Let Me Entertain You

It's the beginning of the social season here in Angers. Time to invite all our friends and family over to see the castle and sit around the dinner table for a meal and one last chance to see each other. For months, Philipp and I have been saying we need to invite people over before we leave for America. But we're running out of time. So let the party begin!

Last weekend, we had people over Friday and Saturday nights. This week, it was Tuesday night. I'm enjoying the cooking and entertaining, but the cleaning is already getting a bit tiresome. It's a constant battle against the dust ... and the dust is winning! Fortunately, Philipp has now finished the grout of the tiled great room (major dust!) so things aren't quite as bad as they have been. Plus, we have wonderful friends who don't mind the mess ... they're so amazed by Philipp's amazing work on the castle!

So if my postings continue to be few and far between for the next month and a half, it's because I'm too busy cleaning, cooking, baking, doing dishes, ... and eventually sorting, packing, etc. But it's so nice for us to spend time with friends and family while we can. June 2nd -- departure for America -- is coming soon!

Joyeux Anniversaire ... to me!

Birds are singing, the sun is shining, the trees are covered in buds ... it must be spring! And what happens in the spring? I get another year older.
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(just kidding)

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In fact, I love my birthday! Sure, I felt a twinge of regret at the gym on Friday, as I started my workout on the elliptical machine, and punched in 33 as my age for the last time. But numbers are just numbers. And I don't think 34 is all that bad.

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I was lucky to have my birthday -- March 21st -- fall on a Saturday this year. And I did have a lovely day, indeed. As soon as I woke up, Philipp wished me a Happy Birthday. After breakfast, I headed to the English Language Library for their annual Big Book Sale. I needed to drop off a cake I'd made to donate, and of course I wanted to look around at all the good books, too! I made it out the door with only 5 books (last year I had 15!) ... I could've taken a lot more, but knowing that we're moving in just over 2 months helped strengthen my self control.
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From the library, I headed back across the river to PhysicForm (my gym) for the 11:00 BodyBalance class. It's a combination tai chi, pilates and yoga. I love this class. It's great for forcing me to stretch (which I don't do as much as I should), has some cool poses and balance moves, and the last ten minutes is relaxation ... aaaahhh!
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I changed and swung back by the castle to pick up Philipp (who greeted me with the flowers at the top of this post), and we headed to his parents' house for lunch. As always, there were lots of family members, lots of delicious food, and a lovely time to be had by all. I even had a birthday cake, although my nephews informed me that I'm too old ... there were only 32 candles ... not enough for my 34 years!

I had a relaxing afternoon at home, and around 6:00, I took a bath in my new bathtub! It was lovely. Philipp made fun of me a little, but that's to be expected. :)

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We went to dinner at a delicious fusion restaurant in Angers called Thai l'Inde. We'd eaten there once before, and I wanted to go back before leaving Angers. We were both very impressed with our meals. So yummy!

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And that's the story of my birthday! It was a special day with family and friends, and some time for me to step back and relax, too. Oh, and I also benefitted from one of the many advantages of our digital society ... birthday greetings on my Facebook wall! It was fun to read the notes friends left me from all over the world.

Forgive me

I've been a bad blogger. Again. Leaving my readers for more than a month ... without a word ... wondering where I am and what I'm doing ...

OK, I know there are only a handful of people who read my blog, and I know that not having any new posts to read for a while hasn't exactly left you heartbroken. But I do feel a sense of responsibility to you, and have felt bad recently, knowing that I'm letting you down.

So here's a little catch-you-up:

• The first couple weeks of February were exciting, getting ready for our upcoming vacation to the States. There always seems to be a lot to get done just before leaving town. (or country)
• We had an uneventful trip, but for fun (and economics) we decided to leave from London instead of Paris. The airline tickets were half the price, and the train to London (via Paris) was actually less expensive than the train to Paris!
• We flew into Charleston, and my Mom and Dad drove down from Cincinnati to join us. We rented a house on Folly Beach, and although the weather was a bit cooler than usual, we had beautiful sunshine all but one day.
• This was the opportunity to see my parents and to show them our future hometown. They enjoyed it ... the architecture and landscapes, the friendly people ... all the reasons Philipp and I are so eager to move there!
• I also had a few job interviews, and am happy to have made a few contacts there. It's still too early to know what openings will be available, but I've at least got my foot in the door.
• Once we arrived back in Angers, we had a couple busy weeks of getting settled in the castle, house guests, a weekend by the sea ...

So there's a glimpse at what we've been up to lately. And now, we're quickly approaching the end of our time in France. It's hard to believe! But I promise to add some more blog entries before it's time to go.

"Vive le vent ... Vive le vent ..."

When these words are sung by children in the winter (to the tune of "Jingle Bells") they evoke a spirit of a snowy wonderland. When Philipp exclaims "wind!", he always follows with "kite surf!" (one of his favorite activities).

But France was not joyful last night, as another major wind storm blew across the country. The French people were fearful of the damage that would occur, only weeks after a major wind storm that ravaged the southwest of the country.

Unlike areas of the United States, France does not get hit with many tornadoes or hurricanes. But from time to time, there are incredible wind storms that bring hurricane-force winds. One hit in 1999 near Paris, and uprooted many of the treasured trees in the garden of Versailles. The storm that caused so much damage on the 24th of January also brought down a tree at Versailles that had survived the 1999 wind storm -- and had been standing since the 18th century!

Yesterday's storm put 58 departments (each equivalent to an American county in size) on high alert for wind damage. All day, we had heavy rains and wind, the latter really picking up in the evening. The wind reached speeds of 65-80 mph, with gusts over 100 mph. This morning, approximately 600,000 households are without electricity.

Luckily for us, we only have some broken branches to deal with, and our power never went out. Philipp just called from the castle, and all the trees are standing (we lost a big one in 2006), although a large branch (5 yards long) fell, nearly hitting someone's car.

I don't have pictures to share about the storm, but if you want, follow this link to a video I found about the January 24th storm. It's about 4 minutes long ... maybe a bit melodramatic (the music and mention of it being apocalyptic) but you get an idea of the damage.

Around the World in 84 days 3 hours 9 minutes and 8 seconds

Michel Desjoyeaux has made history ... and France has been watching. Have you?
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On the afternoon of Sunday, February 1st, Desjoyeaux sailed his boat into the harbor in les Sables d'Olonne. He had set sail from the same port nearly three months ago ... there were 30 skippers on 30 boats. Today, more than half of those skippers have abandoned the race, and ten of them are scattered along the Atlantic between Cape Horn and France.


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This is the Vendée Globe.

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An around-the-world race. Alone. Each skipper must sail unaccompanied and unaided. If there is a problem with the boat at the beginning of the race, they can go back to start, fix it, and start over. Which is exactly what Desjoyeaux did ... he started two days behind the rest of the pack and sailed ahead of them to his second Vendée Globe victory.

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Others have not been so fortunate. Broken masts ... capsized boats ... some problems are insurmountable and the race must be abandoned.

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But on the whole, these are incredibly sturdy boats. They have to be, to withstand the rigor of months at sea, hurricane-force winds and waves that sometimes reach more than 30 feet in height.

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This is a picture of Desjoyeaux's boat. It's 60 feet long, the mast is nearly 92 feet high, and it weighs 18,700 pounds. Its upwind sail surface is 300 square meters, and its downwind sail surface is 600 square meters. This is how he managed to travel 28303.2 nautical miles at an average speed of 14.0 KTS.

In France, we've seen daily coverage of the race on the news since the start in November. Philipp logs on to the Vendée Globe web site (see link, above) every evening to check where everyone is, and to watch the videos that each skipper makes along the way. We've both got a favorite skipper, Samantha Davies of England.
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Sam Davies has got to be one of the coolest people in the world. Why? Well, for one thing, she's sailing around the world a race that's been called the Everest of off-shore sailing. For another thing, she's in third place. (not too shabby!) But mostly, because she's got an amazingly positive attitude. In the videos she makes, she's always laughing (even when being pelted with rain or when a random waves soaks her to the bone), making jokes, showing us cool stuff (like the flying fish that jump into her boat) and letting us in on her life in the boat (her rationing of candy in the week-by-week bags, her "CAUTION -- TOXIC" dirty laundry bag). Check out her site! And root her on ... she'll be sailing into port in a few days!

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President Obama!

As in the United States and around the world, the people of France gathered around their televisions yesterday to watch the inauguration of Barack Obama. Philipp and I were at the English Language Library. It was nice to share this monumental experience with other Americans.

While we were waiting for coverage to begin, the volunteer coordinator grabbed me and brought me over to some journalists from the local television and radio stations for an interview. I was nervous about finding my words (talking about politics on camera would be tough for me in English!) but I guess it went OK.

Apparently the radio played the entire interview, but here's the TV link:
http://www.angers7.fr/emission/le-7-minutes-1687/

Got it? :)

OK, here's the translation: The reporter asked me what I was feeling, and I answered: "Joy. It's the end of eight years with Goerge Bush, and for us ... for Americans, it's a sense of hope. There are things that are going to change, and they must, because these eight years have not led the United States in the right direction."

FIRE in the Angers Castle !

Yesterday afternoon, the people of Angers gathered on both sides of the Maine River to watch the smoke and flames rising from the historic Château d'Angers.

The fire began in an upstairs room of the former royal residence, built in the beginning of the 15th century. The meeting room is closed to the public, and the fire was supposedly due to an electrical problem.

They evacuated the tourists from the castle and saved the tapestries, furniture and other works of art. When we first heard that the castle was on fire, we were concerned that the famous -- and irreplaceable -- Tapestry of the Apocolypse (below) would be destroyed, but it is housed in a different building and was not harmed at all.

Philipp was out running errands when he drove past the castle and saw flames rising 10 feet above the roof. This was around 4:45. We went out again around 5:30, and smoke was still pouring out of the building. It was sad to see such a historic site destroyed. In all, 400 square meters of the roof were destroyed. We saw slate tiles tumbling down as firefighters sprayed water into the flames. They say that the fire caused 2 million euros in damages.

For more photos of the fire, click on this link.