The Fall

Here we are back in friendly Lignieres after a torturous trip from California thru the bowels of Heathrow and onto good ol' Charles De Gaulle in Paris. The problems with the trip just seemed to mount one atop the other,
first, in San Francisco I was singled out to go thru EXTRA MEASURES...the sniffer machine a more thorough frisking and even with that I was free to proceed to the gate 20 minutes faster than Kelly and Ashley stuck in the line of a lifetime. I paced back and forth and couldn't even see them thru the maze that was the security area at the International Terminal. I had NO CARRYON whatsoever, so it went quickly for me, no telling what a packed carryon would have caused. For them in meant even more bags had to be x-rayed along with all those others from the people that were given the EXTRA MEASURES. No xray machine was in the area of the Sniffer so it caused a big slowdown in everyone else!
We had come to SFO a full 2.5 hours before the plane was scheduled to fly off in search of Europe via Heathrow and still we arrived at the gate in time to be called for boarding, no coffee, no breakfast. So we bid Adieu to Ashley who had endured the most thorough search of all thanks to her cargo pants and no ticket I guess. Her underwires and bra clasp had them mystified. She was about to comepletely strip just for the thrill of it when they suddenly were satisfied. Ah but we feel so safe from the Terrorists, who ever they are.
The flight itself was blah for me as NOTHING of my Entertainment Center worked, not even the call light or the reading light. No TV, no movie or music for me. Ah for my trusty I-Pod. We were packed in the middle aisle, seats 35 E and F alongside a SLEEPER, so no easy hourly walks to stretch and prevent thrombosis and stiff ass, no, he slept and slept. When he did awake he watched the Entertainment Center (I - Green with envy) and once he rose to go pee we sprang into action. Up and out! We stood by the aft door in the galley and chatted with fellow passengers for two solid hours! Such a blessing. Female SF Cops on the way to Leeds for a conference, they were great fun. And a Steward who knew all the great cheap bars in London but gave not one whit about my Entertainment system's inert-ness. Terrific! Once back in our seats Kelly watched a movie and I read (my only option it seemed) until falling asleep which is always difficult for me when flying. She watched "Million Dollar Baby" which I had been wanting to see, then told me the ending after I had glanced thru the seat in front of me and saw the needle going into some girl's arm and asked her "What's he doing that for?" Oh well...
Then we landed at Heathrow in London.
Think...Lines, LOTS of lines, queue's the Brits call them. Line up on the plane to leave it, line up on the ramp to exit, line up to go upstairs to get into another line to get into yet another line. It took us 1.5 Hrs to get to the luggage carossel! And it was HOT...they don';t know what air conditioning IS at Heathrow apparently as it's never been in evidence whenever we've been there. So sweaty people in lines that went on forever, a few hour sample of Hell on earth. Absurd. I will MAKE SURE that we do not EVER connect at that airport again! What a mess. Then on to a bus and out to another building to wait more for the connecting flight to Charles De Gaulle (sic). The newest of the new Airbus 319 belonging to British Midland was our ride over the countryside. Clean as a whistle, efficient and a lovely staff and roomier seats and MORE comfortable seats than that dmaned United 777 we had from SFO to Hell. Charles De Gaulle was a cinch, we have been there enough that it has started to make some sense...AND it's air conditioning system DOES work and works everywhere! Luggage was all there, horray for United and British Midland for those gifts and out to the Rental Agency...AVIS, the BEST in the business in our experience. Got a car with air conditioning, a bit of a hastle but the staff took care of the upgrade in excellent time and happily. Kudo's to Avis! Then we drove out of CDG towards Fountainbleu for a nites stay and a short visit (VERY short as it turns out) to the castle itself as it flew by our car's window in the rain. Stayed in the ETAP for $35.00, clean, quiet, friendly and takes credit cards everywhere. A successful nights sleep and we woke up at 4am...jet lagged! We are still Jet Lagged a week later! Why oh why...because of that damned delay at Heathrow. Ohhhhhh.

So homeward bound thru hill and dale along the A71 towards Bourges from Fountainbleu. Greener than green it all is this time of year, fluffy green, trees covered with vines mixed with hardwoods mile upon mile. Neat as a pin little farms tucked between huge tracts of forest, the highway smooth as a billiard table. We cruse at 75 mph more or less (125 km/hr) which appears to be at/near the top speed of this little Renault puddle jumper mini-van, the air conditioning turned on low, the only real noise is from the wind passing by. Idle chat of our love for this place and miles of wonder. We turn off at St. Amand Montrond, pay at the peage windows and take the N road towards Lignieres, about 15 miles west. Much farm machinery in evidence as the winter wheat crop and lentiles are being planted this time of year. We cruise the streets of Lignieres looking at all the new paint jobs and notice quite a few new ones too along the main rue. Returning to our petite maison we open the front door and peer in, left as it was when we left some 6 months ago, nothing has moved, dust covers most everything save the pile of mail on the kitchen table brought in by Eric our across the street neighbor. Thank you St. Eric, thank you. A "HONK" blasts the air, oh my...our Brit friends from up the hill towards Touche, chatter and chat they invite us up to the house Tuesday at 10am for "tea". Then as they leave and we reuturn to pulling our bags from the car, here comes Eric, kisses all around (it's France after all!) for us from himself and John-Bastion his 7 year old son.

He comes into the kichen and goes directly to the sink and opens the doors and explains in rapid French that something is bad, a leak I think and that he will come to repair it "Lundi". Terrific ! I say and we thank him for the mail delivery and off he and J-B go across the street. We have arrived at last!

The Roof

So we have been back in the US of A for about 6 weeks now and unashamedly enjoying ourselves. The language is familiar, the markets are boring but easy to use (excepting NUGGET, which is Extraordinary!) and the hometown is clean and newish looking compared to olde Ligniere's medieval rustic-ness. The roof repair had to wait until summer as we were leaving and the job just didn't seem to have any priority either with us or with the very busy French roofer. So this morning an email came, from our friends at the Lignieres Tourist Office with the message that our roof is now repaired, no demand for payment, no signing of a contract, nothing...just that the holes are all fixed and the roof is "as new". Amazing! You might wonder why the roof had problems, well, the roof is covered with the thinest of slate tiles, black, shiny (when new) and above all else brittle. Storms come and go with great regularity in the eastern Loire Valley and some of these drop amazing amounts of hail. Hail is hard, imagine sloppy iceballs up to baseball sized dropping at 100 mph and you have the picture. Slate is strong but not THAT strong and a 1" - 2" hail stone can create many chips and holes with subsequent leaks.
When we bought the "petit maison" I counted three small holes with sunlight pouring through them, each less than 1" in size. Upon asking I was told that was "a puh"...a little, meaning there was little to worry about. So I didn't worry. In the 3 years gone by the roof has been stormed upon again and again. I ignore the granerie (attic) as much as possible as it is uncomfortable with no heat in the winter and less cooling from the one window in the summer and at all times very, very dark. As I carried boxes of clothing from the summer up to be stored this last winter I noticed there were many more damaged areas, perhaps 15-20. So I got concerned asked our buddies at the Tourist Office is they knew anyone who could fix our roof and they said "Yes, of course!". Some few days later the specialist in slate roofs appeared at our door and did a cusory but seemingly adequate (for him) inspection of the roof. That was the last we saw of him. Now it is all fixed. We have paid nothing, but will, of course, as soon as we figure out a method. I'm so amazed by the hospitality and follow thru of our French friends, bless them all!
---
Our tickets are now purchased for our return trip. $720 dollars on United RT each amidst this current oil crisis is not bad. Most fares were in excess of 1000 dollars. We'll leave in early September and return in mid-January. 4 1/2 months of our lovely France. We'll take also a trip to Split and the Roman ruins of Diocletian's Palace in Croatia as part of our journey before Ashley comes over (though she'd be really handy to have in light of the length of the driving). She's planning on coming in early December and staying until we all return, some 6 weeks all total. We bought her the ticket as a birthday present for her 40th. We love her and she's a great deal of fun and usefullness when we're there too. A great sous chef she is too!
---
We attended our first French Class at Cafe Society in Napa last Monday at 6pm (sharp!) Very nice indeed! Conversational French, with a group of like challenged (some more than Others!) individuals both male and female. Lots of laughs, French chatter, a glass of a good Cote Du Rhone in hand and the study papers from the teacher herself. We feel we're trying to gain the necesaary knowledge to chat with our friends in Lignieres, it might not actually Work for us, but the effort is being made at least. Driven by that knowledge and a dose of good old Guilt we go back tonight for our second class and are looking forward to it, of course!