July 2007 was a tough month, and no matter how hard I tried it really didn't get any better. But now I am able to look back on it with some humor and see the highlights.
After Chi Chi died, we decided to go ahead with our plans to go to French School again, and were looking forward to Pat's bicycle trip through the Alps. We left for Millefeuille Provence on Sunday morning, and knew the traffic would be bad because of the season. We arrived around 6 p.m. and found the south of France to be comforting, welcoming and warm, just what I needed. Paris's weather had been springlike through July sauf for about two weeks in April, and summer never really did arrive there.
The cicadas are always chirping in Provence and the hot winds blew through the huge trees, keeping the temperature pleasant. Classes were just as expected and I was placed in a group with Lars (a Swedish journalist moving to Luxembourg) and Branko (a Croatian Ambassador) and occasionally with an Asian woman who currently lives in Hong Kong. Pat and I had the huge rooms at the front of the chateau and I loved that. We didn't turn on the AC until the middle of the week when the Mistrals had stopped and the heat was becoming a little too much to sleep in.
Our week was well worth the effort, and I think I learned a lot more about the little but important words in the french language. My classes emphasized the use of pronouns, and worked on breaking my bad habits, developed as a survival mechanism.
That would all be tested starting Friday night, after we left the comfy luxury of Millefeuille and embarked on Pat's Bicycling in the Alps adventure.
