This Village Got Rhythm

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Thursday Night Market

 We arrived in France on Bastille Day.  Our friend Nigel picked us up at the Bergerac Airport in my car. We flew Ryan Air, an airline noted for cheap fares and baggage restrictions. We paid extra for permission to bring our carry on bags with us. Still we needed to be vigilant about weight. I was advised to chuck more in my personal item than in the carry on since the personal item would not get weighed. I did as advised. My shoulder started throbbing that evening from the ridiculous weight of my personal item. Luckily, the pain persisted for  only a good part of the week and then subsided. Stretching helped.  Are these budget airlines really worth it?

We got to our house in Monflanquin without a problem despite three dashboard indicator lights that Nigel claimed lit up on the way to the airport. Bizarre!  This meant going to the garage the next day. I assumed it would be a quick fix and decided not to worry about it. Besides,  I was in my little French village, my happy place I  also felt grateful that another friend provided us with a few starter groceries for a simple dinner.  The house felt welcoming and cozy.  At 11 P.M.,despite our great fatigue, we made it to the dazzling psychedelic fireworks overlooking the valley.  Back at the house, I fell quickly into bed. The next morning, we rose early to go hiking with the Tuesday hiking group. Not sure how we managed to do this. It felt a bit like sleep walking at first, but the green lush scenery cheered us on. The hike ended with coffee and goodies at Clara's house. Clara's place impressed us all  with its water lily garden a la Monet. 

The next few days were spent getting back into the rhythm of village life. As always, Thursday is my favorite day here because  of the lively open air market and all the socializing it entails.  It's a chance to reconnect with dear friends who live here year round and second home owners like myself who arrive for the summer.  As a bonus, in the summer,  we are treated to an evening market where we can buy dinner  from a variety of vendors and dance to local entertainment.  As you can see from the above picture, the night market is extremely popular.