Dream 240

'A Strange Holiday in France'

It was only towards the end of this dream that I realised that I was on a group holiday to France. Before this, I just accepted my environment and nothing alerted me to the fact that I was on holiday in a foreign country. Note that the only time I was actually aware of my location (based on real-life knowledge/memory), was when I was in the youth hostel (see below) - which is in London. Nothing in the dream was reminiscent of France.

I was in an unfamiliar room with my mum and stepdad, looking at a wall where lots of bits of paper were stuck to a wall. I am not sure what was on the pieces of paper, but it seemed to be information about people. My stepdad was asking the name of a woman who was not present. He was telling me and my mum that it was the black lady who was a nurse. I knew who he meant, but I did not know her name - it was 'Tess Bateman' (played by Suzanne Packer) from UK hospital drama, Casualty, although in the dream, she was her TV character, not an actress. We discussed where Tess might be for a while - she was meant to be with us.

The scene changed and I was in a dark area - near some industrial-sized dustbins. Some of my colleagues from my university job were present, standing around or sitting on the bins. I realised that this was the back entrance of the Smart Youth Hostel in Russell Square, where I used to sometimes stay a few years ago when I was studying for my Bar exams. People staying in the hostel used to go round the back to smoke (cigarettes or cannabis) because it was away from the main street and discrete. I went into the building. It looked completely different from how I remember it in real-life. One of my university colleagues, CH, was standing against a table in a small room. She was using a mobile phone to book airline tickets to Ireland, and eating from a plate which had a huge mound of different, mismatched food on it. She acknowledged me entering the room while continuing her conversation/eating. I realised I had a plate of lemon tart and a pot of what I thought was double cream. It looked like a pint-sized yoghurt pot, with a peelable foil lid. I sat down at a table in the room and opened the pot of cream to pour on my dessert. I was shocked to see that the pot contained raspberry coulis instead of cream. I started to eat the raspberry coulis from the pot with a spoon. The lemon tart was so delicious, it was the best I had ever tasted. I was staring at a blank wall while I was eating. People were entering the room and walking around behind me, but I did not turn round to see who it was. I was then aware that everyone was being gathered together - my mum and stepdad, my university work colleagues and 'Tess Bateman' - it appeared that we were all on a group holiday in France and were planning to drive somewhere. CH was going home early, hence why she was booking airline tickets. 

I was then in a car with my stepdad and some other people from the group. We were looking out of the window at the scenery. The sky was quite dull, but there were bright rays of sunlight piercing the clouds and seeming to touch the ground. my stepdad and I commented on how beautiful this looked and I was mesmerised by the sight.

'Tess Bateman' (Suzanne Packer) from Casualty

Smart Youth Hostel, Russell Square, London