With Claire

Hi, Bonjour,

I drove up to Claire's yesterday and today we went to pick up her wedding dress. :-)
It was an uneventful drive. It's good to just be here, relaxing, trying to figure out the seating, etc.

Last weekend, Paul, Anne, and I drove down to Tours (Larçay, to be exact) with Louis to spend the weekend with Gwen's parents and pick up Gwen for the drive back to Paris. It was a beautiful weekend. We arrived a bit later than scheduled, so we had lunch almost immediately on arrival; the kids took a dip in the pool and then we all went off to walk around the old part of Tours. Tours has refurbished much of its old city center and there were people everywhere -- the streets, the sidewalk terraces, on the banks of the Loire -- all over. Very lively.

There's a monument in Tours, put up by the Americans in honor of the American supply forces that were stationed in Tours during W.W.I. It's a very nice fountain along the Loire. After a few hours of walking, we went to Gwen's grandfather's for a little aperitif drink (Vouvray, of course) and then back to the Thomases for dinner. Very good -- and very filling.

On Sunday morning, we all went to Amboise and visited the Clos Lucé, where Leonardo da Vinci died. It's a beautiful Renaissance house with a view of the chateau (François I lived there) and there's even an underground passage to the chateau. It was a very interesting visit and enjoyable morning. Then, back to the house for another copious lunch before we headed back to Paris.

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Le weekend dernier, nous sommes allés chez les parents de Gwen, les Thomas. Ils habitent à Larçay, quelques kilomètres au sud de Tours. C'était un weekend très agréable -- nous avons bien mangé, peut-être même un peu trop. Nous avons bien fait une promenade digestive à Tours samedi et une autre promenade pré-déjeuner à Amboise dimanche matin pour compenser, mais il faut faire diète cette semaine avant de se rendre à la réunion Reynaud le weekend prochain et le mariage le weekend après !

Nous sommes allés au Clos Lucé, la maison de Léonardo da Vinci, à Amboise. L'exposition des dessins et les petits modèles dans la maison préparent bien à la visite du jardin avec les grands modèles. Très bonne sortie.

Hier matin, j'ai repris la route pour venir chez Claire à Duston. Relax -- on fait le plan de table !

Off to painting

I'm about to go off to my last painting class of the season. Like the last day of school. We're having a picnic in the garden together after class.
When I get home, it's back to sewing. I'm enjoying it; it's been such a long time since I've done this for myself. I've made a jacket and skirt that might end up being too dressy for Claire's wedding, but we'll see. I'm also making a top that matches one of the colors from the embroidered fabric, and a couple of dresses from the other matching colors. A whole coordinated wardrobe. The thing that is distressing is my size. I really need to work on that.
Yesterday, I met a friend of Paul's, a young woman who has just had a baby. We went to deliver our baby gift. She's been doing a course to perform hypnosis and I think I may be a willing candidate to see if we can't change some of my behavior via hypnosis. That has to wait for September or October, though. Right now, she's just too tired. The baby is having digestive problems and is not getting much sleep, so neither is she.
I haven't been walking with the Ile de France group lately. I just seem to get caught up in other things on Wednesdays.
Must go now.

One month countdown begins

en français sous le trait après le texte en anglais
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I watched the Michael Jackson memorial celebration although I hadn't exactly planned to. Sort of off and on as I was also getting dinner ready and then eating it, but I did catch most of it. And it was moving and not the circus I was half expecting it to be. Al Sharpton said several things that made sense to me, although I haven't been so keen on his messages in the past. I thought the Maya Angelou poem was a good way to start. The Congresswoman was long-winded. The songs were beautiful and moving.

We're taking care of the Pachters' cat, Figaro, this week. Kind of nice having two cats again, except when they decide to meow in chorus.

I should be sewing instead of writing. Claire and Geoff's wedding is just a month away! So, I'll get back to my other tasks.
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J'ai regardé la célébration mémoriale pour Michael Jackson hier, bien que ne ne l'avait pas prévu. Comme c'était aussi l'heure de diner, je n'ai pas tout vu, mais bien la plupart. Je m'attendais à voir une espèce de cirque, mais c'était bien plus émouvant et digne. Al Sharpton a dit des choses qui me semblais bien pensées, bien que par le passé je me posais des questions à son égard. Le poème de Maya Angelou était un bel hommage. La représentante au Congress parlait trop. Les chansons étaient belles et émouvantes.

Je devrais retourner à ma couture. Le mariage de Claire et Geoff est dans un mois pile !