85 euros/119 usd x 2

our wood burning stove that heats our house

Today was a good day and a bad day.  Most of my days here are really good.  I wake up without any agenda.  Don't have to go to work, don't have to deal with the business, don't have to do anything if I don't want to. We go for long bike rides in the french countryside, eat great food and drink amazing wine.  I'm loosing track of the date and sometimes the day.  A friend told me when I start to loose track of the month then I'm really on sabbatical.

2 days ago we were rushing off to dinner at B&A's, our good friends.  Funny thing, they invited another couple who's first names also are B&A...all the mens names start with a B and all the womens start with an A...we are the three B&A's.  Anyway, I wanted to keep the fire going while we were away so I stuffed a bit too much wood in the stove.  I went to shut the door and there was a piece of wood sticking sticking out and "crash"...yes, I broke the glass on the wood stove.  ARGH!  

that wasn't good mom

our stove sans glass

It was 7pm and nothing we could do that night, so we put out the existing fire, which was so painful.  We keep the fire going all day and night so that the house stays nice and warm (well relatively warm), so putting it out and knowing that we would be coming home late (actually arrived home at 2:30 am) to a freezing house didn't make me happy.  

So the next day we took the glass over to a shop in Villefranche to get a replacement.  They told us that it would take 2-3 days to order it, so now we'd be without a fire for 2-3 days.  Thank god our lovely neighbors loaned us a kerosene heater a few weeks ago, because if we did not have it there would be no way we could live in the house.  

Yesterday we drove down to Albi - a lovely city about 40 minutes south of us.  I wanted to buy some clothes, some going out clothes (going out in the cold clothes).  I actually wanted to find a skirt, I brought some but they are not cold weather skirts.  I found one from Esprit along with some leggings to go under it and 2 tops.  I was a happy girl...now I need some black boots.

fountain in Albi

main square in Albi

we're thinking someone really big lives behind these doors

 I didn't bring my black or brown high boots with me, just because we didn't have the room in our bags.  I did bring my everyday boots that I wear to the studio and around, but they are getting so beat up being here in the snow and rain and I feel like they always have chicken poop on them.

So today we went to Villefrance to pick up the glass for the stove and to look for some boots.  We ran into B&A, our friend Fabrice and his girls and our friend Jean-Michelle...a busy day in Villefrance.  We also picked up 2 bottles of Gaillac at the marché de Noel in the main square.  Then off to find boots.  We went to 2 shops and the 2nd was the best.  I tried on about 8 pair and the last I tried on were the ones...they are beautiful and comfortable and will look so great with my new skirt - on sale $85 euros.  What a deal.  You can have them just below the knee or fold them up to cover the knee (pirate like).

ah, no chicken poop on these boots baby!

Then we stopped at the kitchenware shop where we ordered our replacement glass.  Bruce ran in and when he came out said to me "it cost 85 euros for the new glass".  WHAT!  For a piece of glass?  I know it has to be special glass so that it won't break with the heat, but come on, it's only about 9x11.  But we had to buy it, no way around it.  And we found out that it happens to everyone (probably only once).

So, today we spend 85 euros on 2 different things.  One makes me very happy and I'm wearing my new boots and new outfit out to St. Antonin tonight. We are going to an art exhibit from major artisans in the region.  Good connections for both of us.  We also have a fire going in the fireplace, Bruce installed the new glass this afternoon.  It will be the last time I spend 85 euros on glass, but probably not the last time I spend 85 euros on boots!

Our Winter Wonderland

So last night about 7pm it started raining, no big deal, it's been raining a lot since we got here. Don't care much if it rains overnight.  But this morning we woke up to THIS!  Holy crap, it's snowing and it's snowing a lot!  It's now almost noon and it's been snowing since we got up at 7:30.  Bruce can't remember the last time he saw snow, probably 20 years ago.  I grew up in Michigan, left when I was 25 for NYC and have been in  California for 17 years.  I think the last time I saw snow was maybe 10 years ago when I went home for Thanksgiving, not really sure.

We are not snow people, we don't ski, snowboard, ice skate or play hockey.  Our blood is very thin so we get cold very easily (sorry to be such a whiner).  When we decided to come to this region we saw pictures of snow on the website of our house.  I asked the owner does it snow in the winter and he said "no, it was a freak year back in 2005".  We were OK with that...but what do we get when we move here - first, the coldest early winter in like 15 years, the wettest November in like 10 years and snow, lots of snow.  It is pretty but I could do without it.

Today we'll go to our "club de musculation"...which is our local gym in Villefranche.  We joined it last month because of all the rain, we needed to do something.  If you saw it you'd crack up, it's like walking into a gym from the 1970's (perfect place for a Saturday night live skit).  But it's everything we need, a treadmill for me to run on and all the weights we need to lift.  And the price blew us away, 40.00 for 3 months.  So on days like today when we can't ride or don't feel like taking the dogs out for a walk (burrr), we'll go to the gym.

My chickens don't seem to mind the snow.  I went to the coop to let them out this morning and they hopped right out the door and are still out there scratching around.  

I found the lyrics to "Walking in a winter wonderland"  and added a few comments to some of the lines.  Just how I'm feeling today.  Hope you are having a warmer sunnier day.  OR if you like snow, enjoying today.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening, (can't hear them...got Miles Davis playing)
In the lane, snow is glistening (oh my, it's been snowing since last night)
A beautiful sight, (it is pretty...but)
We're happy tonight. (well, we are actually a bit cold)
Walking in a winter wonderland.

Gone away is the bluebird,
Here to stay is a new bird (hum...could that be my chickens?)
He sings a love song, (she doesn't sing but she gives me eggs)
As we go along,
Walking in a winter wonderland.

In the meadow we can build a snowman, (we seriously have a meadow in front)
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown (i never knew what that meant as a kid)

He'll say: Are you married?
We'll say: No man,
But you can do the job
When you're in town. (huh?)

Later on, we'll conspire, (to make it sunny and warm)
As we dream by the fire (we seriously have a fire going day/night or we'd freeze)
To face unafraid,
The plans that we've made, (we are a bit afraid here in france in the snow...what were we thinking?)
Walking in a winter wonderland.

In the meadow we can build a snowman, (might have to try it later)
And pretend that he's a circus clown
We'll have lots of fun with mister snowman,
Until the other kids knock him down. (will probably be dashell who knocks him down)

When it snows, ain't it thrilling, (i have to say, no, it's not thrilling)
Though your nose gets a chilling (my body is chilling, not just my nose)
We'll frolic and play, the Eskimo way, (no we won't, we'll stay inside)
Walking in a winter wonderland.

A visit to Montauban

cool statue made from scraps

Last week it was raining so we hopped in the car and took a trip to Montauban, it's about 50 minutes southwest of where we live. It's always hard driving into a new city, you have no idea where to go, where to park, but we have found that it's best to head for the Office of Tourism, there are signs for it everywhere and once you find it, there's ample parking. Then you can pick up a map of the city/village and you are off.

We really liked this city. Can't call it a village, it's too big, I think (52,000). But it was beautiful. Actually the building that housed the office de tourism was amazing. Bruce wanted to go to visit the Musée Ingres as Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres is one of his favorites and Bruce and many others consider him on of great draftsman (drawer). His pencil drawings were unbelievable.  I was more amazed with the building. The museum is located in a building that once served as the residence of the bishops of Montauban. The structure belongs chiefly to the 17th century, but some portions are much older, notably an underground chamber known as the Hall of the Black Prince (Salle du Prince Noir). It was where people were tortured, getting down to it was creepy and once you reached it it took your breath away. In the back were cells where people where held and there were some of the old torture devices down there.  A renovation carried out between 1951–1958 made Musée Ingres a modern institution according to the designs of the time, equipped with additional inventories.

The museum had some amazing pieces of art in it but the lighting was horrible, just horrible. Nothing like having a piece on the wall with so many lights facing directly on it that you can't even see it because of the glare. Not sure why nobody has ever noticed this before. Maybe it was just us and Bruce's picky eye.

We wandered around Place National, which is an arcade with a big open square in the middle and arches all around with shops in them.  Then went to lunch at an Indian restaurant at the corner of the Place National. Oh my it was so good. We haven't had indian since we left Los Angeles, on a cold wet day it was the perfect choice. Then we were for a bit of clothes/shoe shopping, although we didn't buy anything. I'm a horrible shopper, I much better internet shopper, where I can take my time. We then went for coffee at a really cool place called Le Cozy. The space was great and we met the owner and his daughter (it was Wednesday so she was not in school), we would love to go back for dinner.  Very warm and cozy!

On the way out we stopped at a bike shop (of course) and purchased some winter booties to cover our biking shoes, because when we were riding our feet were freezing. We also stopped at a store called Decathalon, which is a sporting goods store, great prices on sweaters, layering stuff and fleece. We purchased some good there to help keep us warm.

Montauban is the capital of Tarn-et-Garonne département in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southwestern France, it is located about 30 mi (50 km) by road north of Toulouse. It lies on the banks of the River Tarn, 53km from Toulouse, close to its junction with the Aveyron. Its history goes back to 1144 when the count of Toulouse decided to create a bastide here as a bulwark against English and French royal power. In fact, it's generally regarded as the first bastide, the model for those rationally laid-out medieval new towns, and that plan is still clearly evident in the beautiful town centre.

Montauban has enjoyed various periods of great prosperity, as one can guess from the proliferation of fine town houses. The first followed the suppression of the Cathar heresy and the final submission of the counts of Toulouse in 1229 and was greatly enhanced by the building of the Pont-Vieux in 1335, making it the best crossing-point on the Tarn for miles around. The Hundred Years War did its share of damage, as did Montauban's opting for the Protestant cause in the Wars of Religion, but by the time of the Revolution it had become once more one of the richest cities in the southwest, particularly successful in the manufacture of cloth.The early 14th-century Pont-Vieux still bridges the Tarn. Next to it on the right bank stands the 17th-century episcopal palace that, in the mid-19th century, became the Musée Ingres, housing 4,000 drawings and several paintings of the 18th–19th-century French painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, born at Montauban in 1780, as well as other contemporary works. The “Vow of Louis XIII,” by Ingres, hangs in the cathedral. The church of Saint-Jacques, a fortified church dating from the 14th and 15th centuries, dominates the town. Montauban, was founded by the counts of Toulouse in the 12th century and was a principal bastion of Protestantism in southwest France during the 16th and 17th centuries.

It was a great day in a new city. Fun to explore and see new things and to just go for it. We never have a set plan, just wander around and see what you see. Here are a whole bunch of shots from the day. If you are around this area, it's a nice place to visit.

the courtyard inside the musée Ingres

statue in courtyard

me heading down to the tourture chamber

the tourture chamber

Bruce heading down

Pont Vieux (old bridge)

place national

columns all around the place national