Carcassonne Rhythms

The flower beds have been cleaned and turned for planting

One of the greatest advantages of spending time in a place rather than visiting multiple sites in the same time period is that I have gotten a sense of the rhythms.  Just as some of the great Impressionists visited the same place at different times to capture different moods and light, I have been able to view the same spots over and over again and see the rhythm of their breath.  

Maybe not such a good spot for a nest

The Aude, which last week was still enraged, is calmer now, less opaque and less swift.  Bits of ground that had been inundated are coming out of the water.  Wicker man's arm has not yet been repaired--it may take the advice and skill of the artist who created him to undertake that job.  The flower beds in the park have been emptied and the soil turned, awaiting spring planting.  The trees at the boules court have been cropped short.  

Pruning accomplished.  I am in the lower right hand corner.

No good photos of the Cite today--the light was not right. But I am terrified that I will forget, so I am taking pictures every single time I go out, even if I have photographed it before.  The light and time is different today, so it's new to me, really.  I have learned that--it is one of the greatest lessons of this adventure.  

Just across the Pont Neuf and worlds away from everything

I found the prison.  Even without the sign over the porte, I would have known what it is.  It's no "Slammer by the Sea," that's for sure.  

 

This garden wintered nicely

 

The sun was warm today, and there was no wind, so I probably didn't need my scarf.  I am grateful that the sun is shining and there is no rain falling from the sky. But, I didn't smell that drift of warming soil that hints of spring's arrival.  It's close, but not here yet.

Now this is what I call a mural.  What's real and what tricks the eye?