Evening in Paris

Papa and I were up early this morning to do a load of laundry, run the dishwasher, and drain the waterlines.  We left Lectoure be 8:15, and drove to Toulouse to return our car rental.  We took a train from the airport to the TGV station, for our 12:30 TGV train to Paris.  We arrived in Paris by 17:30.

We stopped for an early dinner at a crêperie, and then we went for a walk.  We stopped at Saint Sulpice and Saint Germaine de Près with its hand painted interior.  We walked to the Seine, and onto the grounds of the Louvre.  We walked through the Louvre exterior courtyards and past it’s famous pyramid.  The Tuileries are closed for renovations, so we walked along the Seine as evening lights came on, then circled back to the Notre Dame to see the latest progress.  Paris is always special.

  

Week of Saying Goodbye

Over the past week, Papa and I have spent time with several friends, saying goodbye before we return to Tucson.  We had dinner at Rachel and Sid’s house along with their friend, Natasha, last Sunday.  We had Chip and Susan over late afternoon.  Susan and Anling came for a glass of wine with their friends, Georgiana and Harvey, on Thursday.  We went to Nelson and Pirrko’s for coffee on Friday.  We had dinner with Deirdre and Vladimir on Friday evening.  We went to Romain’s Vernissage, where we saw lots of friends and neighbors on Saturday evening.  Afterward, Lesley and Andy, Kay and Jay, and Emmanuel and Pierre Jean came for dinner.  We had Thanh and Jerome for aperitifs on Sunday.  Yesterday, we had lunch with Judy then went to her house for a couple hours visit.  Gerard and Alice came for coffee this morning.  We’re going for dinner with Romaine and Dominique tonight, our last night of this stay in Lectoure.  

We’ve had an incredible six months in Lectoure and are grateful to get to know so many neighbors and friends.  We are already looking forward to May 2023, when we return.

Photos taken this morning, with fog in the valley below Lectoure.  Beautiful!

Lectoure Vendredi Marché

The Friday morning market in Lectoure has been going on for generations.  Most of the vendors are local fruit and vegetable producers plus vendors of clothes, shoes, fabric, cheese, wine, food trucks, and more.  Most people living in the village go to the marché.  It is their time to see friends, catch up on the news, and stop for coffee.  Weekly marchés in France are one of the reasons we were so strongly attracted to France.  It is a weekly gathering of the community.  Papa and I go to Lectoure’s Marche every Friday.

Up the Clocher

On Wednesday, Papa and I walked up the 246 steps of Cathedral Saint-Gervais’s bell tower.  The views of Lectoure are beautiful.  Papa took our binoculars.  We had fun finding chateaux and towers on the far off hills.

Photos from Our Maison in Lectoure

Photos taken yesterday. There is still more to do - renovation of our wine cave, throw pillows and a few pieces of furniture, art, and fun things for mantels to buy, but we’ve come a long way from April 9, http://luluandpapa.blogspot.com/2022/04/house-under-construction.html and April 27, http://luluandpapa.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-house-today.html. Our house has become our home.