Tag: France 2017

I love all the wonderful days we have in France. We have great friends who are willing to entertain, feed and house us, as well as take us to places we’d never know to see and do things we’d never know to do. Perhaps it’s because of these things that days like today become all the more special. Christine and Melinda buddied up, leaving me on my own. So I did what I love doing in Nantes. I just starting walking. I walked along my favorite trails, stopping to read on park benches. I spent an hour in our old neighborhood library, recognizing the librarian who was so helpful to me during the sabbatical. I continued on to the shopping center at which Melinda and I would buy our groceries. Then I followed the path back to our old neighborhood, walking the trail to Ella’s school that borders the Hippodrome. For me, it’s both time traveling and being in the present. And because I’m alone, I go at my own pace and in my own way. It’s perfect.

To fully get the significance of this post, you need to understand that back in the dark days of January I imagined having a drink with Laurent. I sent an email to him about this desire, along with a photo I took of me trying to toast him. He responded, echoing the desire, writing, “i am impatient to drink with you.” I loved that expression so much, I wrote a blog post about it. In that post, I said I’d love to have a t-shirt with it written on the shirt.

With that in mind, I present this photo:

Now, wait, there’s more. Where we had this drink is in a bar called Le Bidule in the city of Pornichet. This is a happening place to go. You arrive and find a place to stand and very quickly a server comes to ask which wine you want. Your choices are white or red, and he is carrying them as he moves through the bar. He is also carrying these small glasses which, after you’ve made your choice, he fills to the absolute brim. The wine is sweet and the atmosphere is fun.

Oh, part of the fun is you bring in your own munchies. We had a smorgasbord of snacks leftover after our 12 kilometer walk around the city of Le Croisic earlier in the day. More on that in another post.

One more thing, the sun came out today and we spent several hours by the Boudeau pool. They leave on their summer vacation tomorrow so this may be our last chance to sunbathe.

Mr. Bernard Bertail and Mr. Andrew Smallman are pleased to announce the marriage of their wives, Christine Bertail to Melinda Shaw, on July 30, 2017 at the Château du Coing in Saint-Fiacre-sur-Maine, France. A future of celebratory experiences is planned that include glasses of wine, working out, considering home remodeling projects, tolerating their husbands, remembering where they put their sunglasses, and being best friends.

Dear Bentsen,

I want you to know that all is fine here in Nantes with your people, Andy and Melinda. I am making sure they are being treated well by my people, Frederique and Laurent. Last night, I let them all have dinner together in my house; in fact, I allowed Daisy’s people, Christine and Bernard, to join in the fun.

Next up, I suggested they head into town to pick up tickets to see tonight’s new Royal Deluxe show, after they all head to a chateau/vineyard to taste wine. I don’t understand why people have such a fascination with wine. Water is so much better, as you can see in this picture of Daisy, who really likes her drinking water to have a fish swimming in it.

Anyway, Bentsen, I let Andy pick me up so he could take this picture to show you that he is fine. He told me that he misses you so I thought giving him a little animal time would be the nice thing to do. It was all fine for about 10 seconds. You know how it is, I’m sure.

I trust you are enjoying your vacation.

Love, Californie

For context, I invite you to go read this post from July 8, 2010, the 8th day if the sabbatical. It’s okay. I’ll wait.

As you might be able to tell from this photo, I repeated the experience earlier today for my lunch. I offered to share with Melinda, but just like she did 7 years ago, she declined. Honestly, she doesn’t know what she missed. It really is surprisingly tasty. This is especially true because there is nothing like it in the US.

I decided to post this because Melinda’s mom, Michele, got a big kick out of me eating coq au vin from a can back in 2010. I think she especially likes my rendition of the sing-song, “Coq au vin, in a can.” I made it up, in case you were wondering.

In our little kitchen at noon today it all came back to me, Michele. I dedicate this post to you. Maybe you’d join me?

So here’s a little more detail from our Friday night in Nantes.

The Bertails planned all along to take us to a fairly new burger joint, knowing how much I like hamburgers. You longtime blog readers will recall Ella’s and my search for the best cheeseburger in France during the sabbatical in 2010-11 (get a refresher here). Since then, finding a delicious burger has become much easier.

Those Melinda and I had last night at Berlin 1989 rank right there with any gourmet burger you’d find in the states.

Prior to going out last night, we had an aperitif at the Bertail home. Me, I made that delicious Aveze-Ricard combo I wrote about last year in this post. Melinda thought the color matched my glasses and snapped this photo.

I think the picture turned out really well, maybe because I’m not looking at the camera. Can you see relaxation, contentment, and appreciation in it?

I can!