Thursday, September 10, 2009

Between Guests and The Fog...


Yes, today was the first fog that we have seen since spring. Thick enough to slow the little traffic of Lignieres around our corner and make for a spooky and ethereal backdrop to our medieval village. We were up early as Aud was on her way to Paris and her flight home. We packed her up and left Maison Blanche at 9:20am for the 10 minute jaunt to the RR station at Chateauneuf Sur Cher. Aud was scheduled this morning on the 9:53 to Paris...oops...Bourges, a stop and change of trains for who knows why. We missed her immediately, coming home we were both silent in contemplation of new challenges upcoming...soon...like tomorrow when my student from my Hogan High teaching days, Andy and his friend Mr. X make thier appearance at the Maison Blanch. New people, new conversations, new subjects. We are already tired and one day is probably not enough time to recharge our batteries for them, at least...not very much. Being young men and adventuresome I think they will put up with us only a little while before wanting to wander off to new sights and places. I know they wanted to go to Marseilles or Nice so I have dreamed up a sightseeing route to the south that will give them much to contemplate about this most amazing country. I plan on printing a sheet with some instructions and a list of our favorite places to tour in France. Here's the list...

Argenton-sur-Creuse, http://www.ot-argenton-sur-creuse.fr/index2.php

Lascaux, http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/

Sarlat, http://www.sarlat.com/eindex.html

Pont Du Gard, http://www.pontdugard.fr/index.php?langue=GB

Tarn Gorge and Bridge, http://www.ot-gorgesdutarn.com/index-gb.html

Carcassonne. http://www.carcassonne.org/

Orange, http://www.horizon-provence.com/orange-provence/orange-roman-city.htm

This is far from a comprehensive list but it's all good and food for the intellect.
All are grist for the camera eye that's for sure and each due it's own good time and a sit to contemplate. I will print out the list and discuss each one with our new guests and see what interest there might be in such a discovery tour.

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We spent the day cooking tomorrows dinner, a Mexican one with a complex recipe for Chicken Mole, Black Beans and Rice. It took us hours to create and I think it'll be worth the effort. Here's the lin to the recipe we used:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/06/FD1S19F7J1.DTL&type=food

Howard and Kelly Lute
He: Good Cook, Bad Mechanic, Terrible Plumber She: Patient
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Sunday, September 06, 2009

My Leading Ladies

Oh, I slipped! Damn...I hit the L instead of the R! Oh well...you get the picture, they are all readers and they are incessantly reading...only Furry and I are left to contemplate our navels. They read all day and into the night taking little time out for smoking (Aud), going potty, and eating. Mostly...they sit or lay about reading. A life of pure leisure. I'm NOT complaining! Far from it! I get left to my own devices largely, don't even have to drive the car some days as Kelly has bravely taken on that chore to guide our guests about the countryside. Leaves me time to cook, read cookbooks, fiddle around on the computer and fight with Furry.
Not bad. The most "time off" I've had in a while.

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Andy, my ex-student from Hogan oh so long ago...mid 90's has just landed at CDG and is enroute to the hotel with his friend. They are near Port Orleans but are traveloling to London tomorrow via the chunnel, stay a couple of days then back to Paris til the end of the week, then they are coming here to join us for a few days before venturing south. I have some places I think they'd like to observe in person. The Pont Du Gard, Lascoux, The Tarn Gorge and the Bridge over it, there's so much to see and appreciate it's a challenge to do a proper job of being tour director really...all this on the way to Marsaille and Nice which they want to visit.

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Tonight we are having S and D over to meet Katie and have a go at more experimental (not quite) food. I've made Canneloni and Eggplant Parmigiana as the entrees, Kelly has made her beet and blue cheese salad with nut oil and vinegar dressing (delicious!), I also made French Vanilla ice cream from the ancient recipe that everyone seems to like. It should be a pretty filling meal and a lot of fun.
Katie's daughter G is coming via velo from Belin with her boyfriend N and may be calling us any minute now to give us a possible arrival date and time. Biking fron Berlin across both Germany and France! Amazing! It's quite a feat that's for sure!
She's the one going to Circus school too, so she's very athletic to say the least!