October 29 - November 6, 2018
We are staying at the country house of our daughter, granddaughters and husband. They kids are on school holiday, so the main purpose of this part of the trip is visiting, along with shopping, cooking and eating.
1. Monday - The main activity for the day was food shopping. We went to a large, upscale Walmart type store and then went to several specialty stores, butcher, bakery, cheese store etc. Spent over 400 euros. Aside from interacting with the relatives, there is not much to do out here. We are in the country, about 15 km away from Amboise. There is no mass transit and we are without a car since I crashed and totaled the Twingo back in 2016. The Internet connection is at best spotty and television and radio are, understandably, largely in French. So with the assistance of the youngest grandchild, we made cookies. They were hard to cook because the stove at the house is not functioning well, but they were eaten quickly.
Every time I come to the daughter's house I run. I purchased running shoes in Ljubljana in 2015 (much more expensive than in the US) and have left them in the guest house here ever since. They were always a bit tight, hard to convert to European sizes, but that never caused a problem. I learned that our daughter had been using them and now they were very tight at the right toe, but I ran in them anyway. I always run here, regardless of the season, because I enjoy being out on the county roads, running past the wine vineyards, through the forest, the air is very clear, and probably because I have little else to do. Unlike other places, and even though I have usually not run before these visits, I do not have any hesitancy about running here. I usually start out running about 2 miles and work my way up, depending upon the length of the visit to 5 or 6 miles. So today began the usual running regime.
On another note, another grandson was born today.
2. Tuesday - Our daughter's Irish friend/employer is, along with her French husband, a bit of an entrepreneur owning a vineyard, winery, restaurant and wine shop. She and an American artist had cooked up a plan to display the artist's pictures in the restaurant and on wine bottles, coupled with the purchase of some pictures. The friend presented us with a proposed contract to memorialize these arrangements. That contract had allegedly been drafted by an American friend of the artist. It was very disjointed and failed to account for detailed French law on the subject of the rights of artists.This was a great task, it gave me something to do. We had lunch with the artist and friend at a wonderful bistro in the country. It was a lovely lunch.
We then went to the chateau where the artist is staying. It is a magnificent complex that is owned by an American couple who live in the Bay area and are patrons of this artist.
Our final stop was at the complex where our oldest son will house guests for his wedding celebration in June. It seems very nice, an old hotel with nice grounds and views. Not within walking distance of the town where many of the guests will be staying.
Ran little further in the evening. Great sunsets in the countryside at this time of year.
3. Wednesday - Slow day. Ran in the morning and then began research on the contract. In the evening we went to a Halloween party and dinner at the home of our daughter's brother-in-law. They have a very nice house and grounds.
4. Thursday - Another slow day.Went for tea at the opulent home and winery of our daughter's friend. All woman except for me and lots of french spoken. Good tea, but I was pretty bored. Ran 3 miles in the afternoon but toe was feeling squeezed. In the late afternoon I made banana bread with the middle granddaughter. That was eaten quickly.
5. Friday - The daughter and the grandchildren drove with us to Tours to see the movie Bohemian Rhapsody. The theatre showed the film in English. A fun movie even though while I was not that familiar with the group Queen, I did recall their music. In the evening we went to a group our daughter has organized for English speaking expats who live in the Loire Valley. They meet monthly in a bar/restaurant, Le Shaker, on an island in the Loire River. We have attended this group in the past and have met some of the attendees. A pleasant evening.
6. Saturday - Ran 4 miles in the morning. Feeling stronger, but toe is definitely uncomfortable. Probably doing damage, but I enjoy the running. We went to Tours again, this time for appliance shopping. The stove in our daughter's kitchen barely worked, it required all sorts of manipulations and gimmicks to turn and keep the stove burners on and the oven door shut. They did not have the resources to replace it. So we purchased a new stove/oven, freezer and other appliances for them at a warehouse appliance type store. Kids remain kids.
7. Sunday - Ran 5 miles into the woods in the morning. We went out to dinner out in Tours at an American style diner, burgers and shakes type fare.
8. Monday - In the morning we went to the friend's house again to offer our suggestions to modify the proposed contract with the artist. We proposed substantial revisions based on French law and she was amenable to them. Subsequently learned that the proposed arrangement fell apart.
We packed for our departure on the following day. I put several cold weather items, a good vest, hat and gloves, separately into a bag, probably because I wanted to keep them outside the airline weight limit. Somehow they got lost during the trip and I have never seen them again.
Luncheon bistro
Gatehouse at chateau
Son's wedding clebration site
Halloween party
Sunset at daughter's house
Friend's house
Sunset in French countryside
We are staying at the country house of our daughter, granddaughters and husband. They kids are on school holiday, so the main purpose of this part of the trip is visiting, along with shopping, cooking and eating.
1. Monday - The main activity for the day was food shopping. We went to a large, upscale Walmart type store and then went to several specialty stores, butcher, bakery, cheese store etc. Spent over 400 euros. Aside from interacting with the relatives, there is not much to do out here. We are in the country, about 15 km away from Amboise. There is no mass transit and we are without a car since I crashed and totaled the Twingo back in 2016. The Internet connection is at best spotty and television and radio are, understandably, largely in French. So with the assistance of the youngest grandchild, we made cookies. They were hard to cook because the stove at the house is not functioning well, but they were eaten quickly.
Every time I come to the daughter's house I run. I purchased running shoes in Ljubljana in 2015 (much more expensive than in the US) and have left them in the guest house here ever since. They were always a bit tight, hard to convert to European sizes, but that never caused a problem. I learned that our daughter had been using them and now they were very tight at the right toe, but I ran in them anyway. I always run here, regardless of the season, because I enjoy being out on the county roads, running past the wine vineyards, through the forest, the air is very clear, and probably because I have little else to do. Unlike other places, and even though I have usually not run before these visits, I do not have any hesitancy about running here. I usually start out running about 2 miles and work my way up, depending upon the length of the visit to 5 or 6 miles. So today began the usual running regime.
On another note, another grandson was born today.
2. Tuesday - Our daughter's Irish friend/employer is, along with her French husband, a bit of an entrepreneur owning a vineyard, winery, restaurant and wine shop. She and an American artist had cooked up a plan to display the artist's pictures in the restaurant and on wine bottles, coupled with the purchase of some pictures. The friend presented us with a proposed contract to memorialize these arrangements. That contract had allegedly been drafted by an American friend of the artist. It was very disjointed and failed to account for detailed French law on the subject of the rights of artists.This was a great task, it gave me something to do. We had lunch with the artist and friend at a wonderful bistro in the country. It was a lovely lunch.
We then went to the chateau where the artist is staying. It is a magnificent complex that is owned by an American couple who live in the Bay area and are patrons of this artist.
Our final stop was at the complex where our oldest son will house guests for his wedding celebration in June. It seems very nice, an old hotel with nice grounds and views. Not within walking distance of the town where many of the guests will be staying.
Ran little further in the evening. Great sunsets in the countryside at this time of year.
3. Wednesday - Slow day. Ran in the morning and then began research on the contract. In the evening we went to a Halloween party and dinner at the home of our daughter's brother-in-law. They have a very nice house and grounds.
4. Thursday - Another slow day.Went for tea at the opulent home and winery of our daughter's friend. All woman except for me and lots of french spoken. Good tea, but I was pretty bored. Ran 3 miles in the afternoon but toe was feeling squeezed. In the late afternoon I made banana bread with the middle granddaughter. That was eaten quickly.
5. Friday - The daughter and the grandchildren drove with us to Tours to see the movie Bohemian Rhapsody. The theatre showed the film in English. A fun movie even though while I was not that familiar with the group Queen, I did recall their music. In the evening we went to a group our daughter has organized for English speaking expats who live in the Loire Valley. They meet monthly in a bar/restaurant, Le Shaker, on an island in the Loire River. We have attended this group in the past and have met some of the attendees. A pleasant evening.
6. Saturday - Ran 4 miles in the morning. Feeling stronger, but toe is definitely uncomfortable. Probably doing damage, but I enjoy the running. We went to Tours again, this time for appliance shopping. The stove in our daughter's kitchen barely worked, it required all sorts of manipulations and gimmicks to turn and keep the stove burners on and the oven door shut. They did not have the resources to replace it. So we purchased a new stove/oven, freezer and other appliances for them at a warehouse appliance type store. Kids remain kids.
7. Sunday - Ran 5 miles into the woods in the morning. We went out to dinner out in Tours at an American style diner, burgers and shakes type fare.
8. Monday - In the morning we went to the friend's house again to offer our suggestions to modify the proposed contract with the artist. We proposed substantial revisions based on French law and she was amenable to them. Subsequently learned that the proposed arrangement fell apart.
We packed for our departure on the following day. I put several cold weather items, a good vest, hat and gloves, separately into a bag, probably because I wanted to keep them outside the airline weight limit. Somehow they got lost during the trip and I have never seen them again.
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