Rocky -- and another hike

Picture of Rocky, Aurelia and me at Christmas 2010

Let me start with Rocky. Paul took him to the vet yesterday. We knew this was going to be the last time. These last few months have been hard on us, but again last weekend, he stopped eating and was just barely drinking. He was so weak on Tuesday that Paul made the appointment. Rocky was 18, a very good age for a cat. We will have wonderful memories of him and Pussycat.

Yesterday was Wednesday, Ile de France Walks day, so I went. It was announced as an 18 km. walk with moderate hills and I thought I'd be up to it. I'm not up to that kind of walk. Well, I don't know. It was announced that we'd take the 5:19 train back and if possible the 4:19. In the end, if it hadn't been for my dropping so far behind, we could've caught the 3:19, so the pace was not what I was up to. Maybe, if we had maintained a slower pace, I wouldn't have collapsed the way I did. We saw some beautiful countryside: cows out in pastures; wheat; corn; vinyards; forest. We also had a bit of rain (not much) and a muddy last hour. It's a region of clay. We went through a hamlet "Les Plâtrières", so there was plaster; and Citry, known for its monolithic millstones. We walked along an aqueduct, l'Aqueduc de la Dhuys, for a while. The kids will remember spending a summer Sunday a year around here at the Quagliarolis. In fact, I'm pretty sure we walked past their place. I sort of recognized the house and the setup of the vegetable garden in front. I didn't have the time to really check. I was already falling behind.

Today -- Bastille Day. I picked up J & E at the airport and dropped them at their apartment just as the Patrouille de France opened the parade. We couldn't see anything, but we could sure hear the planes. I got home just as the parade started. Now, I'm sort of watching the Tour de France as I type.