Soar-Dream-France

Time to Mix Some Magic...Mélange-ing Magic

Recently, I introduced a new opportunity that I am offering here at the Chatette that I've called: Mélange-ing Magic. I only touched the surface with you the first time I wrote about it, but now I'd like to go a little further in depth with you about what it is and how it works.  I will also be setting up a photo album specifically for Mélange-ing Magic to give you a better idea of our location and what is available here.

I'm sure you've heard of a PHOTO-OP, but have you ever heard of a MAGIC-OP?  Our MAGIC-OP puts you in a place where your magic is able to mix with the immortal magic, history and romance of the LOT VALLEY.  This is NOT a RETREAT, WORKSHOP, DATING SERVICE, or VACATION.

This is an OPPORTUNITY for YOU! -and YOU Alone to bring your individual magic and experience the sweet, simple uncomplicated life in the south of France.

This is YOUR experience.  This is YOUR opportunity.  We are available to assist and support you.  We are available to make suggestions and consult with you through your stay with us; but we offer no formal experience.  You will have the luxury of a safe home base where you can venture out each day to design your own magic mixing, self-guided experience.  ARE YOU READY?

Tomorrow, I'll tell you more about fees, set-up, your responsibilities  and how to schedule your own Mélange-ing Magic experience.  You can see from these photos of the Chatette that the Magic is always Mélange-ing!   I hope we've piqued your interest and you're ready to come mix your magic with ours. 

Moon Girls

My Mom has been on my mind quite a bit the last couple of days.  When I called on Monday morning their time; I discovered that she had fallen on her face in the drive for the second time in the last six months.  She has broken her nose, but assures all of us that she is "fine". I'm glad that I will be there during May and will be spending extended time in the house with her and my Dad.  My Dad needs a lot of care and Mom is the caretaker.  I tease with tears in my eyes, but they use what I call the "circle the wagon" approach.  I'm not sure that even John Wayne could even get in to help.  So I worry about my Mom till I see her again, but I celebrate her too.  We are Moon Girls.  I know that while I'm home she'll say at least once, "Oh Laury, look at the moon!" I'll find the best spot in the house or out in the drive and take a look.  When the moon is particularly pretty here, I call Mom and Dad. Dad has trouble holding the phone, so it's always on speaker. I'll say: "Hey, it's me. Be sure to look at the moon tonight Mom, it's incredible!"  And Dad will say-"You two moon girls, I don't know what I'm going to do with you!"  I head off to bed when I get off the phone under our incredible moon, wishing that my parents could make the trip here to share our moon in my new life.  Is it any surprise to know that one of their favorite tunes is Tex Ritter's "Just Beyond the Moon"?

This incredible ornament was one of my Christmas gifts from Mom and Dad in 2007.  It's never made it to the tree, but hangs from the nob on one of the windows so I can enjoy it all year long and never forget!

What About Your Baggage?

One holiday season, we were sitting around at Mom and Dad's catching up with some of our relatives.  Talking about divorce in general, one said:  "I guess I have, what do they call it...suitcases?"  This very innocent question led all of us giggling down our personal "baggage" road together.  We began to assess the size of our own "baggage" as well as the baggage of some others who had passed through our lives. We came up with the following descriptions and continuum:  Baggage seemed to be about the normal amount of issues and problems to be carrying around with you;  if you have Suitcases-you have a little more than the baggage share;  Luggage starts to become unmanageable; and, if you are carrying around Steamer Trunks with you, that's all she wrote! 

Last spring, I was cleaning out the storage room to get things ready to take to the recycling place.  I've always considered myself a light traveler on the road and in the personal issues I carry around with me...usually just about back-pack size.  I'd forgotten about it, but I had put all of our New Orleans Luggage in the storage room.  I brought it all out into the sunlight- dusty, a little damp and still full of airport stickers. The big red one still had HEAVY-LOURD stuck to it.  I wondered if there were any memories or forgotten items to be discovered.  I lined up all my New Orleans Luggage, emptied out anything left inside, and decided it was time to make good use of it! The big red one is now a side table next to the rocking chair near the fireplace.  It's perfect because I can stick magazines and books in some of the open pockets.  A smaller red one now holds all my kitchen towels, pot holders, napkins and table cloths in the kitchen and the beige floral print piece on rolling wheels holds all my important papers and files.  Not only did I get more storage here at the Chatette, I very literally turned my luggage into furniture!  It felt good to know that we weren't going anywhere any time soon, and I'm back to traveling light in all aspects of my life!

"There's Only One Way to Speak French!"

As I began today's post, I wondered if I should set up a category called "Soapbox", because I realized that I had a HUGE point that I wanted to make here with my photo and my story.  You've seen almost the same photo before.  I've placed this one on the right today instead of on the left, the lips are further back and the reflections are stronger. 

I struggle with my French.  I go to my two classes a week and I speak as much as I can and as often as I can.  However, I work in English.  Nothing will shut me up faster, than being corrected in front of a crowd of people or being corrected by the same people every time I see them.  I believe it's rude to correct people in front of others and if all you do is correct my French, I don't have time to sort out if you are speaking to me or correcting me and I'm lost.  I was in a car with some people one evening.  On our way through Cajarc, the driver asked me which patisserie was my favorite? I told the driver "Roux" and pronounced it "Rooks" not "roo" and was immediately told that I was incorrect. Not only was I incorrect, but that I really needed to learn to speak French the right way! (This was after an evening of the same person correcting my pronunciation every time I opened my mouth.) It takes a lot to get me angry, but on that note I explained as politely as I could that: "the Notaire of our area spells his name "Roux" and told me that he pronounces it "Rooks".  I believe that it is his name and if that is the way he pronounces it and that is the way it is pronounced in the valley, then that is the way I will pronounce it.  I live in the Lot, I will do my best to pronounce my French so the people who I share this valley with will understand me!" That was the end of that conversation.  And, I doubt that there will be any more. 

I do my very best to try to laugh and keep moving with situations like this.  I recently ran into confusion in the grocery store one day with my loaf of French Bread.  A young man came up and asked me if I could tell him where the "Ping" was?  I looked at him a little puzzled, when he picked up my loaf of French Bread.  We chuckled together and I directed him to the very first aisle by the entrance.  The word for bread in French is "pain"...some pronounce it "pan", but the locals pronounce many words with "ain" as "ing".  I've learned that in French, as in life...there is no one way.  I hope that as I continue on this journey, I am able to revel in our differences knowing that there is no one way-especially if the one way is only "my" way.  All I have to do is think about rooing the rookses and pinging pan, and I can laugh, let go and move on with our wonderful life in this valley.

Please...Take My Picture!

I shared some of St. Cirq Lapopie with you last week and here I am doing it again.  I took enough photos while I was there to post for the rest of the month (oh, it's almost over) and half-way into the next.  While Margaret and I were lunching at Lou Bolat, this beautiful tree was blooming beside us.  It very politely screamed: "Please take my picture!" To which, I of course obliged.  I had never seen that type of tree before, and thought how pretty one would look around the Chatette somewhere. 

On a run to the Jardin de Figeac with Jean yesterday, my intention was to purchase: flea and tick treatment for Dali; a special watering can with a long thin spout so I can water the upstairs window boxes around the screens and not have to chose between bats or begonias; and another gladiola bulb bag of 50! My intention was thwarted...nothing I needed was there.  Of course, that didn't stop me from finding substitutions.  The best substitution was one of these very pretty pink trees for the Chatette.  It's called TAMARIX tetrandra.  I understand they get very big so my next decision is where "she" is going to live.  It is still raining so I have a little more time to ponder placement.  At the rate we're going around here, maybe a lot of time to ponder placement.  I'm guessing that Gene and his umbrella will be back singing and dancing in the rain that will still be here sometime this afternoon! Days like yesterday reinforce my new approach to life in general.  I've always been a planner and am not always happy when my plans don't work out.  In my past life, I'd have been bummed that they no longer had the brand of medication Dal needed and that I wasn't going to be able to have a wall of gladiolas along the main road.  But yesterday, I found my treasured tree and enough other beautiful plants and flowers.  The surprises were much better than anything I could have planned!

Iris and Elvis....AKA "Eerees" and "Elvees"!

Last year's trip with my French neighbors was about to get underway this time last year.  From day one, it was a lesson in pronunciation and listening/comprehension. When I mentioned renting a car and that we could stop in Graceland on the way back from New Orleans, I didn't have a clue who Josie was talking about when she said she loved "Elvees"!  It took me a couple more conversations about the trip to realize that on my first trip to Graceland I had gone to see Elvis in Memphis, but this time I was going to be seeing "Elvees in Memphees" and I was going to be the "Geede".  We'd laughed about this together during the trip and on and off since.  You can imagine the strings of words that could get you in trouble between the two languages.  I thought I was doing a pretty good job of breaking the code.  I now knew that most of the "i"s in French tend to be pronounced with a long "e" sound from English.  It still takes another step for me in my comprehension to make the swap, and sometimes I still don't get it.

Imagine sitting on my parents' back porch in the morning with my friends.  We're having our coffee and petit dejeuner together surrounded by Mom's garden on three sides.  Of course, there had to be an "écureuil" (squirrel) in the tree that I got ribbed about and then Josie commented on how she loves"Eerees". I was in that no-man's land in my mind when she pointed to the flowers.  I used to say: "Oh, you mean Iris!" out loud, but I've now learned to just file it away and go on.  It seems to be something about where the accent falls on syllables.  I'm Laury in the states, but I'm Lauree here.

 I've been trying to grow irises here at the Chatette for the last couple of years.  I get green with no flowers regularly and have no idea what I'm doing wrong.  Yesterday, Dali and I came back from our walk and I noticed a little something popping out on one of our irises on the terrace.  We actually have a bud! It will be our first iris at the Chatette!  Maybe they've decided it's okay to start blooming around here since I know that they really are "eereeses" when they live in France!

From the Archives: Divining La Grange Dentelle

From the Archives-Eight years later, looking back at the path of our lives with the barn still makes me smile. I've labored regularly about the sorry state of the roof over the last eight years that "La Grange Dentelle" has been part of our WE. It's hard to believe, May of 2010. I paid attention then. I'm paying attention now. The barn and this place speak to me in unconventional ways when I pay attention. 

More on that another time, but for now...I'm going to be trying to put the pieces of euros together while I'm back in the states so we maybe can finally put a new roof on the barn.

 

 

You can see from some of the photos that I've added from just last week, it is becoming urgent. As Monsieur Feres said: Elle est malade, Laury!

 

 

The post that follows is the beginning of this story. As you can imagine, and when you see the photos of the roof today blended into the old post; I am hoping for a second time happy ending.

 

 

April 24, 2009-Many of my more regular readers have been interested in any new information that comes along about the beautiful, ancient, barn that is located behind the Chatette. 

I fell in love with it the moment I saw it, and really felt like it should be a part of "us". 

 

 

 

My feelings haven't changed.

But since it appears I could be paying for the New Orleans repairs from the levee breech for the rest of my life, I'm continuing my "divining" process. 

(Today, this is the view I see from my armchair by the fireplace. Talk about screaming at me!)

 

 

Yesterday, Dali and I walked a very nicely wrapped package with a framed and signed photo of the barn, as a gift to the new owners. 

Good thing that I had written my pitiful note in French-because no one was home and I left it against the door. 

Dali and I headed back towards home down the road and along the river route, since it was warm and sunny.  I dared to hope that the sun and the warmth were here to stay. 

 

 

Later in the afternoon-I received a very sweet e-mail from the family saying that the photo was "superbe". As I had already been told by friends, they don't know what they are going to do with the barn, but promised that if they decide to sell it they will be sure to tell me and we will talk more then. 

I'm pleased.  It gives me more time for our divining process.  One of the things I've been wanting to do ever since the photo of the barn turned out so beautifully, was to put a copy of it out in the barn.  I don't know what got into me this morning, but I had a small frame and another copy of the photo so Dali and I went over with it.

I wandered around inside to see what might be a nice spot to rest the photo, and I think I found it. The energy is moving around over here.  We're practicing our patience and hoping that there is a pas a pas here with maybe-a meant to be! 

 

Doors and More...Another Door Will Open

I've been thinking a lot about doors opening and closing...not so much the ones of wood and iron surrounded by ancient stone like my Tour de Faure door in the photo, but the soul and spirit kind.  When I was riding around in the Lot on my way here with Stu that day back in '98, I was close to returning to the states. I talked with him about risks, about what I was going to do when I got back, and in his wonderful Welsh accent he said: "Another door will open, Laury."  After my visit to the Lot in  December of 2000, I journaled:

"Stuart continues to tease me and sometimes I think I should come more often and learn French and write and do my photography, but the pieces aren't there yet to do that and they may never be...I guess the money...the work...we shall see."

Today is one of our shimmering Chatette days.  It's warmer, so I have all the windows and doors open.  The diamonds are dancing on the river and partying it up here in the Chatette on every wall in every room as I write. I'm surrounded by a dozen prism rainbows.  Sam is sunning herself on the window sill, and Dali is able to wander in and out the open doors to laze on the terrace in the sunshine. I sometimes wander out to the terrace myself on days like this.  It's fun to sit outside and look into our place.  I look inside and wonder what the inside of my home says about me and our life here in the Lot.  I love open whether it's the door to my home, or the door to my soul and spirit. 

So, what kind of shape your doors are in?

St. Cirq Lapopie is Always a Good Thing

After the rain, yesterday's sun came out just in time for my friend Margaret and I to have lunch and spend the afternoon wandering around St. Cirq Lapopie.  We went straight to Lou Bolat's and sat on the terrace in the sunshine while we had that wonderful warm cabecou salad, with walnuts and raspberry dressing, and shared the same sinful crepe I'd shared with my Lafayette friends at the end of March.  I met Margaret going through customs in Philadephia at Christmas, 2007.  She lives in Paris full time, so it was fun to speak to another American who had made France home.  She had been to St. Cirq Lapopie with her Mom over 25 years ago and said it was her Mom's favorite!  With her Mom in a nursing home in the states, we stopped for a post card.  I was reminded how they cancel the stamps with an image of St. Cirq Lapopie-so we mailed it from the post office there to make it even a little more special for her Mom.  My own parents are not doing well in the states and it breaks my heart that they have never been able to come here and experience the Lot and the Chatette with me.  Back in '96, my Dad said: "Take your Mother to Paris, Laury!" And, I'm glad I did.  (But, that's a story for another time.)

I never get tired of going to St. Cirq Lapopie with or without friends.  Maybe it's because St. Cirq is an old friend and why I am living in the Lot now.  Each visit, St. Cirq would appear out of the rising Lotoise morning mist, beckoning me to return.  I always do.

After the Rain and Falling in Love...

Dali and I barely got our walk in up to Jean's yesterday morning before the rain poured down again.  The drops began as we were walking up the back steps and didn't stop all day and into the night.  I decided to have life by candlelight in the rain, so even though the electricity was working fine; I turned all the lights off and at least one candle glowed in every room of the house.

The rain has stopped...for now. We were out earlier than usual this morning and I'm also writing earlier than usual  because we have company coming. I was focusing on a shot of some irises, when I turned around to see the sun coming up a big red ball!  I was immobilized!  Maybe earlier is better for our morning walks! Before the sun popped out over the causse, I got this incredible shot of the Chateau with the outline of Saujac behind in the mist.  Every time I come down the hill home from our walk to the mailbox or the library at the Mairie; I am reminded that the first time I came to Cadrieu with Stuart, we came down this same one lane road in his rattling white work truck and this is what I saw first. It was love at first site!