Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Well another week in France and fall seems to be settling in. After a few warm weeks we are in the cool but sunny days of fall.  It’s been in the mid 70’s most days and quite lovely.

A funny story to start today….at work Ross has asked them to speak in French during coffee time and lunch.  He has been working on the language and having everyone speak English hasn’t helped.  So today, he is listening and they kept talking about someone and a cervix.  I know, strange conversation over coffee, but as Ross listened, he knew there was a problem and a cervix was part of it.  So, he’s assuming that someone has a big problem and is getting it fixed.  Well as the conversation went on (of which he wisely decided not to join), he found out that it wasn’t cervix, but rather Serve-x…..the people who provide the coffee machines……..too funny!!  They tell us there are a lot of homographs and homophones in French and you just need to listen to the context to understand which one….okay, that’s a pretty big difference!!  Too funny!

Saturday, we went to Bioparc, which is pronounced B.O. park……it’s a local zoo which was dug into the natural stone and designed to provide natural habitats for the animals.  It was a gorgeous day and the zoo was really interesting.  We’ve always enjoyed zoos but this one was fascinating seeing the work involved and the architecture needed to develop it.  The animals were fun to see and surprisingly the bats were one of my favorites.  They have a dark natural cave where there is a bat colony.  We see them inside the cave but behind plexiglass.  I have never seen them up close like that and I was amazed at the power of their wings and the beauty of their form.  When we lived in Hollidaysburg, they had the largest bat colony east of the Mississippi.  We used to go to a bat night where the park ranger would explain about them and it made us not afraid of them at all.  They have sonar so they never will hit you when flying by and they eat so many mosquitos…..I like that!  At the zoo, it was fascinating to watch them.

The bird section brought back memories for us.  When the kids were little(before Calum), we used to go to a pumpkin patch each year in Massachusetts.  When Lindsay was two, she was involved in a minor attack by a flock of geese and she still isn’t fond of them.  At this zoo, there is wire netting overhead strung up by poles and wires to contain the birds.  The birds can walk right up to people and as I stood next to a giant crane, he stood peacefully until Ross brought out the camera.  Suddenly, he hissed and went after me with his long beak. I jumped quickly and started laughing with the families standing waiting to take their pictures.  Then other birds would walk around but then peck at your feet or at a stroller wheel.  One gross thing was the bathroom.  Two of the stalls were normal toilets, but the other….a squatty potty……literally foot marks and a hole to aim over….in a women’s bathroom!!!  For the record, I waited for the stall with a toilet!!

On the way home we found a nice sidewalk café and while waiting for our food, we had a lovely (in French) conversation with the owners wife.

This week I went downtown Tours to visit a nail salon.  I had gotten a recommendation from someone here and this is the only shop that does gel.  Well, my pedicure was not quite what I’m used to in the USA as they put your feet in the water for maybe five minutes just to clean them.  The chair is basically a waxing table where you sit up but bend your legs and put your feet at the end.  The gel part was what I know, but there was no pumice for the heels, just the electric nail file thing with a gritty wheel on the end.  So, like a dremmel and sandpaper to file your heels.  It worked, but very different.  No nice foot and leg massage, no massaging chair, not much pampering; but my toenails look good! 

While downtown I walked around for a while, and then had lunch at a local restaurant called Fuxia. (pronounced FOO XIA)  It has an indoor and outdoor section.  I was able to sit out on the sidewalk at a table and do some people watching while eating.  I’ll post the photo of the salad….it was yummy!   I had driven downtown since the bus times were not working, so I did my first city parking in the garage underground near the train station.  You get a ticket upon entry and then before leaving validate it and pay so you can stick it in the machine at the exit. I do not like parking garages, especially underground ones, but felt safe enough.  It’s just that here, every stairwell going down to parking garages or toilets all reek of urine to me.  I’m sure it’s due to the beggars sleeping in them at night (and probably urinating in them)….but I’m not a fan.  I stuck to the large open staircaseJ Plus, it was 6 euro for parking so I didn’t love that either!  Round trip the bus is 2euro 80 and I can drive to the bus stop, so believe it or not, can’t quite believe I’m saying this…..I think the bus is easier than fighting traffic and much cheaper!

I mentioned we picked up a new toilet; well, yesterday we had it installed. I know it’s just a toilet; but it’s tall and I love it!  Hey, it’s the little things.

Yesterday, Lindsay texted me that we got another homeowners violation on the house in Georgia.  This time it’s our mailbox, the sun has faded it too much, so now it’s not black enough and needs to be painted.  The flag has been missing for years, but now, suddenly, we must replace it as well.  The HOA in our neighborhood outsourced the maintenance stuff and somehow in over 13 years there we have had 4 violations in 8 months where we never had any before.  I’m thinking there have to be others who are getting tired of the petty violations; it’s as if they have a quota to meet.  They have the annual meeting and voting in October  so we will add a note to pour ballot.  

For the monthly household issue, the kids have had internet and TV problems.  Yesterday Lindsay met the AT and T guy and things are working great now, except for our desktop computer.  Great, just what we needed! Lindsay will try to correct the problem, but if not, they’ll need to see about a repair guy. ARGH!

I was at the Casino again today, I was stocking up on fruits and vegetables for the next week. While browsing the meat section,  this week I passed on the “lapin” and “canard” and went for chicken and beef; but I saw this section I hadn’t noticed before.  Several cuts of cheval meat……okay, in French that is HORSE!!!  I kid you not, they actually package and sell horsemeat.  I may have been brave enough to cook the rabbit and duck, but there is no way I’m buying and cooking horse.  That is just so wrong to me!!!  What’s next-puppies?  I did go up and down each aisle just meandering and gazing to see what looks interesting.  In one aisle there were jars of things and I noticed one was just duck fat……so next time you’re in the market for a jar of duck fat, call me….I know just where to get it!

Lindsay is having a rough week as Sunday, she backed her car into Calum’s car in the driveway.  It made us laugh as there was minimal damage and it reminded us of her two other accidents…..both in our driveway! One a scuffle with the basketball pole and the other involved our mailbox and someone else’s van she was driving.  Now this…..she’s great on the road, but in our yard…watch out!!!   Oh she makes me laugh from afar!

Never a dull moment with our family!!  I’m off to get the laundry from the line….more soon.