Soar-Dream-France

Figeac Fun #2-"C'est Normale"...or is it?

Once the vernissage was over, Evelyn and I had decided to take our time and make our way over to the TABAC-La Caselle and have lunch. We stopped to pick up some wine and sweets along the way, but when we arrived we were told that most weekends there is no lunch. So we made our way back into town and had lunch at La Monnaie.

I opted for the "Suggestion du Chef" that sounded fun and appetizing. I didn't count on enough food to feed the New Orleans Saints Football Team. Even after Evelyn tasted, shared French Fries and I'd eaten as much as I could...half of my lunch was still sitting on the plate.

Stuffed and needing a walk, we headed in the direction of the market and got a rare treat...it was empty and "personne"-no one was there. That made for a rare treat for the two camera maniacs. I don't know how much time we spent, but seeing a vacant market gazebo is so unusual we had to savor every minute of it.

From there, it was postcards for Evelyn, boots for work for me, a run to the Carrefour for a few essentials, and then over to the TABAC where we decided to spend the last hour of our rainy Saturday afternoon having a red wine while we waited for the bus home. As of our last visit, the owner has begun greeting us with kiss-kiss-kisses. This is something new. I'm not quite sure when you get to that point with people or what gets you there, but it's fun. I get to practice my French in a safe place (with perfect toilettes), while I sup a red wine with a friend and even watch a little rugby! "And what about these flowers?", you might ask. Our new friend told us that it was his waitresses birthday and they were hers. I told him: "Ah, vous êtes très gentil." And he said, as I'm often told when I tell people how kind they are: "C'est normale." Ah, but that were true everywhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Small Change Contest

When I first began writing this blog back in 2009, I expected to be writing all or most of my posts "From My Own Moon River". As life and making a living crept in, it became more: in and of Paris, in and of Germany, in and of Holland, and sometimes many points in between. Thus, I decided it was time to add in "And Beyond!" to be accurate. I plan to send a prize to my friends Niels (of overalls fame), and my friend Lona, even though they didn't guess the correct small change. The one person who did guess it correctly was my friend Evelyn, but she didn't think it was fair to enter and didn't. Prizes will be going out by snail mail sometime this week to my pals who tried-because on Sunday, I head again to one of the "And Beyond!" places. Have a great week everyone.

Figeac Fun #1: Vernissage-Patrimoine Figeacois

Enquiring minds might want to know: "What in the world do the trash/recycle bins have to do with an arty and wonderful day  in Figeac?" Usually heading into Figeac on the bus, Evelyn and I just meet at the bus stop. But, Friday night Jean-Pierre and Françoise Martenot offered us a ride in, since Jean-Pierre had a piece in the show too. Evelyn and I agreed to meet at the "poubelle" corner at the bottom of her hill and walk up to the Martenot's. You will remember the Martenot's as one of our "most  photogenic" couples of Cadrieu-always very chic, smiling, and sometimes even wearing overalls! Upon our arrival, we met another member of the family who we hear about regularly in Monday Language Class-"Toffee"-who put on a very good guard cat impression for us. 

Getting ready to cross the street to head to the market, the bus that we would have been on passed by with Michelle driving. We waved, smiled and Françoise asked if I know all the bus drivers? Well, almost. We parted at the market to wander a bit before we needed to head over to the gallery. It was fun to have a leisurely stroll through Figeac even though it was drizzling. We discovered side streets and ancient alleyways that we'd never seen before.

 

There was already quite a crowd when we arrived right at the appointed hour of 11:30. I saw many familiar Figeac faces from shops and markets, even a friend or two. We immediately scoped out our own photos, and then went on to assess the competition. We had a speech from the President of the Figeac Lions Club, food, photos, champagne and good friends sharing in a wonderful event together...an activity that celebrated the Patrimoine Figeacois. And of course, we threw in the Cadrieucois.

By the end of the event, we'd become the Cadrieu Mafia with our local Lions Club Member, Michel Vincent, as our Godfather! Evelyn immortalized the "Mafia" with this photo on the left, me, Jean-Pierre, Michel and Françoise. Once again I ask, can you ever have too much fun? And maybe I should add, can you ever have too many wonderful friends? I have so many more photos to share and we aren't even half-way through our drizzly day. Enjoy the photo collage below and stay tuned for part two tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Le Vernissage-Concours National du Lions Club

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although one never needs a special reason to spend a whole day in Figeac, I had one on Saturday. Usual Saturday mornings of flying in on the bus, running to the Carrefour, and gulping down a red wine at the TABAC before catching the bus home; were replaced with a chock-full, leisurely day for Evelyn and I that began in a whole new way. You see, my two photos were included in the Exposition-Photographies du Patrimoine Figeacois-sponsored by the Lions Club de France. It was a drizzly day, but that didn't dampen our spirits one bit. I am so honored, once more, to be able to be included in activities of here. It isn't about the winning or competing, it's in the participating. Tomorrow, I'll share our day in Figeac with you from start to finish. A demain!

Sortie de l'ombre

Encore-stay tuned to hear more about what makes this photo of mine so special. Be back with more information soon. Have a wonderful weekend. This might be just the spot where you'd wish to be.

L'Esprit de Notre Patromonie

Stay tuned to learn more about what makes this photo of mine so special. Be back with more information soon!

French Stamp Excitement

Talking to my stamp expert Dad yesterday, he told me about a whole new series of stamps out in the EU called European Capitals. He had just read an article about what France is doing and described it to me in great detail. I had just recently been to La Poste and scooped these two sets here, one for France and the other International.

I am now on a mission to find the European Capitals French Edition. Of course, Paris is the theme of this series.I'll leave the rest to your imagination. My Dad excitedly made them sound beautiful, innovative, fun and unique. My heart smiles when my Dad is excited and happy as he describes something to me. It doesn't have to be stamps. I'm even excited to hear him talking about football or baseball. I'll keep you posted on whether my mission is a success or a failure prior to my departure for Germany.

Sweets and Small Change Contest

I've posted before about my quest for interesting sugar tubes or cubes. We've had soccer (mon dieu, I mean football), sites of France, and even marionettes. I happened on these Eiffel Tower sugar tubes a little while back at the Eco-Marche. You know I really wanted them, since I carried them all the way home in my backpack on foot from Cajarc. They've gotten a lot of mileage recently: I took some up to Evelyn, she sent some to her friend Randi, and then the last time I talked to Kat and Tom they both let me know that-"Yes, it was time to restock the sugar stash in St. Louis." Kat also requested an empty yogurt jar for my next return to the states. I'll share more about that on another post sometime soon.

To celebrate the 9 year anniversary of the Chatette, I'm going to offer a little prize to the first person who finds the small change that I made recently to the main page of the blog. Please describe it in the comments section of this post.

Happy Birthday Chatette

There's a lot to celebrate today. Today is the day that our "WE" began nine years ago. Today is our anniversary-or even better-the birthday of our WE. So much has happened during these nine years. Our WE has grown. There have been many wonderful surprises along the way. And with each step, each petit à petit, we became more. What started out as just the Chatette and I, grew when Dali and Sam joined us in 2006. Monsieur Winkelmann came along that same year. And then last year, the barn and surprise land. Our lives together here are filling out. There's so much to look forward to. And you can bet, I'll share each step along the way.

Old Wounds Opened Again

Over time, I've shared some of my trials and tribulations connected with New Orleans and Columbus Street after the levee collapse. I've worked very hard to move on and make the most of very difficult times. I've discovered that pain is never far below the surface. Recently friends and family resurrected that pain during phone conversations. Today, I discovered painful pieces going through papers for taxes. The following Letter to the Editor of the Times Picayune in New Orleans was never sent. When I wrote that letter on April 2, 2006, I had no way of knowing how much more fallout laid ahead for me on so many levels. For some reason, it feels important to share it with you here:

Dear Editor: The refrain from most of the many who have been passing through New Orleans to help us is that: "The rest of the country doesn't understand that there are 'people like you' who live in New Orleans." By that I assume they mean people who live here, work here, have homes here, have families here, and love our city the way they do theirs.

WE are what make New Orleans special. To dismiss a single one of US, or for us to dismiss each other is to dismiss New Orleans.

Many of us have been in New Orleans since (or before) we knew we could come back. We are among the people who love this City, who truly want to be here, but above all were able to come home. Whether we are in New Orleans fighting the good fight or in some other state or country fighting the good fight, we are all important, we all have something in common. We are New Orleans. Once we recognize that we are proud to be New Orleanians, maybe we can come together to communicate ourselves, our love, and our City to the rest of the nation in a way that can carry us beyond Bourbon Street to the rest of the City that I love.

But here I sit, seven months post-Katrina. Decisions are difficult to make when you are still living in the rubble with no phone, no internet, sporadic mail service, irregular everything and it takes ten steps to get one. I sat in my bombed out back yard with a friend while we gazed at the debris pile in the triangle that was taller than my truck and longed for the good old days. I'm speaking of the good old days when we first got back to New Orleans...the days when we had hope.