The winter of 1646–47 was too cold for Descartes even to travel to The Hague. His last visit there had been toward the end of November 1646, and he deferred his next trip for another four months, until the end of March 1647. As in the previous winter, this reluctance of a formerly inveterate traveller was not due exclusively to the weather. He was also beginning to feel old and infirm, and his thoughts turned once more to considerations of mortality. Thus when Huygens mentioned the musical compositions of their late friend Bannius, Descartes told him that he did not value them highly, and then added: ‘If I die only of old age, I would still like some day to write about musical theory.’ At about the same time, he told Picot about changes in his daily routine. He had reduced his evening meal, he said, because his usual eating habits made him feel heavy and disturbed his night's sleep. That might have seemed trivial in other circumstances. Now, however, Descartes thought it was a warning sign of imminent ageing and a more reliable indicator of advancing years than his grey hair. Baillet noticed a number of related symptoms of Descartes' awareness of ageing.