Beautiful Morning

I walked this morning, and as I came up the steps from Fountain Diane, I looked up to this view.  Incredibly beautiful morning!

Déjeuner aux Femmes

I hosted the third Déjeuner aux Femmes today at 12h30, with 37 women friends.  We gathered on the terrace of Le Bastard Hotel with apéros, wine and savory macarons, under the umbrellas with Esmee singing songs in French and English.  At 13h, we went into the dining room.  Everyone was assigned a table, and no one but me knew everyone.  It was joyful for me to hear friends talking with each other and sharing a beautiful lunch.  

The Menu:
Courgettes roasted with cumin, citron, sauce tuna 
Filets de Rouget (fish), with mashed potatoes and sauce of anchovies and capers
Dessert of Cherries caramelized, cherry and syrah sorbet, cherry pie with chantilly cream, 
Coffee and a cookie

I have a diverse group of friends, from many countries, many careers and interests, of different ages, and living now in the Gers.  I enjoyed every moment!

Beautiful Day!

Today is beautiful, with a cool fresh breeze, partly sunny sky, and blooming sunflowers! We never tire of our views of the countryside from Lectoure.

Morning Walk in Prague

I walked from our hotel at 5:30 this morning, to the Charles Bridge, across the bridge, then back to the hotel for breakfast, with Lindsay and Manu.  We have had an incredible few days in Prague with the ASU Global Studies team, Noah, Shira, Lindsay, and Manu.  We enjoyed their company, time with students, and seeing Prague for the first time.  We are impressed by the Global Studies programs ASU offers, and proud of our support.  We loved Prague - a beautiful city, full of culture, history, beautiful homes and buildings, clean, walkable and with good public transportation, amazing restaurants of every cuisine imaginable, and easy to communicate with everyone from everywhere speaking English.  A great time!

Jewish Quarter Tour and Concert

Just after breakfast this morning, I walked along the riverfront of Prague, from near our hotel to the National Theater and back.  

Papa and I met Noah and Marketa, our guide, at 9:30.  We took an Uber to the Jewish Quarter for our tour, and visited four synagogues plus the Old Jewish Cemetery, the largest in Europe, dating back to the 1400’s.  Our first stop was at the Pinkas Synagogue.  Its interior walls are covered with the names of 80,000 Czech Jewish victims of the Holocast. We then walked through the Old Jewish Cemetery, with a few thousand headstones, the oldest dating to 1439.  It was sobering to listen to Marketa, talking about the Czech Republic’s history over the past century, dealing with Nazis, the Holocaust, the Russians, and the Czech people that had the courage to stand up and fight for liberty and an independent government.

We visted the Old New Synagogue, the oldest in Prague and Europe, founded in 1270.  

We also visited the Spanish Synagogue, built in 1868 in Moorish Revival style, on the site of the oldest synagogue in Prague.  There is a statue of Franz Kafka just outside the synagogue.  He attended the synagogue and went on to become the most famous Czech author.

On our walk to the Old Town Square for lunch, we stopped at the Maisel Synagogue, to see an animated visualization of a handmade Model of Prague, showing the Jewish Quarter as it was before the urban renewal.  Langweil spent 11 years making the model.  It was fascinating to see!

We had a delicious lunch with Noah at Restaurant 420, on Old Town Square.  After an afternoon rest, we joined Noah, Lindsay, Shira, and Manu at the Klementinum’s Mirror Chapel for a concert by an ensemble of the Royal Czech Orchestra, playing works by Smetana, Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart.  The concert was superb!

We had dinner at Mazel Vinohrady, sitting in their plant filled atrium.  It was another delicious dinner, with good conversation.  A terrific evening!