Quite a few people have asked about how I ended up here:to which there is no easy answer. Since this is a special weekend for the Chatette and I, I'd like to share some of our journey over the next couple of days. I want to begin by sharing a piece that I wrote back in November of 2002 for the program of my photography that was showing in a group exhibit at the Ariodante Gallery on Julia Street- New Orleans, entitled "A Woman's Place..."!
Being a Bourgeois, my affection for France began long before 1992 when I stepped off the plane at Paris's Orly Airport for the first time. Our visit began poorly. With two days left, a handsome expatriate walked up to me on the street and asked if I had time for "a little conversation". That little conversation grew into a two-year romance that was the stuff of fairy tales that don't come true. But, he gave me Paris.
From then on, when I returned I would stay with my 80-something year old friend Madame Véra. Speaking by phone prior to my arrival, Véra's last words were: "I will have a coffee waiting for you." Véra died while I circled Orly. Grief-stricken in the rain with no place to stay, I found a hotel and was befriended by their concierge. Wendy and I kept in touch and I was invited to visit when she and her husband Stéphane bought two old ruins in the Lot valley of southwestern France. Soon, all my trips to France included Paris and the Lot.
I know two Augusts in the Lot Valley. My first in 1998, was full of slowly rising morning mists that burned off to sun-drenched afternoons of drinking Cahors wine, reading, writing and watching the butterflies dance to Mozart from Wendy's Patio. Regular rains came in September that year, when the snails and I were only visitors.
Four years have passed, and instead,the low-lying morning clouds shower into the later afternoons that I spend dodging raindrops so I can watch the snails on my terrasse. I don't care if the butt of my overalls gets wet or my hair is a mess. My make-up can't run because I'm not wearing any and there's no one to tell me that I don't know when to come in out of the rain. I am free to do as I please and it pleases me to be wet with my snails on my terrasse in my place in France.
I began to make my own place in France earlier this year, when I bought the 3-story, 13th century former entrée to the Chateau. Although it is mine on paper, it is impossible to own the centuries of history, beauty and magic that are captured in this place. We have each other for now. It is the magical stuff of a fairy tale that did come true. It is my gift. And, the snails and I are here to stay.-Laury Bourgeois-November, 2002
This second photo is entitled "Ma Soeur" and was the signature piece for my work in the show. The show had 6 pieces, 4 of which were framed 11x14-s, while the other 2-"Ma Soeur" and "Mon Chez Moi" were 24x36 framed. I would like to tell you that they are all with me in France, but my two big pieces were too large framed to bring along and too difficult to dismantle. "Ma Soeur" is living with my friend Steve Loria and "Mon Chez Moi" is living in the office of my friend Carol Miles.
Now that you have the overview-tomorrow...the rest of the story.
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