did. I can’t hold things in when they get on top of me. She said she was sorry that she was like this, but I told her I didn’t want an apology. I just wanted something from her. Anything. The smallest of signs that maybe she feels more for me than she let’s on.

Instead we carried on. We watch TV. We go for walks. She is, as everyone describes her, “cool“, and I’m about as composed as a bag of smashed crabs. But I give her room and time, and I get lost in my thoughts. I think about her more than I think about anyone else.

On our last day together we walked through Cardiff, stopped at a bar down a side street, away from everyone, to be alone. She ordered a ginger beer and I had a coke. The clientele around us were Welsh and drunk and pleasant. Everyone was wearing a Coldplay t-shirt or top.

“I’m really going to miss you,” she said, totally catching me by surprise.

“That’s all I needed,” I said, unable to hide my smile.