Week Four Already! Happy Bastille Day to all of you!

We are very happy to say that our "cuisine d'ete" is done and we are using it. The English Plumber (Stefan is his name) arrived on schedule last Monday morning, and did a super job locating the pipes so he could install the "evacuation" drain from the terrace into the shower drain below. He was in and out of here in about 6 hours, and left feeling quite proud of himself. The sink had water running in and OUT of it! Wonderful as it was, it was only the first step!

Tuesday, Nicolas, our handyman extraordinaire, arrived to finish the job. This included filling up all the holes that Stefan had left. Nicolas showed great patience and ingenuity--some of them needed extra support, especially the one under the shower. We have been advised not to jump up and down in the shower, and we will happily refrain from doing that. But we are jumping up and down to have our shower back, finally. Because of the drying time for cement, then tile glue, then grout, then silicone sealer, it took until Saturday morning when we had our shower back. In the meantime, red dishpans do come in handy. Check out the photo album entitled Week 4 to get a peak at how "de luxe" our bathing accomodations have been this past week.

Saturday morning we went to another "vide-grenier", this one right here in Laurens, and quite nice. We found another bargain: a cocktail table for 10 euros from the League Against Cancer booth. We spent the rest of Saturday painting and organizing our "tophat" room, right off the terrace, so we could put down the big purchase we made at Ikea on Friday: our rug! Now that the plumbing and summer kitchen are in order, Les can work in peace!

Saturday night we went to the top of a very large hill a few kilometers away from here for a pre-Bastille Day Fete at a place called "Les Trois Moulins" (the 3 Windmills). We took our own picnic and enjoyed the lovely views, and chatted a bit with the musician, whose first night proved a bit frustrating, Just when he was easing into his set, the electricity went out. His mother, wife, and 4 month old baby had come for his "premiere", and they, I'm sure, stayed until the end, but we decided to make our way to the car before it got dark.

Bastille Day has come and gone. We started in Narbonne, one of our favorite French cities. The Via Domitia, the Roman Road, is right in the center of this ancient city, known as "La Fille de Rome" (Rome's Daughter) because so many Roman soldiers retired there. They have just finished a major makeover of their promenade along their Canal, and we are thrilled to be able to enjoy its lovely platane trees and our favorite cafe, in the square next to the third highest cathedral in France. We stopped in at the "Les Halles", the Sunday indoor food market, (see picture album for too many photos--I can't help myself) and browzed through the outdoor market (anything you can think of to sell or buy. The city was all decked out for Bastille Day, and the flowers were gorgeous.

Sunday evening, we went to a place nearby called "Le Theatre des Pierres" (The Stone Theater), a small theater in a tiny hill town called "Fouzillon". Before the performance, you can opt for a dinner prepared on site (grilled sausage, vegetables, potatoes, and salad) and eaten outside. The concert was a singer who portrayed Leo Ferre, a singer/poet in the 60s and 70s who reminded me of Allen Ginsberg and Les of Lenny Bruce. He was quite a good singer, and delivered his material with extreme French angst. He was accompanied by a very adept pianist (who could play the piano simultaneously) and an acoustic guitarist whose eyes were almost always closed. During the concert, a small kitten appeared (unexpected to be sure) from behind a screen, and was approached by the dog who had been sleeping under the lighting man's equipment. Both the cat and the dog had exquisite timing, as the spirit of the song was quite combative, and the guitarist opened his eyes enough to give the cat a slight acoustic nod. All in all, this was a unique experience and a good way to end Bastille Day. Vive la France, et Vive L'angst!

So, it's Monday morning and week 5 is beginning. We want to congratulate our nephew Ken Gawne and his new bride Christy on their marriage. We were sorry to have missed this important event, and were happy that our children and grandchildren were there, even if we weren't! They also took time to check out The Field of Dreams, pictures on this week's albums.

Happy Mid-Summer to all of you!

Love,

Les & E