So, here we are with only 2 weeks left of our summer in Languedoc. We leave here Tuesday, Aug. 28 for Aachen, Germany (to see Charlemagne's chapel and throne), then Paris (we're meeting our Swiss friends there), before leaving Aug. 31 for the states.

This last weekend was full of the things we love to do! Here are the highlights:

Since our wonderful "macon" was here Saturday morning, we didn't really start the weekend until the afternoon. Off we went to Sete, on the Mediterranean, to the Musee Paul Valery, to see an interesting exhibit featuring Auguste Chabaud, an expressionist/fauvist painter who shared his time between the south (Povence) and Paris. From there, we headed towards Laurens, which we hope will be our future summer home in France. A painting exhibition, featuring several different artists, was displayed in the small but gracious chateau, part of the view from our "new" terrace. I've added some new photos to our album labeled "Laurens", which show the inside and outside of the chateau, as well as some of the artwork on display.

But the real highlight of Saturday was an outdoor presentation of "Romeo & Juliet, in the "Theatre des Pierres", a few kilometers from Laurens. We'd brought our picnic dinner with us, and we joined many others on plank tables to eat while being treated to a little music. A very nice man at the table next to us, whose family owns a vineyard nearby, engaged us in conversation, and we enjoyed chatting with him and his 2 lovely sons (14 & 9), while the actors were preparing for the play (dueling practice!) behind the bandstand. And then the play: we were blown away by the excellent acting, the incredible projection of their voices in French so EASY to understand, and the inspired use of everyday objects to create the scenes. There was a curtain, sometimes open, sometimes shut, behind which was a costume rack, and the 6 actors changed roles (and costumes) to create all 12 characters. The best part was when Romeo climbed a series of wooden boxes to reach Juliet on her balcony. Other actors stacked up the boxes while he climbed onto them, then took them away to stack them up higher until he barely reached her, his eyes on her (not the continually moving boxes) the whole time. I've included their website's advertisement for this 3 day production (they've also performed it elsewhere in France) in our album entitled "Romeo & Juliet". It was "a ne pas oublier!" experience.

Sunday we decided it was time for another "ballade", so we headed for Lodeve and the mountains, and picked a walk near our next destination called "Le Prieurie de Saint-Michel de Grandmont". This priory was a stop on the "Chemin de Compostelle" that ends at St. Jacques on the edge of Spain. We spent considerable time last summer researching this wonderful thousand year old tradition, and had visited this priory and "taken the tour" then, but I've included some photos from the inside here to give you an idea of the austere but still elegant atmosphere. The priory was founded in the 12th century, and is one of 3 of its order, and is the best preserved. After the French Revolution, the state took over the priory and it was eventually sold to a "vigneron" in 1853, and the church itself was made into a wine cellar. Today they hold concerts there because of its excellent acoustics, which we experienced Sunday evening with a performance by Igor Morosow (baritone), Sergery Mushtakoff (balaika) and Alexey Lavretyev (russian accordion). The program included arias from many different operas, russian and european. Although not opera connaisseurs, we recognized many of the choices, and especially loved those from Carmen and Figaro.

Waiting for the concert, we sat in our car with a beer and some M&Ms (our little aperitif!) and listened to the end of our CDs on "The Late Middle Ages". Wow, what a weekend!

This morning the macon returned, as promised (this guy is fabulous!) and put the finishing touches on our "cave" project here in Campagnan. We're hoping the final pieces for our housing transactions take place this week, so that next week, we can concentrate on packing. We shall see.....

Our real dilemma is Tuesday night's entertainment....a magician or another concert?

Hope all is well with all of you and that your summer's ending is a good one.

Love, Elise & Les