These are some of the graves in the village cemetery that have plaques with words on them. Maybe you'll be able to read some of them. By the way, after the funeral in Blois and the burial in our village cemetery late this afternoon, Bernard's widow and children vont faire un pot in their house across the street from us. We're invited. Does anybody know what a pot is ..read more

Tomorrow I'll be going somewhere I don't go very often. It's our village cemetery. I've been there a few times for funerals — three times, I think. Two neighbors and a friend. Tomorrow our friend and neighbor Bernard will be buried there. The village we live in borders on the town of Saint-Aignan, but with a population of about 1,200, it's only one third the size of its larger neighbor. Neither is very big, obviously, but our village has never been bigger than it is right now ..read more

I went to the open-air market in Saint-Aignan yesterday morning and bought some mussels (moules) from the fishmonger who sets up there every Saturday morning. They had to be cleaned (their "beards" and their barnacles removed), scrubbed, and well rinsed several times. It didn't take long. Once they are cleaned, they are really fast and easy to cook. See below. You "sweat" some onion and/or garlic in big pot in melted butter. When the onions and garlic are soft, add some chopped parsley or celery leaves. Dump the mussels into the pot and pour on half a bottle of so of white wine. Add some ..read more

Eastern France is shivering this week. And here in western France we are also feeling chilly. The good news is that we haven't yet had temperatures down to zero Celsius. In years past, April has been much warmer. These are pictures I took around the Saint-Aignan area between April 4 and April 27 back in 2004, when we had barely arrived here. Bright yellows dominated ..read more

Here are some pictures to show the kind of parties that Bernard (who passed away a few days ago) and M. (his wife), our neighbors and friends, used to throws every summer between 2003 and 2019. This one happened to be the first one we attended. It was le 14 juillet (Bastille Day) in 2003. Often there were anywhere from 50 to more than 100 people out in their yard, and there was usually a sit-down lunch or dinner served. Or both. We were always invited. In the photo on the left above you can see us partying at mealtime. That's our dog Collette in the picture. In the middle photo that's M in ..read more

Our friend and neighbor Bernard's funeral service is planned for next Tuesday — unless plans have changed. Yesterday was a very quiet day, with no news from anybody up in Blois. Here are some photos of the cathedral in Blois that I've taken on different days, in different seasons, and in different years. Living here in Saint-Aignan, we can go for months without driving up to Blois, even though it's only 25 miles to the north. Over the next couple of months, I'll be going up there three or four times for medical appointments and procedures ..read more

These are just random photos I took in Paris years ago because I'm having trouble focusing this morning. No, it's not because of my cataracts. It's because another friend of ours has passed away. His widow phoned us yesterday to tell us. These are our neighbors who own the house across the street from ours but whose main residence has always been in Blois. Bernard, the patriarch of a fairly large clan of descendants, gave up the ghost peacefully, in his sleep, his wife said. He was born in April 1930, so he was 94 years old. He had been in an assisted-living facility for about a year. Bernard ..read more

is a neighborhood on the east side of Paris, in the 20th arrondissement. It is one square kilometer of land with a population of 35,000 or more. There's a beautiful park in the middle of the neighborhood and from there you get great views looking westward out over the city. I've been to Belleville only a few times in my life, and the only really memorable time was in April of 2007. Walt and I drove up there back then to see friends Chrissou and her husband T., who were visiting from California. We had lunch in Belleville and took a long walk around the neighborhood. It was a lot of fun. Bel ..read more

Avril veut dire asperges autour de Saint-Aignan. And yes, they are white, and they need to be peeled. One way to eat them is boiled or steamed and served with a home-made dressing: vinaigrette, mayonnaise, ranch. Serve the asparagus spears chilled or at room temperature. That's how we often eat them at our house (photo below). Another favorite way to eat asparagus is in a pie. Make bundles of two, three, or four spears and wrap each bundle in a slice of ham. Make a custard of cream, eggs, and parmesan cheese and pour it into a pie shell. Lay the asparagus and ham bundles on the custard, pr ..read more

It's very warm here this morning. Our outdoor thermometer, located in a shady spot on the north wall of the house, says it's 14.4ºC (58ºF) right now. The high this afternoon will be 23, Accuweather says. That's between 73 and 74ºF. That's very warm by our standards, but it's not supposed to last. We are expecting highs around 15ºC (below 60ºF) starting tomorrow. Meanwile, we enjoyed spending time sitting out on the front terrace yesterday afternoon. Walt was able to do a lot more mowing out in the yard yesterday. He's taming the beast. These are photos I took in late April of 2009, whi ..read more