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Week 2
Yesterday was my extraverted day! Very good for me to be pulled out of my head where I have been buried all week. Busy, busy! Jacques and Anni invited me for lunch and what a feast. I guess it is fairly usual on le weekend to have the main meal in the middle of the day. At 1.30 I was settled in front of a roaring fire (despite much sunshine, the air outside is quite chilly), sipping Sauternes and sampling appetizers: smoked salmon with apple (from the apple tree in the garden, of course), little toasts smothered in olive oil and tomato paste, slices of sausage. We lifted a toast to the French Rugby team who sadly had just been beaten by one point by New Zealand in the world cup final. After that on to a fabulous red Bordeaux with the main course of roasted marinated chicken and sweet potatoes . Sounds quite ordinary but the way Anni had used herbs and spices made all the food taste so special and so French. Dessert was an apple and apricot tart followed by strong coffee. All delicious!! Of course after that, it wasn’t possibly to get straight back to the computer and do some work so I went for a fifty minute walk along the country roads in a circle around Allonville. The sun became very warm and I happily walked off any possible detrimental effects of all the wine. I had 3 Skype phone calls in the evening, from Leanne, Linsey and Cynthia. So thank you all for connecting with me. It sure made me feel more ‘normal’ and tuned into my more extraverted nature. So after all that social activity, I needed some down time! Thanks Barbara (Surplus) for downloading all that stuff from British TV onto my computer. I think it was 2 years ago! It has been great for me to watch a program or 2 before going to bed. I am very content here. I’m not lonely as Jacques is in the main part of the house and we see a lot of each other. Every morning since I got settled , we meet in ‘my’ living room to have conversation in French, read French poetry and short stories written during WW1 by a French doctor/writer called Georges Dehumel (I think I will check this name). Has anyone heard of him? He writes very beautiful short pieces. Anyway, it is helping my French a lot and raising my confidence around speaking but I still have a long, long way to go. Now I must get some work done as later on I will have to ride into Querrieu for some groceries – 4 kms there all downhill so of course the uphill ride back feels like 10kms. Can anyone give me some hints about putting photos on the blog?
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Bonjour a ma famille et aux mes amis
My brain is swirling with the french language so I’m going to give it a rest and relate the last few days here in English. I am sitting facing the window in my writing/living room here in the village of Allonville near Amiens. You can see both the inside and outside of my new little home at http://www.lestroisplumes.fr. It is as charming as the pictures and I have totally lucked out in choosing this place. The sun is shining today but it is chilly outside. I am looking at an tree laden down with apples, the branches resting on the ground from their burden. Piled up around me are books, pamphlets and magazines which Jacques my host has lent me. He shares my interest in the history of WW1 and arrives at my door everyday with more stuff for me to read. Apparently when I have done with the current pile there is more in the attic, including some actual WW1 newspapers! I could happily sit and read these all day, successfully avoiding actually having to write anything new. Now we have added a French lesson every day so I will have to be very disciplined to come home with lots of new chapters. Another great distraction. . . he has now lent me a bike and I am off now to cycle to Querrieu, the next village which has some shops. My non-writing excuse is that I need some new batteries for my mouse and I am seduced by the romantic notion of cycling along a French country road, complete with basket on the front of the bike. a bientot! |
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May 2012
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Photo used under Creative Commons from Andrew 3457
