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We went hiking here today, our last in France. Wish you were here, with boots on; Lake Salagou, a flooded volcano surrounded by vineyards producing priceless whites; 30 minutes from our house. Locals and visitors use the contrasting stones peeking through the brick-red volcanic soil to write tributes and remembrances.
Plumber: it sounds so much prettier in French, spelled out in copper pipes. From next-door-neighboring St. Thibéry.
You'll remember some of these, I'm guessing. At the bakery we all loved in Pézenas.
Simone returns from a business overnighter to Geneva, aboard the sleek thousand-miles-per-hour TGV that arrived 2 hours late.
I know you loved Montpellier and its trams, so baby this one's for you. No sox, tho.
Dedicated to you all, Alain's final bathroom realization here at the France house. I was his go-fer and washer-out-er. His guts had an unfortunate collision with the usual French diet of paté, cheese, and bread and produced le stinky methane every few minutes, usually with a warning noise. I wore nose plugs.
Ollie leaves our house in France, having completed his mission de maison: creation of a new, tiled shower stall. Now it's off to meet Aimee in Paris, for a jaunt-a-sphere through the Low Countries. He's boarding the high-speed TGV at the Béziers gare (train station), and it's a few minutes late, so we watch the parting lovers and consider the FILM exhibition of trades in Gruissan, a seaside town where we like to hike.
Nadine Hathaway, a DC fundraiser and longtime client, has often expressed yearning for time in France at our house. Nadine, just know, when you come, the top-floor bathroom shower stall is new and perfect, thanks to my brother-in-law Alain's persnickety construction standards. Here he builds a concrete lip for the new shower pan, which he felt was too shallow. With Alain, every step subdivides into two or three steps, all in the service of doing it the right way. Great attitude.
Paul has been here. Marilyn has not. Next time, we will go to the new restaurant in Valros, Les Asparagus, a five-minute stroll away. A few preview photos, l-r: walking there past the Central Bar; the outdoor dining; the 1st course of the 25 euro menu, oysters au gratin; Simone explaining; the 2nd course with vegetable cupcakes.
James is a documentary filmmaker in San Francisco. His subject: the ethnomedicines of Nigeria, a subject he is expert in. We met via the Internet. I interrupt my conversations with James re: fundraising comms to go off and help Alain rebuild a bathroom, from moldy to pretty magnificent (within a tight budget). Alain does all the work. I wash all the buckets. Here's the proof, l-r: 1st you destroy what's there, then you assess your tool room to see what you're missing; here are the parts; here's the 19th-century floor exposed; here's Alain building out a warped wall; here's Alain putting fast-setting cement on the wall to smooth it; here's Alain starting the tile; and more tile; and more tile.