Friends and Relations and Weekend Vacations

This summer is full of exciting activities for us, beginning on the first of July with back-to-back visits from loved ones. Our first couple were an old friend and her daughter. Susan and I hadn't seen each other for forty years. We more or less grew up together, living in the same community, going to the same church, and our parents were friends. We were always close but somehow lost touch, as our lives diverged and we moved away from our hometown, Palo Alto, California. I was aware that Susan is a children's book author and poet. She also, as it turns out, wrote for Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion. She is quite a talented lady. We began a correspondence a year or so ago and, happily enough, life swept her through Paris, presenting a perfect opportunity to reconnect in person.

Susan's daughter Rudy is an incredible young woman. She's ten years younger than Emily, just finished with her first year of graduate school at the New School in NYC. She is in Europe this summer to attend two seminars, one in Switzerland, at U.N. headquarters and the other in Poland. She is interested in refugee issues. She is also a talented artist and blogger.

Even though they were scheduled to come stay at the Maison Conti for several days, I went into Paris early to join them there, mainly because I wanted them to meet Emily and her kids as well, and Emily wasn't free to come out here during Susan and Rudy's visit. We made a date to find one another at the sailboat pond in the Jardin du Luxembourg. Our rendezvous was wonderful, emotional and delightful in every way. We had the bonus of a ready-made activity for Quinn. He'd never sailed a boat in the pond.

One can rent sailboats right there. They come with a stick for launching. Quinn picked out the pirate boat with the skull and crossbones and black sail.

We were all somewhat amazed how the little boats would sail out into the middle of the pond, but always return to the sides where it was easy to snag them and bring them back to shore. None ever seemed to become marooned in the middle. Zinnie was just as interested as Quinn.

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Susan and Rudy spent four days with us, and we could have spent all of our time around the kitchen table just talking and catching up, but we did plan a few other activities as well... not that the conversations ever stopped for the briefest moment! We couldn't have grown tired of visiting after four weeks, let alone four days, but it's always nice to get out and about nonetheless.

We took a day trip to the Loire Valley, stopping by Amboise for lunch and afterwards the Château of Chaumont-sur-Loire where every year they hold a garden festival. We had not yet visited this season. The theme this year is "Gardens of Sensations." About 35 gardeners from around the world have planted and decorated plots to respond to the theme.

Chaumont also gives commissions for artists to create permanent or semi-permanent installations in the large park grounds. This year Patrick Dougherty has created this intriguing woven sculpture. It is a marvel. 

Wandering through the grounds of the château and through the garden exhibition is inspirational for sure.

The gardens, of course grow and develop over the months. The exhibition opens in April and lasts through October.

The variety and whimsey of the installations is impressive. I particularly liked this white garden and the water garden complete with tortoise.

Chaumont is a real center for gardening innovation. My favorite part, in fact, is the employees' test garden where all sorts of novel ways of growing vegetables and creating garden structures are tried out and tested. The vertical garden was developed here, where a variety of plants are grown on the face of buildings, creating fantastically beautiful living facades.

We also spent a day in the studio making prints which was lots of fun for all.

These ladies are creative to the core. In fact Susan writes poems on demand for her editor before breakfast. Give her a topic, say "the scientific method" and she'll come up with something brilliant before coffee. This is a real example. Etching is a piece of cake for someone like that!

Susan made a cat image, Rudy an ocean view and I made a river-scape.

I read this morning in the paper that spending time remembering the past is not a sign of depression, as was once believed. Nostalgia has been shown to have clear health benefits. Susan brought me this photo of myself from lo those many years ago. I didn't recognize me. I definitely have no memory of the hat and disturbingly, hardly even of the dog, but our visit, full of happy memories definitely did me a world of good! And besides, we made a few more.

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Almost as soon as Rudy and Susan left, my brother Gary arrived with his wife Marilyn. This is their third visit to France since we moved here and I'm always so happy when they come.

They were on their way back home after a short trip to Ireland and they stayed only a couple of nights, but we did manage to have an adventure with them as well. We started by going to Montrichard for a pleasant lunch on the banks of the river Cher. The day was very warm, which I did not complain about, although I did feel a touch of sunstroke.

The main feature of the town is the Donjon which was built in 1010 by Foulques Netra, known as the Black Falcon. He was an ancestor of Richard the Lion-Hearted, who in his day reclaimed this city after it had been lost to a competing duke. The Black Falcon allegedly bit off a morsel of the true cross while on a crusade to the Holy Lands, and brought it back to the church here as a scared relic, making the church of Saint-Croix one of the important pilgrimage sites on the route to Compostelle in the middle ages.

We sat on the banks of the river after lunch gazing over to the town and ancient bridge. Gary had a little nap on the grass. It was peaceful and pleasant.

Then we were off to the charming Château of Cheverny. The claim to fame of this castle is that it was the inspiration for Marlinspike Hall, the home of Captain Haddock in the Tin Tin books by Hergé. It has been in the same family for six centuries.

It is fantastically decorated with lots of painted paneling

and ornate ceilings.

It is still a private residence, so unlike many of the castles in the Loire, the furnishings are resplendent.

The back garden is beautifully planted and maintained.

But our favorite feature has always been the kennels with many good old hound dogs. They are hunters. After our first visit I made an etching of the animals sleeping on top of one another.

Now we're alone again, albeit with clients in the house but no long dinner conversations or excuses for trips to the Loire Valley, at least for a few more weeks. It has been such a pleasant way to begin this summer season.

Catching Up

Looking to the Rose Room from inside the Blue Room at Maison Conti

We've been home in France for a month, but my blog posts have still been dwelling on our fabulous vacation in Slovenia and Austria. It's time to play catch up. This week I post a whole month's worth of photos so that I can get my life and blog synchronized again! I have so much to share. September has been glorious, social and adventurous. I'll try to keep the writing to a minimum since I'm posting such a profusion of images.

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A couple we knew from California came to stay with us for two nights early in the month. Ray and Mary are quite brave and daring. They rented a camper to travel around France. They don't know the language, and this was their first visit. Rick and I were impressed! Luckily they have that "can-do" attitude and all along their route we got reports of their adventures via email.

The night after their departure we were happy to welcome Wolfgang and his family, our friends from Germany, who stop by Maison Conti on their way home from their yearly vacation in Brittany. They came loaded with the freshest fish possible (some of them were still alive when we unwrapped them) of various varieties, oysters, prawns, dorade and sole. We had a feast together on the terrace.

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Our good friends Cass and Billy also came to stay for several days. We had a very lovely time with them. Back home we saw them socially every week. Rick worked with Billy and I worked with Cass. They are one of the reasons we miss California sometimes. The last time they visited was three years ago, so we had lots of catching up.

We took the opportunity to go on a few adventures with them. The weather was perfect. We took them to Lavardin, a beautiful little town on the Loir, south of us but north the the more popular Loire Valley. Lavardin is classified as one of the most beautiful villages of France. It's castle, now in ruins, was built in the 11th century.

The town itself is nestled at the side of a forested hill with the lazy Loir River flowing through the middle of it.

We had never before gone into the church of Saint-Genest. It is an extraordinary building! It was built in the 1000s and was on the Pilgrimage route. The paintings that decorate the walls and ceilings are from the very early part of the Middle Ages. So charming!

We went across the river to visit the troglodyte city of Trôo. This is a city built on a steep hillside. Almost all the residences and shops are built into the cliff faces or in caves.

Rick and Cass scaled to the highest point to take a panorama shot. On the way up Rick snapped this photo of Billy and me talking. I have to say, I really do enjoy a good conversation with Billy!

Atop the hill, there was a breathtaking view of the valley below, with the river running between the treelines.

We took our friends to the château of Chaumont-sur-Loire to visit the yearly garden expositions. A year ago, I reported on this interesting garden competition that invites 25 world-renowned landscape architects to respond to a theme and create a garden space. The results are open to the public between June and October. This year's theme was Garden's of the Future, Happy Biodiversity. Unfortunately the theme seemed to have been a bit too cerebral and some of the designs were heavy on concept but light on actual design or beauty.

Still, it's always a treat to spend a few hours at this site, with its expansive views over the Loire River.

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Quinn began school this year. He is attending a wonderful bilingual private school located next to Les Buttes Chaumont, one of the most beautiful parks in Paris. It's about a half hour walk from Emily's house to the school. Quinn arrives at 8:45 in the morning and stays until 4:30. He has lunch and a nap there. The classroom is just beautiful and it is all organized wonderfully. I went to pick him up one afternoon and he was so proud to show me his place at the table and some of the things he plays with during the day.

Outside the classroom is a huge pedestrian-only terrace. Rick and I spent a few days in Paris with Quinn while his parents were both working out of town.

We enjoyed our stroll to and from school every day, walking through the park, which was built by order of Napoleon III in 1864. It was a mammoth undertaking, as it is built on the site of an old stone quarry. It took seven years and 200,000 cubic meters of earth to create this large recreational space, made for this historically working class neighborhood.

 What a perfect time of the year, with the trees just beginning to turn.

Wednesday Quinn does not go to school so we had a whole day of adventures with him. We started by going to the Grand Palais to see a show of antique games and toys.

I can't resist posting several photos of this exposition. Quinn and I were both utterly enchanted by the displays.

After a nice restaurant lunch, where Quinn was a pleasure to be with, we decided to take a cruise down the canals of Paris. What a great idea!

We started out in a huge underground tunnel that was impossible to photograph. I could picture Jean Valjean here.  We passed through several double locks. The boat was lifted 8 feet in a matter of minutes, as the water flowed into the lock.

All along the river are beautiful steel bridges over looking the canal. People watched as we floated under. The ride took a little more than 2 hours from central Paris to the Parc de la Villette, very close to Emily's house.

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Our friend David, who has a home in Brittany was in residence this month. We carved out a few days to go visit with him. He took us on a tour of his part of the coast. The day was exceptional. We visited the Vannes market in the morning, with lots of people passing through the old gates of the town with their baskets and shopping bags in hand.

Our aim was more to enjoy the old city and its charming architecture. David is an architect in California. I particularly enjoy the old wooden carved and painted figures

There are plenty of half-timbered houses. This one seemed slightly inebriated. Where are those 90º angles?

It's pleasant to walk around town with David, he knows how these old houses are constructed and we always seem to see more of things when we are with him.

In the afternoon he took us to Port Blanc and we caught a ferry to Ile aux Moines, one of several charming islands in the Golfe du Morbihan.

The island is long and thin, surrounded by the bay and protected from ocean surf. This day the sky and water were pure blue.

There are several thatched roof homes on the island. David, being British, was able to explain the entire process and theory behind these structures. They are apparently very sound for at least twenty years, and then the reeds must be changed. Of course, there is a certain way to construct them which takes some technique.

We walked all around the island and enjoyed the many pretty bungalows, with their lovely gardens and views over the water.

We all agreed it was probably just about an absolutely perfect day.

Rick and David both grew up sailing boats, so we spent a certain amount of time enjoying the beautiful dinghies moored and sailed all around the island.

My personal favorite is this traditional Breton style boat with the red-orange sail.

We left the island as the sun was sinking in the west.

We made our way back home on Sunday, stopping in the beautiful Breton village of Josselin for lunch. It is, like Montmirail, a petite cité de caractère, a small, authentic and historically interesting village. It had many half-timbered houses, the style which was prevalent in this area of France in the Middle Ages.

David pointed out to us how much he appreciates the lush flower boxes in many Breton towns.

The castle of Josselin was built in the tenth century.

Now I've caught up to the present. We are expecting a week of exceptionally warm weather. The trees are turning colors and village life has quieted down considerably. Next week I'll share a few fallish stories and photos.