Monday, October 2, 2023

Mission Accomplished

Here we are with our new friend Bob

Bill hard at work finishing the painting of our shutters

An elegant house we passed hiking.  One can always dream.

Although this two week trip flew by quickly,  it was enough  time to realize what about the village makes me really happy. To sum it up in one simple word, it is connection. Because  my last trip was just two months ago, my return truly felt like coming home.  I feel like an important part of the community there; respected due to my ability to speak fluent French, understood as  an expat home owner who  travels a great distance  to be in a place she loves,  and someone who makes the effort  to connect with people and really listen to them.   

I bought my first home in Monflanquin in 2001.  Upon my arrival, I consciously chose to speak to everyone who crossed my path, which was not easy for someone who back then did not consider herself an extrovert. When my  students  started coming  to the village for French Language Immersion Camp, a deeper  level of connection opened up.  Their daily assignment was to interview someone, anyone, in the village about a specific assigned topic.  Through my students interviews in the community, I met even more people, and they connected to  even more people through me. The local business owners  appreciated my students' contribution to village life.  Our  good  will brought real joy  and novelty to the village folk, many of whom do not travel or  encounter Americans.  Impressed with the students efforts to learn and speak French, they praised their language skills lavishly and took the opportunity to teach them about the history of Monflanquin. 

So I definitely am in a strong relationship with the village through our shared history. My friends know Bill, Michael,  Erin, Daniel and even Maggy. They know my nieces who visited and my cousin Leora.  They know about my little great nieces and nephews. They saw me knitting their baby blankets. They comforted me through sickness one difficult summer.   A multitude of five hour Sunday lunches allowed me to learn about their  personal struggles. They trust me enough to confide in me, and occasionally, I will be the only person that can be trusted with very intimate revelations as my discretion as a non permanent resident  makes them feel safe. In this way, my sweet French life gives me an amazing unique gift for which I am profoundly grateful.  

Speaking of friends, we made a new friend during this past trip. His name is Bob and lives on the street that intersects  ours.  Bob passed Bill working in front of the house.  Operation Paint Shutters  is located there as no garage or back yard exists. Well, Bob, who is American  and Bill got to talking.   It turns out that the number of coincidences Bob shares with me and Bill  is stunning. He even knows one of my friends from high school!  We went out to dinner with Bob, gave each other tours of our village homes, and thoroughly enjoyed hanging out.   Yes, my sweet  French life offers me a new gift, and I graciously accept it.

 

Thursday, September 7, 2023

Off Again to La Belle France

We started our journey to France by flying to San Francisco and then Paris. In the International 

"Sun Bathing" at the San Francisco Airport

Terminal of the San Francisco Airport, Bill discovered an observation deck complete with intriguing sculptures and wooden chairs and recliners. This felt like a gift. I could stretch out, put my feet up, and breathe fresh air. Okay so it smelled a little like jet fuel. The sun beat intensely down on us which is why my face is covered in this picture.



I don't know who created these sculptures, but I found them amazing.


Bill actually traveled with me this time.  At times, I needed to slow down and remember I was not traveling solo as I often do. In fact, Bill proposed this September trip so he could finish his shutter painting project at the house.

Saturday, July 1, 2023

Perfume in Paris

Showing off my perfume creation

 Daniel told me about a perfume making workshop he recently attended with a friend in Paris. It is a two hour class where participants learn about the industry of perfume making, how we detect and process scent in the brain, and receive instruction on how to make our own personalized fragrance. We choose three or four  liquid scents from a great variety of options among them  floral, woodsy, and spicy. Using the instructed  guidelines for proportion,  we measure the liquid essences and combine them  in a beaker. The proportions are written on a handout you can keep.   Each participant gets to take home a 50 ml bottle of their own creation. If you love what you created, you can order more of your personalized perfume at a later date.

The perfume workshop is given by Candora, a perfume company which specializes in a la carte perfume, Their shop is in the Marais and the perfume making classroom space nearby. I find the entire experience fascinating.  Since I  had just finished  listening to my audio book, The Perfumist of Paris by Alka Joshi,  the class reinforces much of the information about perfume  Alka Joshi provides.  I choose Vetiver, Rose Peppercorns, and Oud. Oud is a kind of woody resin found in the Middle East. It is also the name of a musical instrument played in the  region.

The owner of Candora is our instructor that day. He finds it a pity that in our culture,  floral scents are meant for women and woodsy spicy scents for men. So he encourages us to smell outside the box or should I say bottle.  I name my perfume La Puissance which means Power in French. It smells refreshing and somewhat masculine which suits me just fine.

I am back home in Beaverton now. My bottle of La Puissance reminds me of my amazing month in France, a month full of connections with friends,  beautiful rigorous hikes,  scrumptious food, laughter, and both the fun and challenging experiences of travel.  It takes lots of stamina to travel these days. Much of what I choose to do in France requires courage and fortitude. La Puissance says it all. Thank you so much for reading my blog. I hope you enjoyed it.

The link to the perfume workshop is below. I highly recommend the experience when you travel to Paris


https://www.candora-fragrance.com/make-your-own-perfume-workshop/





Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Much Ado About Color

The official colors approved by the Monflanquin mayor's office

Pigeon Blue Shutters! Tres joli!

A lemon tart on a cookie to celebrate a job well done

 Bill needs a project to feel useful in France. He is not one of those people who can be happy just relaxing. This trip he decides to repaint our shutters.  Honestly, our white  shutters do look awful as they display the  inevitable signs of aging, intensive peeling, and crumbling.  We go to Bricolage E. Leclerc. Imagine Home Depot where all the paint, the tools, the hardware etc etc  speak French and only French. I go along to translate but honestly French Home Depot vocabulary did not appear anywhere on the curriculum for French majors at UCLA. I do my best to translate but worry about missing  essential information on the products Bill needs.

Finally, after choosing brushes and a variety of painting accessories, it is time to choose a new color for the shutters. I actually feel comfortable choosing paint color because the colors are displayed very clearly next to the paint cans.  But wouldn't you know it, Bill and I disagree about the new  color for the  shutters. While he goes off to find yet one more necessary item, I stand in front of the paint samples.  Doubt fills me. Do I go with the color he likes or I like? After all, he is the one doing the painting. As I stand there, an angel appears in the form of my neighbor David who just happens to be shopping at E. LeClerc.  He spots me and informs me that I cannot just choose any color. The color must be approved by the Monflanquin mayor's office. The approved paint colors are coded so they can be accurately reproduced at any  shop where paint is sold. Brand does not matter. The paint must be mixed to conform to the approved  coded color. See color chart above. Thank you, David! I almost risked being run out of town by choosing Breton Blue. David himself got a scolding from the mayor's office because the white he chose for his shutters is not "the right white." This makes me laugh hysterically, but I am no longer laughing when handed a 14 page document about shutter colors at the mayor's office. Apparently, the regional comune must approve my color request. Photos of the newly painted shutters are required as well. They must be joking I think. What is it about the French and documents? My hand ached after signing about 100 documents to buy my house. I kid you not. So what color did I choose?  Pigeon Blue, probably impossible to decipher from the chart. You can see the color clearly on the repainted shutters. I fall in love with the color despite its name. I am not a big fan of pigeons.   So many people stop to admire the color and praise Bill's amazing paint job, that I begin to feel like the village celebrity though do none of the painting.  Bill's newly founded fan club passes by and praises him in French. He gets the gist of it. Bravo, Bon Courage!  The job becomes infinitely more difficult when the upstairs shutters crumble in his hand. Now Bill must rebuild the shutters which consume a great deal of time and include multiple trips to the lumber supply store. Imagine Parr Lumber where all the wood speaks French. 

Sadly, Bill cannot complete his project before his flight home.  With the project two thirds complete, Bill announces he would like to come back in the fall to finish the job.  This thrills me as Bill normally will travel to France only  once a year. What a silver lining or should I say Pigeon Blue?


Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Recent Activities

Since arriving in Monflanquin, I have hiked about 36 kilometers with a lovely group of people.  The entertaining conversations push me to go on.  At the end of the hike, we are greeted with coffee and cake made by one of the hikers.  By hiking, I get to see so much more of the surrounding area that I would never even know about. We pass sheep, goats, horses, fields of wheat and corn. Along the way, the wild flowers delight us. Surprises await.

Hiking in the French countryside
As Bill finally joins us, I prepare a crustless broccoli quiche. Bill is a vegetarian who adores cheese so this recipe works great. Somehow everything I prepare tastes better here.

Crustless broccoli quiche
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View from my bedroom

Pictures from my walk around the village perimeter

The view does not get old

What? Quelle horreur!

Exercises posted at the lumber  store before you start your project.

 While Bill was here, I made at least 10 trips to hardware stores. Not my favorite activity, but on the positive side, my French hardware vocabulary has expanded. Also, I am amazingly comfortable going up to a sales person and asking for what we need in French. Why were so many trips to hardware stores necessary? Look forward to learning why in my next post.

Sunday, June 11, 2023

In the meantime........

Daniel enjoying local produce

 Bill got his new passport Wednesday June 7 and flew to Paris June 8. His adventures or misadventures continue. His train to Bergerac where we would pick him up is late leaving Paris for Bergerac.  He ends up spending the night in Limoges where the SNCF pays for a new ticket, a night in a hotel, dinner, and breakfast the next day. An SNCF employee  personally escorts Bill to his hotel. He also rolls his suitcase there.  We pick Bill up in Bergerac Saturday June 10.  Fortunately, Bill likes public transportation and is in a surprisingly good mood when he arrives.

In the meantime, Daniel arrives in Monflanquin. As you can see, he adores the local produce. 

Raptor Show at Josephine Baker's Chateau

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Josephine Baker's Chateau


Daniel also enjoys sightseeing. We visited the Chateau of Josephine Baker in Dordogne. She was a black  American jazz singer and dancer who became the sweet heart of France. Thanks to a comprehensive audio guide, we learn that Josephine Baker was not only an entertainer, but played a major role in the French resistance movement.  When she moved to the Chateau, she adopted 12 children of different races and nationalities to send the message that we can live in harmony despite our race and ethnicity.  Josephine loved the chateau for its elegance and grace.  She took up farming and looked after her exquisite gardens.  If you are in the Dordogne, I highly recommend a visit.


Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Tennis anyone?

Roland Garros French Open Tennis Stadium

Daniel and I enjoy watching  a match

The next day after my arrival in Paris,  son Daniel who is working temporarily in Paris and I head to the beautiful tennis stadium Roland Garros in the 16th arrondissement. Many years ago, I took a tour of the stadium and learned that the attractive clay courts are used only once  a year for the French Open.  With our day pass, we are allowed entry to any court we desire in addition to our assigned seats at the court Simonne-Mathieu.  Amazingly our favorite tennis player will play in court 9.  What incredible luck as one cannot know  in advance who will play the day of one's ticket.  Our guy is the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman, one of the shortest tennis players ever at 5ft7". He also happens to be Jewish which we appreciate as well.
What Schwartzman lacks in size he makes up for in effective speedy footwork and strong returns. Our seats in the intimate court 9 allow us to see him with extreme clarity. He flies across the court with a grace comparable to a ballet dancer.  His opponent, the Portuguese tennis player, Nuno Borges plays well;  the match is a close exciting one.  Diego Schwartzman wins! Daniel and I are ecstatic.