Monday, July 30, 2012
The North Rose Window (here) was greatly restored in 1737, and depicts Christ surrounded by saints, apostles and angels. The entrance is graced by three portals, the oldest dedicated to St. Anne, features carved statues dating to 1170-. The legend of the Great Bell - when the church bell was taken down and recast in the 17th century, ladies sacrificed their gold and silver jewelry by tossing it into the molten mixture, thus creating a pure F-share tone. The bell only tolls on solemn occasions.
July 27, 2012
J'HABITE EN VAUJOURS (I live in Vaujours)
"Go now knowing where. Bring-- not knowing what. The path is long, the way unknown."
-- Russian fairy tale
I shall go backwards in my week, but never in my life. It is the weekend. The days are flying by and the week past was productive. I was able to finalize my plans for my trip to Northern Ireland in September; I will blog more about that later. I familiarized myself with things here in the apartment and did a little housekeeping and laundry. I hope to orient myself so that I can do these things very quickly and all at the same time.
The flat is nice and it is quiet; it is on the third floor, which in France is the second floor (deuxieme etage) as the first floor is the rez-de-chaussee. (I cannot make the accent marks unless I use the MAC computer here; the keyboards in France are different so when you want to type an a or a w you don't get that and you can find the letters with accent marks when you try). I will try to work on all of that later.
Yesterday (vendredi) I went into the city on the train, to have a stroll and a look around. I picked the hottest day, of course; everyone was fanning themselves on the way in. Women here do not wear shorts, only young girls. On this hot day most women had on jeans or capris and shirts with sleeves or some with long sleeves. I knew this and wore my capris. The station I now am familiar with is St. Michel-Notre Dame; I wanted take a walk or take the metro to the museum and walk back to the station. I could not find the yellow line to transfer for two stops, so I asked a woman standing waiting if she knew how to find that line. Rather than answering, she said that she would come with me, so she did! We learned that the stop for the D'Orsay is closed, so I decided it would be a nice walk along the river there and she came along with me to the exit for Rue St. Michel. I was so surprised by her taking time to do this and apologized for taking her time. She told me that she wants visitors to her country to enjoy it and she is happy to help. Her son is going to California in one day; she showed me where she lives on my map of the city. I have been so astounded by the desire to help me of everyone I meet. We said goodbye, and she seemed a bit sad that she couldn't come with me.
I was going to spend this afternoon "wandering" or as a friend calls it "being parapatetic." I am very enchanted by the fountain in the square right before the river, I think it is the Fountain de St. Michel; I did not have the camera as I just wanted to stroll. About halfway to the d'Orsay, it started to sprinkle. I did not have an umbrella with me and there I turned around, thinking if I walked toward the station, I could "wander" near there without an umbrella.
A few blocks before, I came upon a wonderful restaurant, Pizza Marzano, where about fifteen different pizzas were offered. I could not pass by. I asked for an outside table, and thought it would be charming just watching the people go by. Until the pizza arrived, it was raining more, so my waiter (most charming) seated me just inside facing out. I told him I wished I could have stayed outside and he said, "almost outside" which was true. I could watch the people with their umbrellas (how did they happen to have one with them?) I learned from a man in the tour shop that an umbrella is "le parapluie." I made him laugh when I said, "Not a parachute?" One of my new words I learned on the street.
This pizza was truly the best pizza I have ever eaten; it was chicken with vegetables; the crust was thin, not like at Pizza Hut, you could never eat it with your fingers. Of course I ordered a glass of their house chardonnay to go with. My wonderful waiter also asked if I wanted water (de l'eau) and brought me a bottle at no charge. I was very thirsty so both the water and the wine went down well. I think in France you have to say that you would like water as they don't bring it automatically (and I haven't seen ice anywhere at all).
I wanted to know if the tip was included and asked my waiter (I think it may have been included in the price, I need to find out); he told me that you can say, "Pour boire,?" which goes back to olden times about drinking.
Across the street I saw a store that looked wonderful, with books and office supplies, so here I found a few things I had been looking for. Then back to the train station, where I only had to wait a few minutes before my train left for Vert Galant (this is something about Henry IV, and the fact that he was a Romeo). I had expected the train to be crowded as it was going into the weekend, but it was not. When we reached my station, I walked home (25 minutes) as it was no longer raining, even though it was very humid. As I arrived at my door, the neighbors downstairs, Marian and Cyril, were out on their patio having Happy Hour and kindly invited me to join them, so I got to meet her parents and sister. They have an adorable child, Raphael, 10 mo. old, who is always smiling (at least when I see him) and a fat tabby cat named Nepal. After drinking my Cervaza with Tequila, I dragged myself up the two flights of stairs and spent the rest of the evening trying to read more in the very strange book I am currently pursuing when I am here in the evenings, "This Book Will Save Your Life," an interesting piece of fiction that does not require thought. I did not get far into in and could hardly keep my eyes open, so I called it a day.
I spent some time earlier in the week getting used to my surroundings, organizing all of files and my "stuff" I brought with me, and finalizing my plans for the Northern Ireland visit in September. I walked to the supermarket (marche) near the train station which is mid-size; a woman customer was adamant that she must find for me the price of strawberries, which had no price. Successful in this, I then searched the store for tofu, as I use it a lot in stir fry, etc. I didn't see it and asked a clerk about it; she looked very puzzled until I said "soy protein" whereupon she led me to the soy sauce; that was a good guess. I then tried to draw a picture of a box of tofu complete with cut slices and the word, tofu. She looked happy at that point and looked at me to say, "Oh, it's for your dog." So no tofu there.
I then proceeded to the bus stop which I thought was mine (#619). The bus was running but no one was there. The driver showed up and I asked him if he went to Vaujours and he said that he did, so I boarded with my rather heavy bag of food and off we went towards Vaujours. After awhile I went to him (as the bus swayed through the streets) and told him I needed to go to General deGaulle Blvd. (near the center of town). He looked at me and said he didn't go there and I would need to take a taxi. I kept repeating the stop near my new home and he looked as if I had gotten on the bus from another planet. Finally, a man sitting near the front jumped up and said to him, "Yes, you go there" and the driver looked at him the same way, at which point I could see we were nearing the street I had mentioned to him. So I got off a few blocks sooner than what I really wanted and toted the groceries home in my arms. I will not ever get on a bus again unless I know exactly where it is going, and have now learned that the bus that stops right in front of my street is the #642. I think I could spend my time more productively. I am thankful that bus is not still speeding away with me careening back and forth.
July 28, 2012
I MEET THE NEIGHBORS
I decided to go for my walk in the park before dinner; it was a nice day after Friday's humidity. As I went out, the next door neighbors, very next door, who have been on Holiday ever since I arrived, were in the doorway, so I met them and they invited me in for a glass of wine, and we got to know each other in a conversation consisting of part French and part English (I call this new language Franglais). The couple's names are Jean Philippe and Karine; their daughter, Marie Claire if almost ten, and their friend Christope was there also.
As I was preparing to leave, they invited me to go to dinner with them and off we went to a Chinese restaurant in the very next town. We ordered the buffet, and it was fabulous; I have never been to such a wonderful place in a long time. We also had a little cocktail made of fruit juice, it was quite good. I haven't eaten ice cream in about a year, but I couldn't resist all of the flavors. We were there for three hours, as we continued out Frenglais conversation. Jean Philippe is a policeman and I gather has a lot of responsibility. Karine stays home with her children (the other child is a son who is 16; he was not at home that evening). I told them I will have them for dinner some evening, which is quite scary to me since I haven't even turned the oven on yet (or tried). But I can navigate the burners perfectly (I think). Food seems to cook faster here than at home. Arriving home, I read for awhile and ended up going to sleep at 2 a.m. In any case, it was a very nice evening.
July 30, 2012
CHILLING OUT
Today I did some laundry and housekeeping duties--the weather is perfect, about 70 degrees, a mixture of clouds and sun, just what I would have ordered during our heat wave in Colorado recently. On Sunday (yesterday) I walked in the park for about two hours and met some new animal friends--horses, goats, deer and more ducks. I learned that all ducks are not canard as I had thought, only certain ducks. In the evening it was nice to talk to my family. The library is closed this week for Holiday and I suspect one day I will wake up and the whole town will have gone to sleep (was it Brigadoon where this occurred?) I will try more posts soon.
J'HABITE EN VAUJOURS (I live in Vaujours)
"Go now knowing where. Bring-- not knowing what. The path is long, the way unknown."
-- Russian fairy tale
I shall go backwards in my week, but never in my life. It is the weekend. The days are flying by and the week past was productive. I was able to finalize my plans for my trip to Northern Ireland in September; I will blog more about that later. I familiarized myself with things here in the apartment and did a little housekeeping and laundry. I hope to orient myself so that I can do these things very quickly and all at the same time.
The flat is nice and it is quiet; it is on the third floor, which in France is the second floor (deuxieme etage) as the first floor is the rez-de-chaussee. (I cannot make the accent marks unless I use the MAC computer here; the keyboards in France are different so when you want to type an a or a w you don't get that and you can find the letters with accent marks when you try). I will try to work on all of that later.
Yesterday (vendredi) I went into the city on the train, to have a stroll and a look around. I picked the hottest day, of course; everyone was fanning themselves on the way in. Women here do not wear shorts, only young girls. On this hot day most women had on jeans or capris and shirts with sleeves or some with long sleeves. I knew this and wore my capris. The station I now am familiar with is St. Michel-Notre Dame; I wanted take a walk or take the metro to the museum and walk back to the station. I could not find the yellow line to transfer for two stops, so I asked a woman standing waiting if she knew how to find that line. Rather than answering, she said that she would come with me, so she did! We learned that the stop for the D'Orsay is closed, so I decided it would be a nice walk along the river there and she came along with me to the exit for Rue St. Michel. I was so surprised by her taking time to do this and apologized for taking her time. She told me that she wants visitors to her country to enjoy it and she is happy to help. Her son is going to California in one day; she showed me where she lives on my map of the city. I have been so astounded by the desire to help me of everyone I meet. We said goodbye, and she seemed a bit sad that she couldn't come with me.
I was going to spend this afternoon "wandering" or as a friend calls it "being parapatetic." I am very enchanted by the fountain in the square right before the river, I think it is the Fountain de St. Michel; I did not have the camera as I just wanted to stroll. About halfway to the d'Orsay, it started to sprinkle. I did not have an umbrella with me and there I turned around, thinking if I walked toward the station, I could "wander" near there without an umbrella.
A few blocks before, I came upon a wonderful restaurant, Pizza Marzano, where about fifteen different pizzas were offered. I could not pass by. I asked for an outside table, and thought it would be charming just watching the people go by. Until the pizza arrived, it was raining more, so my waiter (most charming) seated me just inside facing out. I told him I wished I could have stayed outside and he said, "almost outside" which was true. I could watch the people with their umbrellas (how did they happen to have one with them?) I learned from a man in the tour shop that an umbrella is "le parapluie." I made him laugh when I said, "Not a parachute?" One of my new words I learned on the street.
This pizza was truly the best pizza I have ever eaten; it was chicken with vegetables; the crust was thin, not like at Pizza Hut, you could never eat it with your fingers. Of course I ordered a glass of their house chardonnay to go with. My wonderful waiter also asked if I wanted water (de l'eau) and brought me a bottle at no charge. I was very thirsty so both the water and the wine went down well. I think in France you have to say that you would like water as they don't bring it automatically (and I haven't seen ice anywhere at all).
I wanted to know if the tip was included and asked my waiter (I think it may have been included in the price, I need to find out); he told me that you can say, "Pour boire,?" which goes back to olden times about drinking.
Across the street I saw a store that looked wonderful, with books and office supplies, so here I found a few things I had been looking for. Then back to the train station, where I only had to wait a few minutes before my train left for Vert Galant (this is something about Henry IV, and the fact that he was a Romeo). I had expected the train to be crowded as it was going into the weekend, but it was not. When we reached my station, I walked home (25 minutes) as it was no longer raining, even though it was very humid. As I arrived at my door, the neighbors downstairs, Marian and Cyril, were out on their patio having Happy Hour and kindly invited me to join them, so I got to meet her parents and sister. They have an adorable child, Raphael, 10 mo. old, who is always smiling (at least when I see him) and a fat tabby cat named Nepal. After drinking my Cervaza with Tequila, I dragged myself up the two flights of stairs and spent the rest of the evening trying to read more in the very strange book I am currently pursuing when I am here in the evenings, "This Book Will Save Your Life," an interesting piece of fiction that does not require thought. I did not get far into in and could hardly keep my eyes open, so I called it a day.
I spent some time earlier in the week getting used to my surroundings, organizing all of files and my "stuff" I brought with me, and finalizing my plans for the Northern Ireland visit in September. I walked to the supermarket (marche) near the train station which is mid-size; a woman customer was adamant that she must find for me the price of strawberries, which had no price. Successful in this, I then searched the store for tofu, as I use it a lot in stir fry, etc. I didn't see it and asked a clerk about it; she looked very puzzled until I said "soy protein" whereupon she led me to the soy sauce; that was a good guess. I then tried to draw a picture of a box of tofu complete with cut slices and the word, tofu. She looked happy at that point and looked at me to say, "Oh, it's for your dog." So no tofu there.
I then proceeded to the bus stop which I thought was mine (#619). The bus was running but no one was there. The driver showed up and I asked him if he went to Vaujours and he said that he did, so I boarded with my rather heavy bag of food and off we went towards Vaujours. After awhile I went to him (as the bus swayed through the streets) and told him I needed to go to General deGaulle Blvd. (near the center of town). He looked at me and said he didn't go there and I would need to take a taxi. I kept repeating the stop near my new home and he looked as if I had gotten on the bus from another planet. Finally, a man sitting near the front jumped up and said to him, "Yes, you go there" and the driver looked at him the same way, at which point I could see we were nearing the street I had mentioned to him. So I got off a few blocks sooner than what I really wanted and toted the groceries home in my arms. I will not ever get on a bus again unless I know exactly where it is going, and have now learned that the bus that stops right in front of my street is the #642. I think I could spend my time more productively. I am thankful that bus is not still speeding away with me careening back and forth.
July 28, 2012
I MEET THE NEIGHBORS
I decided to go for my walk in the park before dinner; it was a nice day after Friday's humidity. As I went out, the next door neighbors, very next door, who have been on Holiday ever since I arrived, were in the doorway, so I met them and they invited me in for a glass of wine, and we got to know each other in a conversation consisting of part French and part English (I call this new language Franglais). The couple's names are Jean Philippe and Karine; their daughter, Marie Claire if almost ten, and their friend Christope was there also.
As I was preparing to leave, they invited me to go to dinner with them and off we went to a Chinese restaurant in the very next town. We ordered the buffet, and it was fabulous; I have never been to such a wonderful place in a long time. We also had a little cocktail made of fruit juice, it was quite good. I haven't eaten ice cream in about a year, but I couldn't resist all of the flavors. We were there for three hours, as we continued out Frenglais conversation. Jean Philippe is a policeman and I gather has a lot of responsibility. Karine stays home with her children (the other child is a son who is 16; he was not at home that evening). I told them I will have them for dinner some evening, which is quite scary to me since I haven't even turned the oven on yet (or tried). But I can navigate the burners perfectly (I think). Food seems to cook faster here than at home. Arriving home, I read for awhile and ended up going to sleep at 2 a.m. In any case, it was a very nice evening.
July 30, 2012
CHILLING OUT
Today I did some laundry and housekeeping duties--the weather is perfect, about 70 degrees, a mixture of clouds and sun, just what I would have ordered during our heat wave in Colorado recently. On Sunday (yesterday) I walked in the park for about two hours and met some new animal friends--horses, goats, deer and more ducks. I learned that all ducks are not canard as I had thought, only certain ducks. In the evening it was nice to talk to my family. The library is closed this week for Holiday and I suspect one day I will wake up and the whole town will have gone to sleep (was it Brigadoon where this occurred?) I will try more posts soon.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
July 24, 2012
MY SUNDAY IN THE PARK
This is my first try at a pic. It's not that easy and I have no idea how I did it, but on Sunday, which was a lovely day, I took a walk at the nearby park, LeParc de la Prouderie, and visited my only friends here so far--a rooster, a white chicken and three sheep. I think the sheep is called a mouton, but if it has to have horns to be a mouton, then there is one mouton and two sheep. The rooster crows a lot (do you think that is because of the white chicken). I ordered hot chocolate at the small restaurant, but somehow it wasn't the same as at a cafe. There were many people there, walking and bike riding and enjoying the beautiful day.
In the morning I visited again the small Sunday market up the street where I can find very nice vegetables and fruits. A meat stand was there this time, and in the case I saw, "Cheval." I said to the stand owner, "Cheval?" and he said "oui, do you want to try?" Now, I knew cheval is horse so I politely refused and went home with my purchases. The paths in the park are all in large squares, so every day I take a new path and this day the first thing I encountered was a small stable. You guessed it, there were the horses! I hope they do not suffer a terrible fate!
I usually take my book and am loving my current book, "The Guerney Literary and Potato Peel Society." I will be sad when it is finished!
I will attempt to do more pics after this!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
IN PURSUIT OF FITNESS, SHOPPING AND ENTERTAINMENT
Mardi, le 16 juillet
Normally, sleeping until 9:15 in the morning does not give one a very long day; but here it does, since it is light until 10:30 p.m. I am sure that I am still exhausted from the trip and settling in, to say nothing of the busiest and hottest June I have ever experienced.
After my leisurely breakfast (I am detoxing from coffee today) I walked almost a mile to the Sport and Dance Fitness Center, for which I had high hopes. There were many machines, weights, mats, etc. and the desk person gave me a tour. There were no customers, and the three people there had no idea what I was asking even though so far I have been able to converse somewhat with those in other shops. The price for one month membership was 120 euros, and I decided that for that much money my mind could better meditate and my body could walk in the beautiful nearby very large park for free, La Parc du Poudrerie.
After lunch I wanted to see the new Woody Allen film and decided to walk first to see the shops near the train station. There was only one small shop with clothing; the others were hair stylists, eye specialists, etc. so I think one has to go to Paris to shop as I could not even find a shop in order to buy cards or stationery items. No problem, I would just get a hot chocolate at the cafe across from the train station and watch the people. It was a nice day and I enjoy doing this, so I chose a table furthest away from two gentlemen who were smoking and was enjoying sitting there when another man arrived on his motorcycle and sat at the table next to me where he promptly lit up and began conversing on his cellphone. Almost all of the young people here seem to smoke. However, inside the cafes they may not smoke. So ... do I go back inside or stay out in (what was once) the fresh air. Well, time to escape the smoke and go to the film.
I arrived at the theatre and had the time wrong so I was 20 minutes late; they would not let me go in late so I walked back to the flat, got everything ready for dinner later and made my salad. After resting for 15 minutes, back to theatre. This theatre was basic, by which I mean there were no snacks or popcorn and no water fountain. Fortunately there is a "toilette". After going down quite a few steps, I walked into the room where there were no people yet; the seats were quite comfortable and covered in a red material resembling velvet. There are no previews, and the film started at exactly the posted time.
I do not recommend wasting your time on this movie as it does not make any sense at all. It is about a mixture of people, mostly visiting Rome, some of whom end up interacting with the others and some whom I have no idea what is going on with them. Carmen Diaz ends up in the hotel room of a man who has come with his fiancee to be married in Rome. The fiancee goes out for a walk and loses her cellphone after which she becomes lost and after asking a lot of questions, ends up in a restaurant with a man she meets on the street and where her fiance is having dinner with Carmen Diaz and three seniors who appeared at the hotel room at his door and now they are all together at this restaurant. The film was in the original English version but a lot of the speaking is in Italian, of course; the subtitles were in French so I did try to pay attention to that. I thought Alec Baldwin was absolutely awful, but not as bad as the script. For those of you who are writing screenplays, if this one can sell, yours should be a snap.
Finally, walking home right before 9 and nowhere near dark yet, I enjoyed just looking at the homes and my surroundings. A shower felt good after a very busy walking day, and I was happy I had prepared food for dinner as I could then enjoy it with my wine and collapse into bed.
Pictures coming soon.
Mardi, le 16 juillet
Normally, sleeping until 9:15 in the morning does not give one a very long day; but here it does, since it is light until 10:30 p.m. I am sure that I am still exhausted from the trip and settling in, to say nothing of the busiest and hottest June I have ever experienced.
After my leisurely breakfast (I am detoxing from coffee today) I walked almost a mile to the Sport and Dance Fitness Center, for which I had high hopes. There were many machines, weights, mats, etc. and the desk person gave me a tour. There were no customers, and the three people there had no idea what I was asking even though so far I have been able to converse somewhat with those in other shops. The price for one month membership was 120 euros, and I decided that for that much money my mind could better meditate and my body could walk in the beautiful nearby very large park for free, La Parc du Poudrerie.
After lunch I wanted to see the new Woody Allen film and decided to walk first to see the shops near the train station. There was only one small shop with clothing; the others were hair stylists, eye specialists, etc. so I think one has to go to Paris to shop as I could not even find a shop in order to buy cards or stationery items. No problem, I would just get a hot chocolate at the cafe across from the train station and watch the people. It was a nice day and I enjoy doing this, so I chose a table furthest away from two gentlemen who were smoking and was enjoying sitting there when another man arrived on his motorcycle and sat at the table next to me where he promptly lit up and began conversing on his cellphone. Almost all of the young people here seem to smoke. However, inside the cafes they may not smoke. So ... do I go back inside or stay out in (what was once) the fresh air. Well, time to escape the smoke and go to the film.
I arrived at the theatre and had the time wrong so I was 20 minutes late; they would not let me go in late so I walked back to the flat, got everything ready for dinner later and made my salad. After resting for 15 minutes, back to theatre. This theatre was basic, by which I mean there were no snacks or popcorn and no water fountain. Fortunately there is a "toilette". After going down quite a few steps, I walked into the room where there were no people yet; the seats were quite comfortable and covered in a red material resembling velvet. There are no previews, and the film started at exactly the posted time.
I do not recommend wasting your time on this movie as it does not make any sense at all. It is about a mixture of people, mostly visiting Rome, some of whom end up interacting with the others and some whom I have no idea what is going on with them. Carmen Diaz ends up in the hotel room of a man who has come with his fiancee to be married in Rome. The fiancee goes out for a walk and loses her cellphone after which she becomes lost and after asking a lot of questions, ends up in a restaurant with a man she meets on the street and where her fiance is having dinner with Carmen Diaz and three seniors who appeared at the hotel room at his door and now they are all together at this restaurant. The film was in the original English version but a lot of the speaking is in Italian, of course; the subtitles were in French so I did try to pay attention to that. I thought Alec Baldwin was absolutely awful, but not as bad as the script. For those of you who are writing screenplays, if this one can sell, yours should be a snap.
Finally, walking home right before 9 and nowhere near dark yet, I enjoyed just looking at the homes and my surroundings. A shower felt good after a very busy walking day, and I was happy I had prepared food for dinner as I could then enjoy it with my wine and collapse into bed.
Pictures coming soon.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Saturday, July 14
WELCOME TO YOUR HOME
After a long flight to Reykavik and a short flight from there to Paris, both on Icelandair, I arrived shortly at 1 pm at Charles deGaulle. My passport was stamped in Iceland and I was not asked to show any other documents, in spite of my understanding of the procedure to enter the Schengen zone. Perrine picked me up and off we went to Vaujours; she had signs in pink, blue and green strung across the living room saying, "Welcome to Your Home." We visited the wonderful nearby park,which is huge; I will never run out of a for walking destination.Stephane and Perrine's flat is very cute and is in a residential area consisting of flats, called "associations." I have a very nice room with lots of space for all the "stuff" I brought, especially the things I will never use. Their boys are spending a few days with Stephane's parents, who will bring them home from their home in a few days.
On Tuesday we walked to the RER station for the train into Paris. I wanted to go to the American Church to find out about the language and yoga classes which are held there. I learned this week that there are hardly any classes anywhere until the beginning of September, so I will practice on my own. It seems as if most of the country is on Holiday from mid-July until September, although I am sure many people do not have all of that time off. I need to find a yoga mat and will devise my own practice here until September.We walked to the Champs Elysee, and I got to practice ordering in a cafe; it was only two beers (bieres) but I guess I got it right because that is what arrived at our table. The trains were crowded on the return trip.
Wednesday we visited the huge grocery, CORA, and did some shopping. It was interesting to see what is available on the shelves compared to at home (I still have not found almond milk). A lunch at their cafeteria, and we returned; I am still tired. This is the day it started raining on and off; today it is still raining on and off. During our recent heat wave in Boulder, I prayed for rain, but I think God got the text wrong as he sent lots more than what I ordered. The children, Bastian and Luc, returned to the flat with their grandparents. They are very nice and very active. They want to see the cowboys in Colorado.
Thursday was quite productive; I learned where the doctor and the chiropractor are (just up the street) and then we visited the local library. Perrine's three librarian friends, Laurence, Beatrice and Benedicle, are very nice and also anxious to help me further my language skills. They gave me two CDs and will search for other avenues of learning for me. There are a few books in English and I picked up "Thhe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society," which I had on my list for awhile. I will also read some books in French, probably the ones of the children at first. I hope to have more time here at first to read and edit the Australia/New Zealand book which does not go away and begs for attention.
Yesterday (Friday) Perrine and I went again on the RER and tram to the Red Cross in Paris, still in search of language classes. There was no one around, so we returned and got soaking wet on the way home. This was a very busy day as Perrine organized a dinner for her parents, the neighbors, Marion and Cyril,and Dave and Kathy, the second half of Stephane and Perrine's home exchange, who were making a stop in Paris for a few days before continuing their adventures. It was very nice and gave us a chance to practice our speaking. This was a day of harder rain, but no one seemed to mind. As I was going to bed, I kept thinking I heard garbage cans clanging outside until I remembered that Vaujours celebrates Bastille Day (July 14) the evening before. Fireworks is called "feu artificial."
And so today, Saturday, we woke up to another cloudy day, although we did see the sun for awhile. I took a walk in order to find the movie theatre and the fitness center, which was closed, I don't know because of the long Holiday or the July 14 Holiday; everything seems to be about Holidays. Perhaps we in America should follow such an example. On the way home I bought fruit around the corner and am finding that I can shop or ask directions without any problem. After tomorrow I will be here by myself, which I am actually looking forward to and resting for a few days with perhaps only a walk in the park.
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