Rhone and Loire Valley

We are at a little Inn/B&B near St. Didier en-Vilay. We have been here two nights, but today we are staying in for most of the day. It is the 80th birthday of Francoise's mother, so much of the family has gathered and will be speaking French and family, so we are quite content to have a day of rest. Tony did take us on a little explore of the Loire River this morning and a trip to the supermarket-one of the highlights of any visit for us.

Tony and Francoise served us little sausages that come in a cellophane bag our first night, and we have been rabid to find them. They are, of course, delicious-like the Italian sausage maker on my street in SoHo, NYC-but they have the advantage of being extremely travel friendly. To top this off, I also found a little 1 liter insulated tube for E.50. Will be great for keeping cold stuff for a day, and if it gets to schmutzed, we feel OK about throwing it out.

The Family

We have been spending our days in the house of Francoise grandparents, who now rest in the nearby cemetery which I hope to visit. There are three floors above the cellar in this house, and each floor is an apartment. Tony and Francoise and their daughter Helene and her new baby (8 weeks), Alexander live on the first floor. Alexander is hardly ever called by his proper name, but has many names like "wee beastie" and "fartalotamous". He was two weeks late and weighed 9 pounds and had an infection, so his first few weeks have not been easy for either him or his parents or grandparents. His gastrointestinal problems seem to be easing a bit. I am enjoying "having school" with him. He is particularly fond of one of his baby books, so I turn the pages for him. My theory is that coming out at 9 lbs, he would want a beefsteak and a book right away. I cannot coax the parents or grandparents into the beefsteak, but they can see that the "wee beastie" becomes less beastly when being read to, so school is great fun for both of us-me and Alexander.

On the second floor live the parents of Francoise. Her mother is 80 today, and her father is probably about 90. They were both teachers of English, so no problem having conversations. They are clearly devoted to each other. In the summer they live here, and in the winter in a house in the south of France not so far from Marseilles. Until recently they were avid travelers and house exchangers.

On the third floor this week are Francoise younger sister and her husband and 4 of their 5 children. The 5th child is 19 and decided to stay in their home near Paris.

Tonight Helene's husband is flying in from London to Lyon, so the family will pick him up and add him to the mix. Tomorrow Helene and James and the wee beastie have a day alone while Tony and Francoise and Marcia and I go to Le Puy to see some sights. This is the place of the peppery lentils Francoise brought us, but there are more attractions than lentils and with any luck I will get photos on the blog so you can enjoy them as well.

We have just come back from a short excursion to the little town museum in St Didier. We saw the articles of daily living from the early 1800-1900. This little town was known for lace making and ribbon weaving, so there were looms and bobbins along with the implements of daily living and costumes and toys and farm implements.

The area reminds me of Vermont. Todays temps remind me of Vermont. 15C at midday. I pulled out my fleece jacket to go to the museum. We passed a man splitting wood with an axe, and I knew that these cooler temps were telling him that he had better pay attention to his woodpile. Standard Vermont greeting for this time of year, "Got your wood in?".

So, I got a pile of pictures on the photo blog today and will get to work on more editing for the next batch. Look for the Jungfrau and Rhone Valley next.

KG