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.