Soar-Dream-France

"Braking" on the Blog-Jan Arrives

Am going to be taking a break from blogging over the next few days-I like the visual of putting my foot on the brakes of a car.  I might decide to just slow down, or it's possible I'll stop altogether while Jan is here.  It's hard to know.  We have a lot planned in a short period of time, so I'll know more as we go! 

I'm catching the 12:30 bus from here into Cahors to meet Jan at the train station.  I love meeting friends at the train station.  I used to have this visual of me hopping out of my deux chevaux, in my overalls and floppy straw hat, with Dali by my side!  (On her leash of course!) I'd be standing on the platform, waving feverishly as my friend(s) or family got off the train, kiss-kiss-kiss, and glowing all the way home as I point out all the beautiful sites of my valley along the Lot on the way to the Chatette!  I have no doubt that my platform and tour guide activities will be the same, but today it'll be the bus, no overalls, and no Dali.  I've got some shopping I want to do and my bat reinforcements to muster at the hardware store, so bringing Dals along might slow me down a bit. I haven't tried taking her with me on the bus yet, but I'm hoping to try it sometime this summer and see how we both do with it!  As much as I'd love to have a deux chevaux and do covet Christiane's from time to time, I think I may have found something that would work just as well and I'd covet even more.  It's not as cute, but very practical.  I'll have to tell you about it in a future post!  So-it's a bientôt y'all one more time!

The photos are of the Cloisters at St. Etienne in Cahors, the Gare, and Christiane's very photogenic deux chevaux!  I tease her all that time that I feel "Frencher than French" when I ride in it with her!

Batmen Return!

Ever since I purchased the Chatette, I have had a bat visitor from time to time.  I understand that they (quite a few theys) live in the dungeon of the Château.  The first few years, I'd find one in the utility cave on and off.  I'd keep the door open and eventually he'd leave.  I've joked that Batman was living in my Bat Cave!  I like our bats. I enjoy watching them waft around outside in the dark, and listening to the sound of their wings that is very different from the sound bird's wings make.  I understand they're protected here.  You can go to jail for harming them! I'd have never considered harming one, until just last year.

I have screens on the upstairs bedroom windows, so I don't worry about keeping them open at night while I'm sleeping.  Sometimes a bat will sneak in through the open door when I let Dali out at night, but just one time and I became much more careful!  Last July I had a bat visitor, but I couldn't figure out how he got in.  That night I got him out, but the next night he returned with some of his friends!  I got them out, but the following night it was a repeat performance.  I consulted Christiane, who told me to turn all the lights on outside and open all the windows.  (I was turning all the lights on inside and opening all the windows!)  Jean suggested that I try to figure out where they could possibly be getting in.  I started by covering up the chimney and some spots around the fireplace.  They seemed to be hovering around the center window of the three windows that face the Lot.  After one more night of hell and exploration, I found the problem.  There were small openings above the center window where they were coming in and must have had a nest!  The next day, armed with tape, garbage bags, other plastic and materials; I plugged up all the holes and solved my inside bat problem. What a relief!

But it's almost July again! Up early and sitting at the computer this morning, I noticed what looked like the swallows returning to Capistrano!  We do have swallows here, so it wouldn't have been ridiculous! But, no! Upon closer inspection, my bats are back and hovering around their favorite window just before dawn!  I've reinforced all points of entry with tape and plastic and will pick up some back-up supplies in Cahors tomorrow to be ready just in case!  I don't mind if the Batmen Return, I'm just crossing my fingers that they stay outside!

"Routines" and Le Président

Last week I wrote about making my Friday afternoons a routine at the President in Cajarc.  It didn't quite happen that way last Friday because of the unpredictable weather, and this Friday I'll be taking the bus into Cahors to meet my friend Jan at the train station! 

I did, however get to squeeze a visit in to the President on Saturday afternoon when I rode my bike in for the afternoon market.  It seemed that everyone from Cadrieu had come in for the market.  I stopped in at the bank for some cash and then wandered around with no particular purchase in mind!  I found some great bedding and outdoor seat cushions...all on sale! I stopped at the stall of one of our village farmers, and picked up what I thought, were 2 small melons.  I made the circle one more time and stopped in at the President before I headed home.  With the heat, I opted for a bierre pression instead of a vin rouge and wrote a little in my journal but mostly enjoyed watching the crowd! As entertaining as the crowd was, the little dog who was working very hard to scratch his itch at the table next to me took the prize.  He was having so  much fun and clearly enjoying himself, until his owner put the skids on it! Everyone within sight was smiling and giggling at his very good time! 

I'd made myself a very nice dinner the other evening and didn't have anything in particular for dessert.  I went into the kitchen and cut open one of my "melons" only to find that it was a squash of some kind that is served stuffed with meat and other vegetables.  I happened to see our village farmer this morning at the market and told her my story! We laughed and the other patrons did too! Sometimes I'm still such a city girl!

Playing at "Perfection"!

I'm out running around pretty regularly with my camera in my pocket.  (I even have 1200 shots on my memory card!)  Sometimes I take a shot that turns out mucho better than I expected, but I've forgotten about it.  I rediscovered this shot of Saujac through the morning mist on the left, when I was putting together some calendars for myself for the rest of the year.  I also have a few special flower shots that I want to blend in for you to enjoy. 

I'm feeling a little pushed today because I have my first batch of company coming for a few days at the end of the week.  I want the Chatette to look its best, so I'm out cutting the grass (yes again) and doing a little re-arranging, re-decorating and some purging.  One of the nicer side effects of this is that I'm having fun as I look much closer at the Mélange-ing Magic Room! 

When company is on the way and I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I have frequently asked myself: why do I make myself so crazy with this stuff and why don't I care more about it when it's just for me? 

As much as I hate to admit it, there has always been this part of me that doesn't feel good enough... that I should be better...I should be more, hmmm-maybe perfect? Those feelings rise to the surface when I may be judged by others, and especially scream when company is coming.  I've done this enough now with myself and the Chatette, that I know it really doesn't matter. We're special! People who come to see us aren't going to care if I've put on a few pounds or my hair is a little grayer.  They're not going to notice a little crud in the corners or dog hair under the sofa in the Chatette. They're coming to see "us" and share an incredible, romantic, magical experience here in the Lot!

I  recently realized that a spotless house isn't a priority for me.  I'd rather be reading, gardening, biking, playing piano, or an endless list of other things...than say, cleaning the refrigerator!  I admit it feels good when it's done, but the reward of cleanliness in and of itself isn't something I need on a weekly basis!

It feels really good to be able to say outloud that I'm not perfect and the Chatette's not perfect! I hope that anyone who comes will be more concerned about the history, the romance and a one of a kind experience, than getting out their white glove!  And besides, who is to say what's "perfect" anyway?

One to One Time-Up Close and at a Distance

As much as I love living in France, there are moments from time to time when I wish I were a little bit closer and access to the states was easier!  Those are the moments when friends and family are facing health concerns, special occasions, and even some holidays.  Traveling between here and the states can take me from anywhere between 24 to 36 hours of bus, train, and plane, with a whole lot of waiting around in airports!  I try to look at these trips as just another adventure!

I'm feeling the distance today a little more than usual, because my brother Jim is going to be having some out-patient surgery.  I started to write "minor", but it's never "minor" when we're having it and it's the first time we've ever been "invaded"!  I could hear some concern in his voice when we spoke on the phone yesterday, so I'm hoping it all  goes fine and recovery will be a breeze. I realize that even when I lived in the states, I wouldn't have been dropping what I was doing to be there for family in instances like this because it meant leaving work and traveling from New Orleans.  I probably would have done the same thing: called to say you're in my thoughts, check back in after the surgery, and send a snail mail or e-card.  In fact, I see my family just as much or more than I saw them when I lived in New Orleans and with my phone program, I know we talk more!  I do have my days when I get frustrated and feel like it is all up to me to stay in touch, but I'm the one who chose to live in France and I'm the one with the phone program!  So, I get over it!  

I pointed out in my Father's Day post, that Jim's arrival ended any hope for quality time for me with Mom and Dad. But, thinking about Jim and what he's facing today, made me really happy that the two of us had the opportunity to have some one to one quality time together over breakfast in Kansas City. Let's face it, that one to one communication is very different than communicating with a couple, the family, a group of friends.  I cherish those one to one opportunities with everyone I love, and when I can I try to make them happen! So, here's to more one to one quality time with the people who are important to us in our lives!   

Babar "Moves House" for Henry!

When Babar wished his friends Kate, Chloe and Clare, Bon Voyage the other day, he knew exactly how they must have been feeling.  Since we returned from the states, Babar has "moved house" to make room for his new friend Henry. 

Babar is now living on top of the microwave, under the red lamp with his spoon, our instrument of frothy coffee, my cookbooks, and a book of the six original Babar stories.  (Kathleen bought me Bonjour Babar because she thought it was important for me to know a little more about Babar than I did, if I was going to consider myself a Babarmaniac!)  Henry is now happily waving from his place of kitchen honor, in the 3-tiered iron mesh basket! 

Poor Henry has been tucked away in tissue paper with a lot of my other dolls that are in boxes in my parent's basement.  He's happy to be out in the fresh air, and even happier that I put a piece of scotch tape on his tummy to keep his eternally dropping pants from falling down yet again!  I'm a little jealous of Henry. He is actually living in the same iron mesh basket he lived in when we were in New Orleans together!  He's a new-comer to France, but he's lucky to be friends with Babar who showed him the international traveling by purple backpack ropes and gladly "moved house" so his new friend can be comfortable and feel a little bit like home in New Orleans, even if it's home in France!

Books and art were the most difficult "things" to part with when I left New Orleans.  Cookbooks fell into that category!  I parted with most, but managed to bring the ones I loved and were most practical along with me:  Southern Living's Microwave Cooking Made Easy; France-The Beautiful Cookbook; Lee Bailey's New Orleans-Good Food and Glorious Houses; The Drag Queen's Cookbook and Guide to Sensible Living; and Toulouse-Lautrec's Table.  Bonjour Babar doesn't have any recipes in it, but Babar insisted that I put it nearby so he could enjoy reminiscing from time to time!

The Great Overalls Debate: Pearls and Overalls!

 

From the Archives One More Time: This is the perfect post to wrap International Overalls Weekend and carry us into Thanksgiving week in France...

After conversations with my friends here, I decided to resurrect this old post from June, 2009.

This is the post that brought my friend Niels-The Bibprofessor my way.

It still speaks strongly to me and how I feel about my overalls.

 

 

 

 

 I should say that this beautiful white dress survived in the upstairs closet during last November's fire.

 

 

 

ALL of my overalls were in the huge armoire that burned with everything inside.

 

 

Regardless of how my friends feel about my overalls and how happy some of them are that they are all gone from Cadrieu...trust me...there are more overalls in my future and there is still a stash in New Orleans!

 

Hope you enjoy the resurrected post below:

 

June 20, 2009

Something about posting the piece about my Dad and I yesterday, made me want to come out of my overalls for a bit!  I have been wearing overalls and loving them for as long as I can remember.  Aside from being very "practical", they are the most comfortable clothes I own. (Unless, of course, you need to use a turkish toilet somewhere!) I have pictures of myself in overalls from a very young age in a variety of locales.  I have long ones, short ones, colored ones, fancy ones, dress-up ones, engineer ones, work ones, and dead ones:  the ones I just can't give up that are torn in the crouch, patched on the butt (or not), and are used only for cutting the grass!

 

My friend Kelly has written a short story about our friendship called:  The Overalls of Cadrieu, which led to a rousing discussion with my French friends centered around salopette, salope, bitch and beach!  I'm not sure if any of us have recovered from that conversation!

 

 

 

So today, I wanted to show you that there is at least one dress in my closet!  I can look like a girlie girl from time to time; but, very much like my cooking and Frank Sinatra...I like to do it my way!  Growing up, I was a girl child of dolls and football.  Today, I am a woman of pearls and overalls. 

I've often wondered if I felt I had to live up to my name and be a semi-son to my Dad.  Or, whether my Laury to his Larry, contributed to my rabid feminism and independence in later life! 

 

It really doesn't matter!  So...when my Mom, other family, and friends on both continents pick on me about my overalls, I hope they will remember this picture and NOT ask me to go home or upstairs and put on a dress!  Ain't happening!

 

 

It might be helpful to know that the word for "Overalls" in French is "Salopette", and the word for "Salope" in English is "Bitch".  We didn't get into trouble with any of these words, until my French friends pronounced "Bitch" for us and it sounded like "Beach"!  We are still laughing over here.  

 

You'll find us bitching and beaching just as much as we are crawfishing!

 

An Early Happy Father's Day!

Although Father's Day isn't till Sunday, I wanted to do something a little extra special for my Dad this year.  The cards and presents were left in St. Louis for him before I returned to France, but I realized the other day that I haven't written much about my Dad here.  I got out the old pictures I've brought to France with me and had fun choosing favorites to share. 

I've always been a Daddy's girl. How can you help but be when as a daughter, you are named after your Dad.  With the spelling of my name, I spent a lot of my adult life saying: "Larry is my Dad...I'm Laury!"

I had Mom and Dad all to myself until Jim arrived a month before my second birthday.  Not much one on one quality time after that. Maybe that's why some of my fondest memories of Dad (both of my parents for that matter) are the memories that only he and I shared together!  I still remember going to the  Father-Daughter Girl Scout Banquet when I was nine.  My tall, handsome Daddy in his work suit and me in my beanied, funky, forest green girl scout outfit with my only merit badge for embroidery.  His hands will always feel huge and safe to me no matter how old I am.  And then, when I received my Master's Degree in Social Work from Tulane University, he came to graduation in New Orleans early.  We went to see Pete Maravich play basketball for the then New Orleans Jazz together, and yes, we actually went to see "Looking for Mr. Goodbar"! I discovered my love of stamp collecting, collage, baseball, and New Orleans from my Dad!  I didn't know too many girls who had baseball scrapbooks with the autographs of Julian Javier, Steve Carlton, Bob Euker and Tracy Stallard in them. 

So these days, I'm still grateful for the one on one time we are able to find.  It may be when I'm visiting and Mom goes to the store, or when I call and Mom is out in the yard; but these times are just as special to me as those banquets and graduations were. Dad and I frequently had those one on one quality conversations when I would call from New Orleans in tears.  He knows how much I love New Orleans.  He knew how hard everything was for me there after the levees broke.  And then on one of those calls he said to me: "Go to France Laury.  Just go to France."  It wasn't as if I wasn't already feeling like that was the best thing for me.  But, there's something about hearing those words out of your Dad's mouth, that give the pondered action even more weight!

So Happy Happy Father's Day to my Daddy in St. Louis.  I'll always love you and look forward to those one on one stolen moments in St. Louis or on the phone.  I wish I could just fold you up and put you in my suitcase so you could come and see my joy, my heaven, and the power of you and your words in my life!  Love Always-Laury

When I was looking at the photo of Dad and I in the mirror on my first Christmas in England, my eyes strayed to the mantel.  Along with the Christmas cards, I saw a tiny, familiar, Hummel, that now lives here in my piano room in France! She has a place of honor next to one of my favorite photos of Nannie as a young girl.  That tiny hummel angel who is conducting those birds to sing so beautifully, beside my Nannie, has by now been all over the world with me!  Never in a milion years did I think...and, here we are!

Un-Recipes from Laury: My Ingredients...As You Like it!

I don't consider myself a gourmet cook, but I have been known to enjoy cooking for my friends and parties.  (They call me the "Queen of Deviled Eggs" in most parts of the world!) A number of friends who I have cooked for have asked for the recipe of whatever they were graced with!  The problem is that I really can't tell you.  Not that it's some big secret I'm guarding, I really have no idea how much of anything I put in something I make.  My friend Rob really enjoyed a home-made dressing I concocted while he was here and asked for the recipe.  I gave him the best explanation I could, and then got: "You really need to write this stuff down Laury!"  I resist.  Maybe there's a book of "un-recipes" in my future!

Shortly after my return from the states, Jean invited me and our friends Bob and Greg up to her house for dinner.  I brought two "starters": An artichoke dip, and boiled shrimp with my own cocktail sauce.  Bob and Greg have asked for the recipes for both-so I'm going to provide the scoop to them here and share with you as well!

Kelly's Artichoke Dip-I can't take the credit for the Artichoke Dip.  You'll also notice that it is as close to a recipe as you will ever get from me because it belongs to Kelly.  It's been the hit of every St. Patrick's Day Parade Party that Kelly hosts every year since I can remember.  So, here goes:

One Can of Artichoke Hearts; One Cup of Mayonnaise; One Cup of Parmesan Cheese; and the secret ingredient that makes this recipe Kelly's...a package of dry Good Seasons Salad Dressing Mix!  Mix it all together and voila...you can serve it hot, you can serve it cold, you can double, triple or even quadruple that recipe, you can serve it with crackers, you can serve it with French bread...and then there are those who I have actually seen use their fingers and even lick the bowl!

Laury's Cocktail Sauce "To Taste"-Falling in love with Thanksgiving only shrimp cocktails at Nannie's as a child, I of course had to add a little New Orleans flavor to what I remembered being mostly catsup in St. Louis.  So here goes:

Catsup, Lemon Juice, Tabasco Sauce, Horseradish and Tony Chacheres Original Creole Seasoning.  Find a container that is about the size of the amount of cocktail sauce you want; fill it about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way with catsup (Only Heinz will do!) and then just add the rest TO TASTE! Although this cocktail sauce was served at the dinner with boiled shrimp, it is just as tasty with hot boiled crawfish spread all over the newspaper on your table in the backyard! 

Happy un-cooking!  Throw caution to the wind-be creative and live dangerously! Jean's coming down tonight for supper!  I'm not sure what just yet, but I can promise you that there will not be a recipe in site!  I really do like the idea of "To Taste"!  So, here's a toast of Cahors red "To Taste"!

Someone Old, Someone New and Someone Déja Vu!

Forgive me for yet another garden post, but it is the season and discoveries (garden and personal) abound!  I was on this end of the Chatette this morning cutting the piece of grass that is adorned by our trés chic gas tank.  (These days, this photo is NOT possible!) It takes great skill to cut: over the wavy metal piece that covers the fosse septique, around and under the gas tank, and to then dangle my snazzy red lawnmower down the incline to the tunnel without getting knocked out by flying rocks and (heaven forbid) falling into the fosse septique! 

I started early and from the bottom of the tunnel this morning, making my way up!  For some reason, it seemed easier than usual...maybe just a new perspective.  I rounded the gas tank, stopped the lawn mower, and began to pull dead weeds at the two corner stone bases of the addition.  Under all those weeds, perfectly centered just below each base, I discovered two tiny, but perfect happy and healthy yuccas! I don't know what possessed me.  I screamed: "Just like a man!" (Or, maybe I should say the men who have been in my life!)  

Three years ago, when Dal and Sam and I came to the Chatette, I planted a yucca in each of the previously mentioned spots.  They died quickly and I certainly didn't expect to see them again.  Low and behold, three years later, here they are...totally unexpected! I guess they never really died. They were just hovering there below the surface waiting to make their comeback, or to live long enough for me to see them and not run them over with the lawn mower!  

I didn't cope very well with our life in New Orleans after the storm.   Nothing was the same.  You've heard of brides wearing "something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue" on their wedding days!  Well, my relationships in New Orleans after the storm went something like: "someone old, someone new, and someone déja vu!  I'd begun seriously seeing a friend of 30 years before the storm.  The storm changed that.  I met my debris removal man in the aftermath.  And then for his second time in 20 years, someone I was engaged to in the late 80's resurfaced in my life.  You could say I left the states with a lot more dangling than just where I was going to be living!  This May was three years here.  I think that's long enough for anyone to sort out their lives. On this last trip to the states, I realized that I was tired of having my heart split between two continents.  I was also tired of the pattern that had developed of me carrying the ball.  I've found when I quit carrying the ball...it drops!  So, I'm back in France,  feeling truly untethered for the first time in three years.

I was not looking my most luscious today while I was cutting the grass in my overalls, blue gypsy bandanna stuck in a strap, butch-ly work gloves and grass stained tennies with more than my share of weeds sticking out of my braid. An attractive man road by on a bike while I was cutting and we both said "Bonjour".  (At that moment my yuccas grew penises!)  I'd finished that side and walked the lawnmower over to the main yard to rest!  I wheelbarrowed some weeds, pruned some branches, and then when I turned around, voila: the same handsome man on his bike was in my driveway! "Jean-Louis" asked about the house next to me that is for sale.  We rambled on in French (I only  used English when I cursed under my breath because I forgot a word) and I had fun.  He admired the Chatette.  I was tempted to invite him in for the tour, but let him go on!  He is here from Toulouse on vacation and is staying in a camping car somewhere! That I would even consider trying to find him is huge progress for me!  I've continually said to friends here that "relationships are hard enough when you speak the same language, much less 2 completely different ones!"

But, I'm here.  I live in France.  I speak French (kind of)! And I don't plan to hang around for another three years while someone old, someone new or someone déja vu sorts out what is or isn't happening in their lives!  They're certainly welcome to look me up and stick their little heads out of the soil like my yuccas did today!  For their sakes, I hope there won't be a snazzy, red, lawnmower in sight!