A comment from a friend pulled me out of my haze and got me to see my life through rose color classes again. I admit watching a few things that delighted me like Melania’s hand slap and The Orange Mental Midget shoving aside the PM of Montenegro so he could puff his chest and that smug disgusting look he gets has he pulls his suit jack together, like a pompous peacock. He is the biggest fucking bully. Today when Jim and I went into a lovely like charcuterie in Norton, an artist or artisan village, the guy in the store went ballistic over Trump. He saw our buttons and waxed on and on…”I hate this Trump…he is evil and dangerous.” Other than that, news is banned from this lovely, peaceful house.
We spent the day, lying around the meal, reading and I did some sketching. Since we’ve been eating at the Moulin, as owners refer to it, we decided to go out for a meal. A friend suggested a duck dish that was a specialty in this region and I had my heart set on it. Turns out it was ASCENSION DAY, which, as it turns out, is different in every country. Let’s get real! How many times can this man ascend! Jesus Christ, this ascension crap has been going on since Easter. I couldn’t believe anyone in France, anti-religious France, would take this seriously. So we drove to Riberac, a lovely 30 minute drive through magnificent farmland and rolling hills.
When we reached Riberac, it was closed tight as a drum. I couldn’t believe it! First of all, things are closed constantly. They open for three hours in the morning and three in the evening. The rest is siesta. The rest is fuck you if you don’t like it, we’re going home to eat, fuck and sleep because we are French and know how to live. And the fact of the matter is, they’re right! But me, the ugly impatient American, and my husband, albeit a cuter ugly American, can’t’ get it through our thick, stubborn heads. We are in really, REALLY small French towns and when it’s 12:30 they shut up like an invading army was on its way.
The thing you realize the more time you spend out of the States is how utterly fucked up we are. How totally brainwashed and bought a bill of goods that you could only sell to the most naive people on the planet. We have NO IDEA what living is all about. Our lives are spent working and when we’re not working worrying about work and when we’re not worrying about that we’re worrying about some bloody errand or bill or phone call to return or some such thing. When do we carve out actual time to do NOTHING? Or read book? Or have a leisurely lunch. Food here, of course, is an art. You don’t just shove something on your way to your appointment. You dine. And it doesn’t have to be a fancy meal. It’s about the time spent together engaged in something pleasurable and making a connection to another person.
This way of life is about as far away from ours as you can get. I guess maybe Eskimos and bounty hunters are pretty unlike us, as well!
Finished “We Are Not Ourselves” at three this AM. Kukla get getting up and wandering around, which kept me awake, so I decided to put the time to good use. Anybody read it? Curious for your reaction. I loved it.
When we took a walk on a country road today, there was a heard of brown cows, lounging and nibbling in the sunset. Tootsie, never having seen a cow and always prone to being vicious in the face of an animal 100 times her size, barked. Suddenly, all 50 cows lifted their heads and drifted over toward us by the wire fence, all of them staring at Tootise, shooting her a “don’t fuck with us” kind of look. I honestly got scared for a second. They all marched to that fence in unison and just glared! On the return part of the walk she kept her mouth shut, but the cows stood their ground nonetheless.
A few days ago we visited a town called Brantome on the Dordogne river. It was the absolute picture perfect town. The monastery in the pictures is built into a cliff. It’s fantastic. And the sounds of the city, between the rushing water and the gorgeous chimes, all conspires to take your breathe away. So click the blue link for a few seconds of lovely sound.
IMG_0925 (Here’s the Mill House)
Tootsie decided to challenge the cows and was met with and welcomed response.
The next group is Brantome – an an added little movie clip of the bells at the end
IMG_0920 The beautiful bells of the Monastery
Growing their own fish to planish the waters (below)
Ahhh, the Monastery life. Inviting.
