There is also the fact that it is within an hour's drive of Belgium, and there are a lot of Brits there. English is spoken nearly everywhere. The town has some beautiful architecture, but looked much more german than french. It was actually Flanders (neither french nor german) for a very long time, and that explains the difference in the architecture and culture. We stayed at the Hotel Kaing, a very nice newly remodeled hotel, where the rooms were very small but comfortable, and Penny said her room was in a large closet, but was cozy.
We then went to Cassell and stopped at a very old windmill (of which I don't seem to have photos) that still grinds flour (for the tourists to take home as souvenirs). Pat and Penny went on the tour, I sat outside and relaxed with a fantastic view while they were inside rocking with the motion of the building as the mill churned in the wind.
After Penny left, we took about a week off, until Bryan arrived. Bryan's agenda was a little different than most. He brought a stuffed Moose who is making a kind of Amelie troll journey around the world.
Bryan is SDF (sans domicile fixee) - which means homeless since he sold his home in South Carolina, and he is housesitting, and promenading all over the world, until he gets tired of it all. He will get homesick for his dog Jack before he gets too uncomfortable floating around, though normally Jack travels with him, Jack didn't come to Europe. Bryan showed up in anticipation of spending a few weeks and traveling with us to southern France and Spain until he could get to a spanish immersion course in Spain.
Lisa came from NYC following up on my request to come and care for Chi Chi while we went on this vacation. Lisa had already bought her ticket before Chichi died, and Lisa who is a great friend, came anyway. It was a nice plan to look forward to when I wasn't really looking forward to anything. We really enjoyed seeing our mutual interests while she was here.
We went to the newly reopened Chateau Vincennes, Musee Cluny to see the Lady and the Unicorn again, now that I had read a fun novel about it, and we lunched in Paris with our other english speaking friends Carole and Mary. Lisa and Bryan did a little sightseeing while I had to work. They went to the Eiffel Tower and they climbed the tower at Notre Dame de Paris. There was a lot of sitting in cafes and sipping hot chocolate, of course the Louvre, and the three of us went on the sewer tour, (a don't miss look at Paris's underside)and to see the flame from the US, a gift in honor of the statue of Liberty, that now serves as a memorial to Princess Diana, who unfortunately died nearby.
When we returned from our amazing trip down south (more on that later), Lisa had left our home cleaner and smiling, and Bryan was left in Spain to complete his spanish course in the cities Alacante and Salamanca. So the house was quiet, but not for long.
My friend Martha and her new husband Ray arrived on the last leg of their three week honeymoon that started in Italy. Martha is a teen librarian, and she was excited to see the home of the alchemist, Nicholas Flamel, and explore the teen library at Les Halles. We had dinner at Flamel's reportedly Paris's oldest previously private home and we were there on the night of the October full moon. We also spent a day in Chartres seeing one of the world's most beautiful cathedrals. Martha and Ray left yesterday, so now it is quiet again here.
Our next guest will likely be the return of Bryan after 6 weeks in Spain, as he prepares to return to the US in early December. Requests for reservations at the La Varenne chambre d'hote are rolling in. Feb. 19 will likely see Stacey and Brian. March 20-25 will probably be Dave and Nancy and the girls. Sometime in June, maybe the Colorado family, and who knows, who else. Of course my rule is you don't get a confirmation until you buy your tickets. So nothing is for sure, but there is always room at the table.
