Saturday

The sun is setting on Saturday and what a beautiful day it was. Warm and sunny.

I spent most of the day searching the town for a nœud papillon for DH. It’s not a secret, because I did not find one. Apparently they don’t wear bow ties in this part of France. I started my search at the market and continued all the way to the outskirts of town. Nothing. Zilch. Zip. Nada. Sorry DH. Actually, now that I think of it, there were no ties of any kind.

And because I spent most of the day shopping, I have very few photos.

I really enjoy Market Day. There are lots of people in the streets and all the outdoor cafés are full. Everybody seems just a little more buoyant and cheerful. I think people come from a long way off for the market. Someone actually asked me today if I was from Paris!

To be fair, we were having a difficult time communicating, and I was using my best French for her. I couldn’t figure out what I was saying that was wrong until she asked me if I was from Paris. That’s when I knew we had a problem. She didn’t speak French! We got it all sorted out because it turned out she knew a little English. She and her group were from the Czech Republic. What fun to be the one with the best French!

The food was really good. I had it for lunch and dinner, and there’s enough left for lunch tomorrow. I don’t have a photo of the food, but here’s one of a loaf of bread. I’ve finally tried the toaster and it works well. I think maybe, after all, I’m not a white bread person.

There was a little excitement for me when I was walking through the Prairies the other day. I heard what I thought were dozens of ducks or geese honking or quacking with great excitement. I thought I’d better check it out, so I went off the beaten path (again) and over to a body of water. Peering over the edge I saw…nothing. Just water – no ducks – no geese. And it was suddenly quiet. I knew I hadn’t seen anyone fly away.

Here’s the water.

Then I head this. Turn your volume up – there’s sound.

Now doesn’t that sound like a duck? Imagine if there were twenty or thirty at one time. I think that’s what I heard. They are much louder than I’ve ever heard before.

So this must be where the King got his frog legs. They’re quite large.

I do have a couple more pictures. Here’s one from a shop window. There’s a place you can take pottery lessons here! Aren’t these guys cute.

I took this next picture because I thought it was a very pretty place. They have obviously put effort into coordinating chairs with shutters and doors. Even the greenery works. I also wanted to remember the name so I could look up the meaning. I think it means The Tavern. Anyone disagree? No? Then I must be right.

I’ve also found another old house. I’m not sure if I’ve taken a photo of it before but here it is.

Isn’t that solarium wonderful. It’s absolutely chock full of palm trees or something similar. It’s a private residence but it’s called Chateau D’Armaillé. I googled it and came across an article from when it was for sale. This is the back. It looks pretty amazing from the other side. I saw it on the internet.

On another topic, back to the frogs – the Prairies of Roy flood in the spring sometimes. There’s a series of canals around the edges, presumably to protect the houses nearby. I came across this the other day. It looks like you can raise or lower the height of your canal using this clever device.