Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Second Week of Spring - News from Zydeco

Most of you know our Hurricane Katrina rescue dog, Zydeco, who has now done yet another transition in living environments by moving to France for the year. We rarely post "dog news" but we thought this a good opportunity to share a day in the life of a short legged dog!


Here in this second week of spring and we've had two days of snow. It is unusual for snow to stick in our town since it is in the valley, but up higher of course, they get beautiful powdery snow! Today, Walker went down the hill to school and we ventured up the hill 10 minutes from town into the powdery stuff for some snow shoeing.



Walker is off to school...




It was a perfect day for a dog to be out and about.


A wrong turn can sure put you in over your head!


Dick to the rescue ...




Ah, back at it!

Now that we prepare to leave for Romania on Saturday, Zydeco is ready to spend next week at Chez Aurore. That is a good week in the life of a dog! When Zydeco returns to us, he will not eat for days, because Aurore's French cooking is far better than Purina cooking.







Sunday, March 16, 2008

In and Around the Neighborhood

Living in rural France, we are very attuned to the weather and the seasonal changes that occur daily. The walnut tree farmers have been busy trimming their trees getting ready for the growing season. For some weeks now, tractors have been busy tilling up the earth, and the patch work quilt created with the earth's colors is so amazing. The spring greens of various crops pushing forth, and the blossoming fruit trees along with the spring flowers are all fascinating to watch. The weather seems to change by the hour - from sun, to snow, to rain, to wind, and that can all happen within a day. It is like a theater production with the mountainous back drop that we have out our windows ~ forever changing, dramatic and gorgeous.



Early Spring in St. Marcellin




Trestle View






French Fruit Trees in Early Spring


A Visitor to our Garden


Yesterday (Sunday, March 10th) was election day throughout France. Mayors and representatives for the various regions were elected and we were able to experience the event first hand. It was a real education and quite entertaining. The French ALWAYS vote on Sundays and be it a large or small election, the process is the same. Voting starts at 8 am and an older woman told me she always goes at 8 because she may expire during the day and she wants to be sure her vote will count. The process is interesting - every little village has a town hall where voting takes place. The voter goes in, shows a voter's ID card, and is handed an envelope. Over on another table are printed slips of paper (2 different stacks) that have the names of the opposing candidates who are running. You pick up a paper from both stacks, go into a little private closet, insert into the envelope ONLY the paper with the candidate that you desire to vote for. Upon leaving the closet, you then drop your envelope into a box.

At 6 pm the voting stops and this is when we were able to watch them HAND COUNT the ballots. Ballots are always hand counted, no computer glitches here! We were in a village where 220 people live and yes, all 220 people voted. Three men work together to count the votes - one opens the envelopes, one reads aloud the candidate being voted for, and the last man stacks the empty envelopes. This takes quite a while, but MOST of the village inhabitants had gathered for "the event." It was quite a social scene.

At last, the final envelope is opened, the results are unanimous, but wait ... 220 people voted and they only counted 219 votes. Of course they had to recount - one by one! On that note we decided it best to depart so they could get back to their work. Upon (hopeful) completion, the results from 12 villages is compiled, and those results are called into Grenoble (the capital of Isere). Once all the village and town results within the Rhone Alps regions are compiled in Grenoble, then Paris is called and the election is final. So, it was a busy day out and about in the cities and the country side. Traffic jams in the streets, lines at the voting boxes, and at the nearby bars. Ah, another exciting day in the land of France.

Our experiences and comedies never stop. My coat is being held hostage at the dry cleaners at present. I've been back twice and interestingly, the communication of English to French and the reverse is working quite well. I've tried paying with credit card and with cash and neither is acceptable. The shop keeper can not get the cash register to operate. So there are always those WTF days - lovingly known as WELCOME TO FRANCE!!!


IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL ....

Making new friends in a foreign spot is not always easy. Cultural differences, language barriers (for some of us), and busy lives all play a part. The world can seem quite large and a bit lonely at times, but then, in the funniest ways the world can become very very small when you least expect it.

Doing my shopping at the Saturday market, I decided some fresh tulips would be a nice addition to the dinner table. Quickly, the friendlier than usual flower salesman, sensed I was not from these parts, and began asking me my scoop. We limped along w/ our communication, and he announced he had a friend originally from Philadelphia that lived near him in an even tinier spot than St. Marcellin. I'm thinking ... right, someone would move from Philadelphia to here? Well he insisted I return to the market the following week at 11:00 am and his friend would be there and we could meet. Hmmm, sounds a bit sketch to me, but the market being a busy spot I thought OK, I'll give it a shot. I show up at 11:00 and there was the flower man, surrounded by his gorgeous flowers looking for me, and not far away stood Paula St. Clare Zuckerman from Valley Forge, Pa. Oh boy, the conversation was non-stop (in English :)!!! We were so happy to find one another and commiserate on living in smalls-ville, France. She is married to a Frenchman and teaches English to air traffic controllers in Grenoble and Lyon. We have a "date" to meet at this Saturday's market at 11:00 for coffee. It is so funny that the American bond is immediate when one finds another "lost soul" adrift in the mountains of France. So a new found friend is an amazingly happy occasion! She and I agreed that one of the hardest things about being away from home is missing friends. And that is a true-ism for sure!
Missing all of you - stay tuned for new friendship tales.


Dick returns to us on Friday of this week. He is anxious to ski with Walker before we head to Romania at the end of the month.



We stay packed and ready to roll. This traveling can really wear ya down!!!

Stay tuned for future adventures. Thanks for being faithful readers.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROMA







We lept the Alps once again (thank you Easy Jet) and found ourselves in Rome with every tourist in the world there too. We had decided to go in February (16th to 21st) because everyone indicated it would be low season for tourists. Never believe those words that sound as if they are music to your ears.


Overlooking the throngs of "friends" wanting to see the same history we were there to see, one just goes by the old adage, if you can't fight 'em, join 'em. So off we went along with our good friend Anna, who is so incredibly knowledgeable in Roman/Italian history, Christian history, and the vast world of art/architectural history. Anna solved the problem of where does one begin historically and where does one end in hopes that you have covered the multitudes of years of Roman history and its impact on our western civilization. We were so happy to follow Anna's lead and as we witnessed in southern Italy, she steered us right.


A little overwhelmed we were!



Day one was spent covering ancient history/ art/ and architecture. The pictures and text books that have served as my learning tools for my entire life surely gave me the short end of the stick. Seeing the real thing, no matter how large or how small, was breathtaking and truly unimaginably beautiful! We all soaked up the day like a sponge ~ being totally amazed at every twist and turn.



Roman Forum after all these years!



Ancient Colosseum and Youthful Gladiator



Beautiful Roman Vista

Having covered ancient Rome, we hopped on a train the next day and rode 2 hours north to Assisi. Assisi is located in Umbria and oh what gorgeous pastoral scenery abounding with olive trees. The medieval town of Assisi is home to the church and monastery of St. Francis. Proto-Renaissance frescoes are found everywhere within the church , and each fresco is telling the story of St. Francis. An amazingly peaceful and wonderful place.



Our next day was spent seeing Renaissance and Baroque Rome with art and architectural visits all around the city. Thank goodness we had our GO shoes on, because we covered a lot of terrritory. These long intense days seem to be just what the doctor ordered for Walker. He used to claim he did not care for art / museums/ etc. but throw in some history and my guy is one happy clam. I think he doesn't want to admit that the art and museum visits are quickly becoming a new love in his life.

Raphael Painting



Caravaggio's St. Matthew and The Angel


Michaelangelo's Moses

Our last full day in Rome was spent at the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's. Words could never describe either place ... so just put it on your list of places you "must see". The amount of art, treasures, etc. that have been "collected" by the popes through the many years of the church's history is just beyond comprehension. One thing is for sure, one should never worry about a recession affecting the church. The Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's were of course amazing and even sharing the experience with all the other tourist was not too bad either.




This Vatican visit was particularly interesting to Walker, because our place of lodging while in Rome was Istituto Immancolata Concezione N.S. Lourdes CONVENT. Yes, no hotel for us!!! We moved right in with the nuns and it was a wild and wonderful experience. Walker ADORED the sisters both young and old. His favorites were Sister Wanda (the chief in charge) and Sister Mebiola - 27 years old from Romania. Both these sisters spoke French so Walker would stay downstairs at night and "do desk duty" with the sisters. I think he would have liked to stay on permanently with the sisters if they would have let him. It would not be such a bad place to reside. They have a nice simple routine going. Our days at the convent were delightfully entertaining and educational. It was a great way to sense and see the "power of the church" that exists in Rome. Even the breakfast roll we had each morning was in the shape of a cardinals hat!!!


Walker and His Sisters


Then it was back to France and home from Rome. Within the next 24 hours Walker left for a week of skiing in Zermatt, Switzerland and Cervinia, Italy. These two places are connected making for one huge ski station. So one can ski back and forth from country to country. He traveled with French friends of ours who have boys close to Walker's age.



Valtorenche, Italy

We got Walker off on his adventure, and the next day it was time for Dick to do his commute back to the US for three weeks. So, your math is correct - 3 minus 2 = me on the hill top all alone. I had projects up my sleeve and jumped right into those. Catharina, my friend from Grenoble came for a day visit and we cooked for the dinner party she was having that night. It was a fun day. The next day, my friend Martine and I went SOUTH on the train to Montpellier, France for two days. This lovely city is not far from the Mediterranean coast, has ancient trading history, one of Europe's oldest medical schools (dates from 1259 to the present), the Fabre Musee of Art and wonderful ancient meandering streets to wander along. A nice, fun get away.

Then it has been back to school for Walker which was an adjustment after a wonderful week of skiing, sun and fresh snow. He loved having a two week vacation in February, and then in April the schools will close for another two week Spring vacation. Of course they will not get out of school until July 1.

There's lots of ground to cover between now and July, so stayed tuned for the ongoing adventures.