Monday, August 27, 2012

Just a few little things…..posting some photos from the grocery store. I saw the butcher watching me as I took photos of food. Wonder what he thinks?  I saw the packages of gizzards (Lindsay is gagging again) and had to take them.  I mentioned that when we were in Angouleme we had dinner twice with Claire’s sister and her family.  One of the times we went to her house and she served a salad with fried gizzards on it.  I admit it was my first time trying them!  I’ve spent years teaching my children to be polite and eat what others serve.  I’ve told them they didn’t need to have seconds, but they must do the right thing and at least try things; so how can I do any less?  My nephew Craig (a chef) would be so proud of us expanding our palates!  I’m finding things that gross me out or I’ve never tried can be quite tasty.  I may not want a steady diet of gizzards , but they weren’t bad on a salad.  To know you can buy them pre-packaged made me laugh.  Now the other two photos I took for fun…..i don’t care how polite it would be I can’t wrap my mind around tripe.  It is made from the first three layers of a cow’s stomach….the rumen, the reticulum and the omasum.  Impressed aren’t you? Google is a wonderful thingJ  Or it can be made form the abomasum section but that contains a lot more glandular tissue…..okay, Lindsay is really gagging now!!!  So, I discovered that you can get it packaged too…..I WILL NOT be buying that!  Bradley told me that in Togo they get a lot of tripe to eat, plus cow’s skin.  I asked how that was since we make shoes and purses out of it…he said it’s extremely chewy!!  Bet he’s glad to be in France where an occasional rabbit eye might come along but now cow skin!!!  The last photo I just snapped because the item kind of grossed me out.  I’m not exactly sure what all was involved but it was gelatinous and had an egg involved.

Ross and I went to pick up our new “tall’ toilet Saturday and I got my first ride in his new car.  Very nice with lots of bells and whistles…I won’t mind travelling in it at all. I have gobs of leg room so that is a plus!  While at the store we noticed a new Japanese toilet.  Apparently Japanese toilets are the new thing here. Okay, it had a remote control armrest thing, I kid you not.  It plays music, it has a built in bidet and blowdryer….you hit a button to say if you’re male or female and it aims in the right places I guess. Then of all things it has a massaging seat-OKAY- I am not exactly sure when a massaging toilet seat would be necessary; with friends we jokingly said maybe to relax you enough to go and wiggle you enough…..but if my boys had a seat that had a heater, music, a mini shower, a blow dryer and a massager…they’d never leave the bathroom!  All this can be yours for only 800 euro.  All I could say was WOW!  We’ll be very happy with our plain , white taller one thank you.

I made an odd observation Saturday while out.  The week before it had been over 100 degrees and one week later it was in the 70’s; but the women still had their summer outfits going.  I will never understand women, especially my age wearing see through white clothing with patterned or dark colored bras and will especially never understand the white pants with the dark colored underwear of various styles.  That’s as far as I’m going in my description, but my goodness, in two hours I noticed at least five women like this!!!

We enjoyed a nice afternoon yesterday with lunch at a family’s house.  They are from the Philippines and came to France 17 years ago for work.  There is also an American couple at church who do Bible translation and the husband is away; so the wife and children along with her folks visiting from Texas were with us. Ahhhh, an all English afternoon and a lot of fun comparing adjustment stories upon our arrivals in France.  Starting to make friends is a nice thing.

I RSVP’d for our annual street picnic next Saturday. Hopefully it will give us a chance to meet some neighbors and introduce ourselves.

Today it’s a lovely mid 80’s day so I used it for a nice laundry day.  You can tell I’ve adjusted to some of my life here.  As I go to hang out my laundry to dry, I have a stick I always use to whack the spider webs from the line.  Well now, I’m so used to it all, as I shake the item before folding it to take in, if there is a little spider on a shirt I just flick it  with my finger. Never thought I would be able to do that….used to be it involved a scream and hopefully someone else to kill it.  Now, occasionally there is the mother of all spiders and those I won’t go near!!  Out comes my big stick and I beat the snot out of them, even if it involves re-washing the item.  Only Ross’ clothing goes on the back to lines nearer the bushes just in case of spider invasion.   My stuff goes on the front three lines, so hopefully there will never be a spider on my clothing!!

  Tomorrow I’m investigating another grocery store, the one called Gant Casino which we thought was a casino.  So, that should take a while as I like to browse every aisle of new stores.  It just fascinates me to see the different products and styles.  One last week was kind of nasty and I’m a big fan of clean especially where I buy my food; so we’ll see tomorrow.  I’ve been training myself to go shopping a couple times a week and getting most things fresh.  I don’t have storage space and it does taste better fresh. I’m just so used to my big American grocery trips and having a stockpile, this is very different for me.  I have to get bread everyday if we want to eat it as it goes stale; but it is so cheap and something everyone just gets daily here. Yes, I’m now the stereotype carrying my loaf of bread wrapped with a bit of paper at the center. There is freshly baked bread at the grocery store, but it is sooooo much better from the bakery in town.  We have two but I prefer the bread from one and the pastries from the other.  Of course it is August, so they’ve taken turns shutting for half a month each for holidays!

Next week school resumes, so people will be back from holidays and things will all be open again.  The bad part is traffic will be back as well.  My 15-20 minute commute to language school will now go to 30-40….oh well!

Off again….enjoy the gross photos!

A couple little things to add…….while on our trip to Angouleme, we had dinner twice with Claire’s sister Danielle and her family.  I had met Danielle in the States long before she was married and now she has a husband Stephan and two children Rachel and Elias.  We enjoyed their company and had a lot  of laughs.  It made for two very silly nights of fun.

Also, this afternoon it shows how French weather changes.  We’ve been in the high 90’s and then yesterday was glorious in the low 80’s.  Today it started out nice, but then a quick shower dropped the temperature outside to 64 and inside to 70…..so forget my sweet tea, I’ve got the kettle on for hot tea and I just got a lightweight long sleeved fleecy shirt to wear…..arggh….August right????   

Then Lindsay sent me a note about a silly fart story she pinned on Pinterest that made her laugh and think of our family.  I read it and and it got me laughing so hard I had tears running down my face.  Made me miss her, but so happy to have silly things to laugh at together.  I’ll read it to Ross tonight, but I’m sure it is something Lindsay and I will laugh about much more. Off for a cup of tea before Ross gets home…..au revoir!  

Okay, no idea why some went white this past time....sorry!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Yesterday I posted something on my Facebook that got me a funny response. I got a private message from my brother in law ( I only have two, so you pick which one) anyway, it made me laugh and laugh! 

He said “Seems to me you should spend less time driving around in your new car or sipping iced tea on the patio and update your blog. It's been over 2 weeks. Some of us are waiting.” Too funny!

I am always amazed when people tell me they actually read it!  It started as a cathartic thing for me to find the fun in some difficult situations, but then became an easy way to answer the same questions people had. Now, it’s become kind of fun to find out who is reading and who is waiting for updates; after all it’s just the crazy life I’m leading these days!

Two weeks ago I had an appointment at Skoda to pick up my car. As I mentioned earlier, we ordered it back the beginning of June and we were waiting for it to be manufactured. When we arrived, the car was under a white cloth cover complete with little pouches for the side mirrors.  Kind of like the people who cover their cars at night with the fabric stuff. I would have loved a photo but by the time I realized it was my car in the showroom that they were whipping the cover off so dramatically, it was too late to ask him to re-cover it and let me take a picture!  I really love the little car; it’s not fancy although we added a few nice features such as air conditioning and rear back up sensors that beep.  I only got to drive it one day before we went out of town, but this week I’ve loved zipping around town and parking it has been a dream!  I’ve been able to explore new grocery stores that I’ve wanted to try such as Lidl, and E.Leclerc, which has been fun!

Now, the funny part about driving here is the “kit’ you must carry in your car.  It’s the law and they don’t sell the pieces together, but you must purchase them and carry them at all times.  So, there is in the trunk a first aid kit, a fire extinguisher, a reflective triangle and two one-time use breathalizers. You also must carry a reflective vest, but it must be in the vehicle with you as you are supposed to put it on before exiting the car in case of emergency.  The police do routine stops for insurance checks as well as kit checks. Of course, I will die if they pull me over, even if it a routine check. Plus, I told Ross if my car is on fire, I am NOT going to stop and put on my vest and go to the trunk for a fire extinguisher….I am going to grab my purse and run!!!

We then headed to Angouleme for a week so Ross could do an intensive, immersion week in French.  Jacques and Claire live there so while Ross had class each day I spent it with Claire and the family.  I had so much fun and we compared “adjustment” stories.  We’ve been through many of the same things even though she grew up here, it’s a cultural shock coming from America. We shopped together and cooked together and had a great week just chatting together.  It was great to see Bradley, who was visiting from Togo; his family left the US last year, so we hadn’t seen him in ages.  He is doing his schooling in France this year. We’ve known him since he was a little boy, so it was fun to see how he has grown up.  After one year, his French is amazing, so Jean-Samuel, Sylvain and I felt hope that maybe we’ll get it all!

Wednesday was a national holiday; Assumption Day, so no work for most people and no classes for Ross.  Assumption Day was started in 1950 as the day the Catholic Church decided they needed a holiday to show when Mary went to heaven.  It isn’t in the Bible, and most people don’t even know what it is, but as I’ve stated before, the French LOVE a good holiday so they don’t really care why!  

We spent the day with Jacques and Claire in Cognac, which is about 45 minutes from their house.  We took a tour of the Hennessey plant which involved a little ferry ride across the river to get to the production plant. The process was fascinating and I never knew they used only the vapors to make cognac.  Our tour guide was a young woman who not only spoke super fast, she had a bit of a mumble; so I’m sure she thought I was a total nutcase as I would get as close to the front as I could and stare at her mouth and then I could understand a good bit of what she said.  If I was off to the side, forget it.  At the end of the tour there are samples, we got three juice and one cognac which we passed and each tried a sip…..YUCK!   I might consider cleaning the toilet with it if the bottles weren’t between 36 euro and 3500 euros each J I’m so not a fan and apparently neither is most of France since they export 99.5% of the stuff.  It was a fascinating tour and nice to understand some of the local culture.

We had lunch at a lovely little restaurant that had décor that made you feel you were on a city street.    We walked the town and later had coffee and tea at a little sidewalk café.  We passed a funny little shop that was obviously for plus sized women; but oh the name and the photo. Madame Ronde ; which means Mrs Round!!!!

On our way back we stopped at an Abbey.  It is mostly unused anymore except for little retreats.  There is one guy who worked there that seemed so sad as he only whispered when he talked and said he just spends his days alone and just copies scripture.  Obviously Claire and I are such gentle, quiet women that this was pout perfect place-ha! We were in the beautiful church alone admiring the woodwork and beauty when Claire went to sit at a pew we thought was a tiny seat thing when WHAM, the seat fell down and made the loudest bang.  It echoed and echoed in the vaulted ceilings.  We started to giggle and Ross came flying around the corner to see what we were up to. We didn’t linger but enjoyed the buildings which were so very old.

One evening Claire did “lapin” or rabbit for dinner; As we were searing the pieces I asked what on earth those two pieces were…..it turned out it was the head, split in two, complete with eyeballs !!!  Even Claire was surprised as they usually don’t put the head in!   

Then one day she did “canard” which is duck.  Afterwards she saves the fat as it is clear, and not full of yucky bits.  She tells me it’s the cleanest and best of all animal fats.  She then lets it congeal (okay I know Lindsay is gagging right here) but then used the fat to cover chicken in the crock pot to make a conficture.  I know it sounds weird, but actually very delicious!  We’ve eaten at their house for years, but usually arrive after food prep is done…..so now I know all her secretsJ

Two things I’ve purchased since being at her house are an electrified fly swatter and a lettuce washer.  The fly swatter is awesome, you swing at the bug and press the button and it fries the bug!!  With no A/C here and open windows without screens, the fly swatter/zapper is perfect!  Since the lettuce is all fresh from the farms, the washer is a must! I had been struggling getting the grit out and I know talking about a silly lettuce washer seems dumb, but it’s the little things that help!

So, now my challenge is to try a few French recipes.  I will only be buying canard or lapin that is already trimmed and boned and with no EYES! 

Arriving home we hit a heat wave.  The weather hit the high 90’s and hovered around 100.  Okay, no A/C….phew…..so now the trick is to work the shutter system.  You keep the shutters and windows closed and yes, it’s dark in the house, but is also kept it about 20 degrees cooler inside. My little shutter system usually consists of in summer, leaving the front shut until noon while the back set are open, then switching as the sun moves.  But, with extreme heat, it changes.  In winter I open everything just to get sunlight and a little heat. I think we finally have the hang of it. We actually talk about building a house in America and using some of the features from here; a combo of both would be great. We’d install A/C though!

Last Monday, Ross was able to get his new company car.  It had been here in St. Cyr since the 25^th of July, but even though we were here, the person from SKF who handles this stuff was on holiday.  So, it sat at the dealer here for a month. When I say that EVERYONE goes on holiday in August here is an understatement.     Ross has had one or two pother people in his whole building.  The factory was shut down and even the cafeteria is closed.  In town, our bakery just puts a sign in the window and leaves town. It’s hysterical, you can’t get anything handled or done for the whole month; it’s their holiday time!  So, Ross got his car which we most likely will have the rest of the time we are here.  It’s quite nice with lots of bells and whistles.  In his allotment, we could have gotten a big name car but with not much on it; but we’re so not name people just to say we have a BMW or Jag or something….rather we prefer loaded with features.  I haven’t driven it yet or ridden in it, just sat in it in the driveway. Tomorrow I’ll get my first ride!

We’re actually going tomorrow to pick up a new toilet.  I ordered one from Leroy Merlin (our local Home Depot type store).  When back in the US, I realized how much I LOVE our tall toilets and then coming back here, they are soooo short; even shorter than our normal US ones. So, I found one that is perfect and ordered it.  Eric, our plumber, handyman will install it for us.  I met a lovely elder lady in the toilet aisle and we had a nice chat.  She has artificial hips and knees and wanted a taller toilet too. Ross came upon us in full toilet conversation!! I introduced him and we all had a good laugh.

Sunday at church was good in that we understand more and more, but bad in that it was 100 degrees out and there is no A/C at church. In a country where deodorant (and sometimes bathing and laundry) are an option…….phew!  I just do not do smells well and it’s bad on a normal day, but add the extra heat!!!  Now, before you groan, many, many people here are very clean; but they think nothing of wearing their clothes over and over again.  Some do wear deodorant but many, sadly, do not!  We decided to eat out after church and pulled into a restaurant where we noticed all the doors were open-no go, that means they are hoping for a breeze!  It’s hard to find open places on a Sunday, but the next we tried had shut doors, so it was a hint that they had A/C inside! So, that was our brilliant plan for eating, the place with A/C wins!  It was Buffalo’s grill again, so we had “American hamburgers”. They were yummy and it was fun to laugh again at their interpretation of American food. I went to use the bathroom before leaving and as I’m going tom wash my hands, there is a man washing his false teeth out in the sink. So, I check the door and then tap his shoulder pointing out that he is in the wrong bathroom. He was shocked and questioned me, so I showed him the two doors….he then apologized and we smiled.  Yes, some toilets are co-ed, but this one was actually females only!

Yesterday while out I realized the heat was causing men to strip down a bit; I saw not one but two men biking topless. Okay, they were not Michael Phelps or Ryan Lochte bodies, but old men, not super fit and kind of saggy…..WOW!  I find the fashion here amazing, somehow I thought I would be the frump of France; not having designer clothes and all…..but it’s really more” people of Walmart” that I’ve noticed.  I’m like a fashion-ista! Plus, I wash our shirts every time we wear them and we wear deodorant!!!

Earlier in the year several people emailed me about a woman doing all the talk shows on how French kids were better behaved than American ones-well, I would love to chat with her; the kids are the same all over the world.  I see five year olds with pacifiers and throwing fits, a little girl in Ikea yelling Maaman louder and louder until she’s shrieking because her mother was talking and didn’t shush her and brothers and sisters fighting!  So, my conclusion is kids are kids and all need discipline in their lives, no matter what country you live in.

Ross is planning a trip to Brussels (only one day) and then Amsterdam in September.  I am thinking of tagging along to add to my countries visited list!  I think there is a Switzerland one coming up too.

We’ve been enjoying Liam on Skype.  I love watching him as he is so mobile now.  He has that little mischievous side which I enjoy! There is a photo Katie sent me of him when she had him in a baby proof place ( she thought) and it got too quiet.  There he is climbing into the closet! I love it!  He waves bye-bye and says it now and we love it!  We watch him eat and make a mess and watch him playing in his toy room….every little bit is fun to watch! This week she had the computer on the other side of the gate and the camera following him.  He kept ducking at the gate looking at me on the computer; then throwing his toys over to me J I can’t wait until he says Nana and recognizes me.  Of course, then he got his toes in the gate and tried to climb over! We reminded Tristan that he was a two gate kid since he was a climber…too fun watching normal toddler activity and knowing it’s your grandchild!

I’ve been working on learning the books of the Bible in French. When we are at church by the time I figure out the book, they’ve said the chapter and verse  (some numbers take me a while to process too) Some books are very similar, or easy to understand but some are totally different and I’m lost.  I get Premier Rois is First Kings, but Esaie for Isaiah and Sophonie for Zephaniah are really tough!  I tried singing them to the tune I use in English, but no way do they fit!

Tonight’s dinner is smoked salmon with pasta and crème legiere…..also lardon with pasta and crème legiere……my first French recipe!!

More blog next week, we’re having dinner Sunday at a couple’s house from church. They speak English so we’re looking forward to getting to know them better.

I’ll be on the lookout for funny, interesting things……and yes, this afternoon, maybe some more sweet tea and a book on the patio J

 

 

 

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Well, no photos of the first two things I’ll talk about because it would have been awkward to take them and I’m trying very hard to shake the images from my mind.  First, on a walk through the neighborhood Ross and I got a lovely glimpse of a man probably in his 60’s cutting his lawn in his speedo and a tee shirt. Enough said!  Second, another day I saw a man cutting the lawn in tiny black running shorts and a wife beater tee shirt. When I say tiny shorts, I mean…..oh my……it was one of those “is he even wearing underwear” moments. YIKES……

Then last week I saw my massage therapist again.  He is really nice and does a good job, even though it is very different than what I’m used to.  He does accept my American modesty and uses a sheet covering and a towel.   I had one odd moment though, as I turned to my back, he smiled and in an excited voice said “Oh, tres joli” which means “oh very pretty”. I checked quickly to make sure everything that was supposed to be covered was indeed covered; and it turns out he was admiring my toenails.  AHHH…phew, worried me for a moment.  I’ve mentioned before that the women here mostly just have naked toenails, a few paint them.  So, before I left the US, Lindsay and I had nice pedicures and I had gel applied and then a pattern done with nail paint.  So, they’ve been quite a hit here; between the massage guy, my hairdresser and a random lady at the bus stop, my toes are conversation starters.  Picture added just so you see the fuss. 

My next door neighbor who speaks no English and his wife who speaks a tiny bit gave me a name and phone number of someone who lives in Luynes and speaks English.  They then said I should call these people!  ARGH, I’ve put it off and finally just sucked it up and did it this week. Turns out it’s a retired couple who live here, he’s French but she’s American.  He had moved to the US at age 23 and they married, worked and raised their family in the Lake Tahoe area.  They moved to Luynes 20 years ago for a couple years and have been here ever since.  We are going to try to meet up and have lunch with them this Saturday, so that should be fun.

I feel like today my thoughts are jumbled, so each thing I write about is just as it comes to mind or in the order I’ve put it on this running list of funny things to write about.  So, bear with me.  Originally I started writing to answer questions for a few friends and not have to send several letters, but then it became a fun way for me to record funny or odd things here so that one day I can read them and remember.  Then I found out how many people really actually read it and I was shocked.  So, it amuses me to see how many people find my life her fascinating or interesting!

Our yard is looking much better, Eric has really taken the job seriously.  Several things are blooming right now, including a fruit tree we’d never seen before.  It’s called a Mirabelle Prune tree which actually produces hundreds of little, yellow, speckled fruit.  The fruit is smaller than a ping pong ball, more the size of a big marble.  As I tasted them, they’re very plum tasting and then I did some internet research and it is in the plum family.  Each day, I pick a couple dozen and eat them.  Eric tells me most people make jam or marmalade from them, but we’ll let that go for now and just enjoy the fruit although we will never come close to eating 1/10^th of them.

The weather has been cooler since we’ve arrived back.  It’s mostly in the 70’s during the day and 50’s at night.  Today it actually is in the very low 80’s and sunny which is wonderful.  I have laundry blowing in the breeze which makes me smile.  I have to wipe the cobwebs off the clothes line every single time I do laundry.  Those stinking spiders just keep re-building.  I know this would creep Lindsay out and she’d never hang clothes out again, but I just keep a long stick handy and use it to break up the little webs before hanging clothes.  I’ve got some quirks about the laundry though, even though no one sees it, I use a round hangy thing inside for my unmentionables but I go for it and hang Ross’ undies outside. It always makes me think of Ross’ Granny one time while we were visiting his Uncle Allan and Aunt Liz in Scotland. We were just married a year and spent a month in Scotland and England.  Ross had some business and I spent that time with the family.  Liz and I were hanging clothes out and her house is a “back to front” which means all the houses in the neighborhood face the same direction so all the houses on her side of the street have all the back sides to the street and the front to the back garden.  So, as we hang laundry out the back, it’s really the street side; there is a wall and a gate so the laundry line isn’t visible….but Ross’ Granny exclaimed one day “ I never thought I’d live to see the day my knickers were hanging out on the Glasgow Road”.  We just died laughing, but in the back of my mind I always remember that so my “knickers’ will never see the outside lineJ 

Then I have the cutest clothespins here, they’re bright green, orange, aqua and pink.  I have this thing though where I have to use two of the same color for each item; so a shirt will never have a blue and pink, it will always be two of the same.  Then I never use the pink for Ross’ things…no one cares and it doesn’t matter, but it’s my thing.  Kind of like how I make the patterns of our plates face the same way and dish up our food in the same spots so they match; or I sort Skittles or M&M’s by color and eat them that way……my slight OCD issues pop out every once in a while; nothing to the extreme, just odd quirky ways. There’s a surprise, I have quirks!!!

Saturday, we went for Ross to get his first haircut in France.  He’s managed to be in the us for work when haircuts were needed, so he could do it in English.  Since I have been a few times now, I made him an appointment with my lady.  While we were in the little salon downtown, we noticed a poster ad for a flower/garden contest at a local chateau.  Someone at work had also mentioned it to Ross so we decided to try it that afternoon.  So, off to Domain de Chaumont we went.  It was a lovely hour drive along the Loire River.  The day was warm and sunny, so it was perfect. As we parked and entered the little town, we looked to find a place for a late lunch.  There was a nice outdoor patio at the Hotellier de Chateau, so we decided to try it.  Oh my, probably one of the most flavorful, best meals we’ve had in France.    We love to get a “plat” meal which gives an appetizer, entrée and dessert.  Most restaurants have a plat of the day with usually two choices for each course.  So, for a starter we both chose the same (pictures included) a goat cheese wrapped in a crispy parchment on a bed of lettuce.  There were explosions of flavor, sweet, tangy, sharp….it was absolutely delicious!  Then the two choices for a main dish were a salmon and a beef.  Originally I was going for the beef and Ross the salmon; but the waiter told us they just ran out of salmon and were using a white fish instead.  I love the white fish here so I switched to that.  Oh my goodness…..another explosion of flavors all at once.  It was a very mild white fish on a bed of fennel with a vanilla sauce.  Fennel is used a lot as a vegetable here and I really like it, they kind of mashed it and added this sauce that was vanilla but NOT sweet.  So, so good!  The dessert choices were ice cream or a meillfuelle.  Ross went for the ice cream while I chose the meillfuelle which is pastry, cream and fabulous!  Now, his ice cream was homemade and he chose the pistachio which here is so good!  Add a cup of coffee and tea and we were just perfect!  The hotel/restaurant was also very beautiful.  The outside patio where we ate was just adorable and very charming. So, for picking a restaurant by just walking by and thinking ‘this will do’ really worked for us!!

We always use the toilet at a restaurant since if you are eating or drinking there, it’s free-otherwise you pay!  So, whether we need it or not, we always go when it’s free!!!  Then we headed across the street to the chateau. Inside the grounds we had an uphill walk to get to the chateau and gardens, but they spaced it and made it big steps so it was a nice journey up.  While walking up this strange family was ahead of us, Mom and Dad walked ahead while the two boys maybe aged 12 and 5 climbed up the side hill in the grass.  Well, the older boy ran down the grassy hill just fine but as the little guy tried it you could see his legs going faster than he could handle and he went splat.  Another man and I helped him up and the dad finally turned and ran back when he heard the screams; mom just looked and kept walking! WHAT? It was just so unlike how I was as a mom that it threw me. 

       From the top, the view was spectacular and it was a very unusual chateau.  The gardens were what seemed like miles long and some very beautiful.  What they had done was give maybe 20 artists an area in the gardens and they did theme gardens.  While most of the gardens here are breathtaking and very classy, this one reminded me of this weird place we went to with Ross’ parents in the Napa Valley a few years back.  I’m just not an eclectic artsy person, so I found several of these very unusual.  Some were quite fascinating and all in all, the place was beautiful and vast and thousands and thousands of flowering plants.   We saw some fascinating people as well; several ladies my age braless and so not attractive!!!  One older guy missed a step and rolled down a plant filled hillside; he was fine and laughing while his wife went hunting for his shoes which went two different directions.

The worst one was a girl in her mid 20’s I think with waist long dread locks.  I was behind her waiting to pass when I looked at her scalp; I must admit the hair fascinated me….it looked in need of a good wash as well as so many knots and twists from the dreads. But, as I’m watching and waiting while she finished so I could go next I did a double take and thought-SURELY NOT!!!  Oh yes, it was crawling in lice!!! Now, you may doubt my expertise in spotting lice, but as my Maranatha friends will tell you, I am a professional!  We had a several month breakout in kindergarten one year that got so bad I did daily lice checks on the playground.  At recess, the kids took turns sitting between my knees while one by one I checked their scalps.  I’d sanitize and they’d run off to play without even thinking about it.   Anyway, back to this girl; as I’m watching she starts to scratch her scalp repeatedly.  As soon as we got by I grabbed Ross and made sure we went in a different direction.  Off and on we’d see her all afternoon and every time she was scratching-GROSS!  I’m posting a few photos from the garden show so you can see some of what I mean.

This week Ross is in Germany for work.  Back in April, I had started the process of getting my “titre de sejour” or legal ID to live here.  We had to have our marriage certificate and birth certificates translated and notarized.  Then Ross had to have a letter from work stating he had a job and then he had to write a letter saying he’d support me while here.   We had to go to the mayor’s office first and then wait and return for a temporary card.  Last week I got notice that I needed my temporary card, and stamps worth 19 euros.  To get those stamps we went two places and had to order them. They are just actual stamps with the amount printed on them, so why I couldn’t just write a check or pay cash I do not know.  This week the stamps came in so I went to get them.  Then, I took the bus into Tours to the prefectures office.  I’m not sure what that compares to in the US but it’s a legal office for registering babies and getting ID’s. I handed in my three stamps, one worth 10, one worth 8 and one worth1 euro ( I know, why not just one for 19?) Anyway, after all that, I have my card and I’m legal.  The funniest part is that it expires in a year, but not a year from date of issue…..a year from when we started, so next April I need to re-new it.  Surely it will be easier!!! 

Now, on my bus ride I met a Landscape Architect who lives here and speaks English.  We had a nice chat into town. I still don’t like taking the bus, but for some things it’s just easier.  This week I had the car since Ross is away, so I took it to downtown Luynes to get the bus and it saved me walking to and from the stop.  On the way back there was a crazy lady on the bus.  Just really odd, very greasy and dirty.  She had a nice blackberry but used a bit of plastic wrap to touch it or hold it in her hand.  It was as if she was a germ-a-phobeand couldn’t touch the phone itself; but yet, she was really dirty which goes against what I’d think for that.  Ah the joys.

Tomorrow we have an appointment to pick up my car.  I had to go to my bank to get car insurance for it this week; that was another interesting day.  I’m the person who reads all the fine print and here I had to trust Julien, the bank guy!  We have pour renters insurance through the bank and they do car insurance too, so it was my best solution. Julien is very nice and speaks some English, so we manage just fine!

Lindsay and Calum had their monthly saga with the house this week too.  The garage door broke; so they were able to get the repair guy I’ve used. It’s as if they have a crisis of the month.  Lindsay’s car was trapped inside, so fortunately Calum was able to get the door up and get her car out.  Last time the spring had broken and there was no lifting the door so cars were trapped until the guy fixed it.  Fortunately this was a few simple things to be tightened and oiled, plus replacing a track, but it makes me laugh.  Each thing has been something odd that would have gone wrong even if we were there, but it’s funny that it all seems to happen for them.  At least I pay the bills!

Lastly, adding my favorite recent picture of Liam.  Lindsay was able to visit with him and caught him just right.  He’s getting so big and he’s so funny on Skype.  Katie had a chat this morning while he ate breakfast and I could talk with her and watch himJ Love the ability to see him through Skype!!  Off for another week. We leave Monday for Ross to have a week of intensive language training in another town.  It’s where Jacques and Calire live so I get to hang with her while he goes to school next week. YEAH!