Pleasures and Joys

Galen at Place Gambetta, in front of the art museum

Sharing Carcassonne with friends gives me great pleasure.  My friend Galen Brooks arrived on Sunday from Washington, DC after some minor travel glitches that he weathered beautifully. He is settling in, I think, and getting used to a new address and pace of life.  We explored a tiny bit of the Bastide yesterday, just enough to get him oriented and show him which boulangerie to use for his bread purchases. We walked for a few yards along the Canal du Midi--it was such a beautiful day.

Along the Canal du Midi

This morning, we went to the Tuesday morning market and while I came home and cooked and had lunch at home, he is out exploring. I am proud of his spirit.

 

I have to share this with someone--the headline from one of the outlying villages section of the newspaper read, "Tequila Enlivens Tea Dance."  I guess so!  

The band that led us through the streets

I am still trying to process the things I witnessed during Carnaval.  I think that I just don't know enough to evaluate what I saw.  I suspect that some of those dances, rituals, whatever, go back centuries, and maybe even have their roots in pagan cultures. It certainly gave me plenty to think about.

Today a number of happy things happened to me during my marketing.  First, I got recognized by someone I know on the street.  I cannot begin to describe the way that makes me feel...to have made myself a place in a foreign culture and language.  Secondly, I had great conversations with several of the vendors at the market--the man selling vanilla beans and the man with the organic farm (he extended an invitation to visit) who sold Galen some Incan potatoes. While telling us how to prepare them as chips, I mentioned putting salt on them and he promptly told me that salt wasn't good for my health!  Okay, then. 

But the best thing of all was that Michel, my butcher, offered to sharpen my knives for me.  Oh my God, it was almost as good as if he had asked me to dance!  He knows the way to a woman's heart, that's for sure.

A little chocolate/hazelnut birthday cake for Galen on the day he arrived

Lunch at Chez Felix at Place Carnot.