Our holiday & #RA50Auctions

It’s a bit strange turning 50 during these pandemic times. My 50th last year and my husband’s 50th this year were both celebrated in lockdown at home, with few visitors and no big parties possible. We’re not big birthday party people, I never go big on birthdays, but 50 did feel a little special. I had originally wanted to throw a “We’re 100!” party last fall, when I was 50.5 and my husband was 49.5 years old, but alas, due to lockdowns and a virus that has been killing so many people, that was not possible. So, with all the 50th birthday partying that has not been possible, I’ve got to say that partying online for Richard Armitage’s 50th has been extra fun!

I was not able to follow everything in detail, as I am away on a family holiday in France in the Loire-Atlantique / South Brittany region, but celebrating Richard’s 50th with the online birthday auctions has been extra exciting this year. It was always going to be fun and exciting but then Richard reached out and donated an item of his own, the Guy of Gisborne leather jacket, and that was the little cherry on top. So, from our holiday in France, I’ve been doing my best to follow what I could and join in the celebrations.

While walking around in Rennes on August 18th…

… Mr Esther, mini me and I watched the last few minutes of the jacket auction on my phone and we saw the price jump up almost €2000,- at the very end! We were amazed. The jacket sold for a whopping €6333,- (!!) and Richard seemed pleased as well:

Brilliant news, thanks for organizing everything. https://t.co/NgKCGsu6Vb

— Richard Armitage (@RCArmitage) August 18, 2021

Then on the 19th, after a short afternoon visit to the little town of Redon with a nice cup of tea there…

… and a swim after with mini me in the indoor swimming pool right behind our cottage, I was at the laptop about 15 minutes after the fixed price items went live. Man, so many items went like hot cakes! I had two things in my basket and by the time I got around to paying, one of them was already gone. After paying for the one leftover item I picked another second item, so I’m happy with that too. I also had another interest in these fixed-price items as I had donated some magnets to the sale, 36 of them…

… and they too were all sold out within a few hours at €5 per magnet. That’s another €180,- that can go into the donation pot for LOROS hospice!

Yesterday on the 20th, which was also the final #RA50Auctions day, we visited the beautiful city of Vannes (I think my fave town so far on this Loire-Atlantique/Brittany trip)…

We drove by a castle and a pre-historic menhir…

… and on the grounds of the pre-historic cairn of Petit Mont…

… after looking around there, I switched on the #RA50Auctions on my phone to follow the last minutes of the item I wanted to win, hoping that I wouldn’t be pipped at the post. I was lucky that I was not and that my item remained within my financial reach…

Yes, I really wanted that Martian Invasion of Earth cd and I got it. 🙂 To my regular readers here that may sound surprising as I don’t normally enjoy audiobooks at all, not even Richard’s. But this is no ordinary audiobook, it’s more of an audio play, with different actors voicing different characters and I loved it when I first heard it after purchasing the digital version. I’d actually been considering getting myself a physical copy as well (as I often end up doing when I enjoy something) and I also like the look of the cover, which was an extra incentive to buy. So, this item was perfect for me and I am really looking forward to receiving it. I was also bidding on some other items but let them all go in favour of this one. Luckily the price remained affordable to me.

We drove on to have some drinks at a nearby seaside town…

… and there I watched on my phone to see how the Richard Armitage playing cards would do that I had donated to the auctions. I am very pleased that the playing cards have done so well. Thank you so much to the very generous buyer! That is another great sum for LOROS!

We ended the day at St Gildas de Rhuys where Abelard (of 12th century Abelard and Heloise fame) had been an abbot for seven years. We only planned to drive by on our way home but the church was still open, so we took a peek inside, and we found a nice spot to eat dinner there as well, so we stayed.

I made some time to immediately pay for my Ebay win (ah, the wonders of mobile phones and 4G networks these days!) and with that rounded off the mingling of Armitage birthday celebrations and our holiday. It’s been fun! However, I am signing off for a little while now from Armitage fandom and Armitage blogging. OK, I may pop in on the man’s actual birthday tomorrow but I also have uninterrupted sightseeing to tend to, and books to read and family to focus on.

So, In case I don’t say it on the 22nd: Happy 50th birthday, Richard Armitage and here’s to many more years in health, happiness and surrounded by love! I hope the LOROS donation gift is a good one for you. 🙂