The banks of Loch Maree

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The cafe by the harbour in Gairloch has menus in English, Gaelic, French and German. The French version has been elegantly translated by a class in the local school. On the shelf are Japanese, Italian and Russian dictionaries. We shelter here with coffee and mushroom soup. When the weather clears, we buy six langoustines for supper from the back of an estate car on the quayside. Parking at the end of a woodland lane, we take a strenuous walk uphill to a vantage point above Loch Maree, a favourite retreat of Jane's grandfather. Below is a cluster of wooded islets. Only a combination of midges and rain cause us to turn back.

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