Tag: France 2017

That’s right, it’s Bentsen’s birthday today. One whole year, which means he is no longer a puppy, right? To commemorate the day, I took some photos at the park in Champtoceaux where we had lunch on Monday. I thought Bentsen, and those who love him, would appreciate them.

What I did on my summer vacation – Spent the entire time waiting for my beloved tram line, Ligne 2 in Nantes, to re-open. That’s right. It’s not operating this summer.

So, I’m either staging a hunger strike, praying for the return of the line, or too distraught to look at the camera. Perhaps it is all three.

I may still be there at the tram stop, waiting for Line 2 to arrive. I’m not telling.

For a little history, when I contemplated proposing marriage to Ligne 2, check out this blog entry from 2011.

Today, Bernard and Christine took us on a day trip to see the town of Champtoceaux, about a 30 minute drive from Nantes. We had a picnic lunch at a scenic park overlooking the Loire River. After lunch, we hiked to see and learn about the centuries-old ruins there. I snapped the photo above in the midst of the ruins of the citadel. If you’re interested in learning more, check out the town’s English language website.

An interesting thing to note since the sabbatical year in 2010 is how I’ve recognized the important things that have taken place on this day each year. I’ve found it to be a fun thing to do, to consider what I (and others) have done on the same day over time. And for some reason, July 23rd stands out.

If you’re interested in checking this out, you can use the “View by Month” feature to the right. Click on the Select Month pull-down menu and select July of each year. Scroll until you find the 23rd and read each post. You can also look at my post from 2014 for a further sense of this.

Now about this year’s July 23rd, it started out with having to regroup. The initial plan was for us to travel with Frederique and Laurent to Pornichet to see their (and our) friends Luc and Isabel. The plan for the men was to run along the boardwalk for maybe an hour or so. And the women were going to do an exercise-walk in the ocean.

Melinda even bought some special shoes for this purpose yesterday! But then the weather turned on us, rainy and chilly, and the planned trip was scrapped. This is a classic situation of plans being “rained out,” to use an American baseball reference (the “game” is tentatively rescheduled for next Sunday).

So instead of the trip to Pornichet, Frederique and Laurent walked to Melinda’s and my apartment. Then, together, the four of us walked into the center of Nantes. This is an important route for me, in that I’ve run it many times. And there are some fun art installations along the way. We had brunch in Nantes, wandered around town a bit, and then walked back. All together, this was 17,000 steps, according to my pedometer.

All of the photos, including the selfie below with its lovely message, come from today’s walk. July 23rd, you know how to treat me.

So, yes, it’s my mom’s birthday today so I hereby dedicate this post to her. I’m writing from rainy Amsterdam where Melinda and I are tonight before heading to Nantes tomorrow.

You might not know, but my mom is an expert at those word jumble games you see in the daily newspaper. Letters of words are mixed up and you have to put them back in order to discover the word. Now based on the 8 hours or so I’ve spent so far in Amsterdam, I think the whole country is involved in one big word jumble game. Case in point, this combination of letters, along with the illustration, that Melinda and I found on a street sign while out walking:

Just what the heck is this word? And if you get it, I think you have to keep trying to solve more, like on a game show. There are words like this everywhere. In stores, on street signs, in menus. Like I said, I think it’s one big country-wide word jumble game. It’s probably based on some research that proved doing puzzles like this keeps your mind sharp or something.

Potentially interesting side note — Melinda says this is the way words in English have always looked to her. Jumbled letters, no spaces…