Tag: normandie

La cuisine chez nous, II

On By Terry ChristophersonIn cooking, Food and drink4 Comments

Started my day a bit off, but then, on the way to the Intermarché, Tricia reminded me that she was making pasta for lunch, it completely brightened my day; food is so important to us and our frame of mind. So now, thoroughly rejuvenated, I am writing while she is creating one of the best comfort foods in my life. I know we will be in Italy in eleven days – after stops in Paris, Lyon, and Geneva – yet her pasta is what has my attention today.

These last few weeks in Normandie we have eaten well, see my blog “La cuisine chez nous”. Since that post I wanted to report on the state of la cuisine chez nous.

We have gone out to Le Bistrot St Julien, it remains our favorite in the area. We also went to Auberge de la Source, another of the places we like, in fact it seems we rarely go anyplace else. The entree, a basted egg in a camembert sauce with bits of andoulette, was stunning.

We have both admitted that when we are home we would rather eat at Chez Nous, and eat we did. Tricia did the shepherd’s pie that I wrote about on my last post, since then she has posted the recipe, give it a try. For a Sunday lunch I made compte gougères for and entree, then Mushroom Bourgogne with polenta for the mains.

One of my other contributions was broccoli and compte on puff pastry. This one is defiantly a do again, unless of course our friend Dave is near, he calls broccoli “sticks of death”, not his favorite veggie.

Tricia followed this with another of the comfort foods she does so well, sole meuniere. She has never posted the recipe but since it is a classic French dish you can certainly find it with an online search. It is one of those dishes that can seem intimidating, but there are simple versions. The caper sauce is what makes the dish, so rice pilaf was the perfect accompaniment.

Saturday I made crab cakes for the main,

Yesterday for Sunday lunch Tricia made salmon chowder which I had with spicy coleslaw. I made parmesan shortbreads for the entree- the only entree easier than the compte gougères which I made earlier. Someday I must post the recipe as they are always a hit with guests, and easy to take when visiting. To complete the meal I made Parmesan toasts, and a roquefort salad.

When I started writing Tricia was making pasta. Most often our pastas are vegetarian, Tricia loves a lot of veggies, thankfully I do as well. We cook some pretty hardy meals with vegetables, nothing wimpy about them at all. Here is the finished dish.

So it has been a good few weeks here in Torchamp, we head out on Thursday for the train in Flers which will take us to Paris and then onward. Lots of trains on this trip, one through the alps between Geneva and Milan that I am particularly looking forward to.

We are grateful that we live in a place where travel is easy and much more affordable than in the US. Yet we have always traveled, even just day trips driving around the Pacific Northwest, or here in Normandie. The important thing for aging joints and healthy attitudes is to keep moving, I even read just this morning that moving reduces the chance of dementia. Some days I can’t remember much of anything, so we need to keep moving, and we will.

I hope your journeys are a joy, short or long. And look for good food along the way.

Home – wood stove, missing Neville, and food

On By Terry ChristophersonIn France6 Comments

We got back home on 4 January after a month in the US, so what has it been like?

First off it has been pretty cold most of the time, morning temperatures in the 20sF, we even had a dusting of snow. We try to use our wood stove as little as possible, it is just too much bother and too much smoke, yet we have had a few fires out of necessity.

I took that photo last winter when Neville was still with us, he did like the fires. Though we always miss him, and talk about him often, since returning we are missing him for another reason – mice. It seems the cold has driven the mice to seek warmer places indoors, so we have been setting traps and cleaning a lot, yuck. If Neville was here it would be pas de problème .

We eat quite a bit differently when we are home. While traveling, and especially on this trip to visit friends and family who all wanted to share amazing food, we eat a lot. Here in Normandie we are pretty much vegetarian and eat our main meal at lunch, though still pretty light. Then we have just an appetizer type nibble in the evening.

Our first Sunday back I made crisp, thin polenta cakes with a light Roquefort sauce, topped with beets, walnuts and crispy shallots.

We have had flatbreads, salads, I made a cauliflower soup, and Tricia made a lentil soup. For her birthday last Friday I did polenta cakes again but with a mushroom sauce – it didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked for a birthday meal, but she said it was a good birthday, which is all that mattered. It feels good to eat a bit less, and I am sure my girth is happier for it as well.

Friday we head to Paris, then on to the south of Spain for a couple of weeks, it will be good to get out of the cold for a bit. We will leave traps for the mice just in case. And in Spain I can get all of the tapas and grilled fish I can eat, we can hardly wait.

Eating back in Normandie

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Food and drink4 Comments

When traveling we seek out good food, it is one of the most important things for us. I would rather find a good restaurant than visit most museums. Back home food continues to be a priority. We focus on vegetarian meals and seafood. Thankfully we can eat quite well here at La Thebauderie and our surrounding area. Here are a few of our meals since we returned from Norway.

Three dishes stand out as the best over the last couple of weeks. Tricia and I like to cook just as much as we like to eat, so two of the best meals were here at chez nous.

Le meilleur was the scallops that Tricia made last Sunday. Her scallops are alway très délicieux, but this time she outdid herself by creating a lemon butter sauce that is easily one of the best sauces I have ever had. She served them along with sautéed cauliflower and green beans.

Last Monday, I made a lunch of grilled anchovies and vegetables – I would have shared it with Tricia but she is not a fan of some of my grilled fish. Here in Europe canned fish are gourmet quality and considered a delight, unlike the reception they often receive in the US. These anchovies came from Brittany, don’t confuse them with the wonderful salty kind you find on a pizza, these are small whole fish.

We went to Le-Bistrot-Saint-Julien, the first restaurant we went to when we moved here in 2022, and it is still one of our favorites. It is located just a block a way from the chateau in the medieval part of Domfront. The menu-du-jour is usually my choice, this day we both chose it.

The entrée was goat cheese wrapped in a crispy thin dough and a salad.

The main was black cod and risotto, it was so good. Thankfully in France using a bit a bread to sop up the sauce on the plate is c’est normal.

We do like to eat, some of our best memories include food and friends. Tricia had a sign when we lived in Mukilteo, “If you love people cook them good food” – I think that was it. And if you don’t do the cooking then find good places to eat together.

Rustic Realities

On By Terry ChristophersonIn France8 Comments

We moved to Normandie from a modern townhouse-condo in Harbour Pointe, Mukilteo, Washington. It was complete with walking paths, yard maintenance, and a two car garage. Now we live in very rural France. It has been quite a change, and we have enjoyed it. Yet, the reality of our rustic life is ever present.

This is the entry into our little village, after driving 0.40 miles from the narrow main road through a dairy farm. Chez nous is the one in the center.

The buildings here are over 230 years old. Though I am not sure of all of the details, the names of the buildings do shed some light on the village’s past. Ours is the Quincaillerie or Hardware Store: others are the post, the school, the bakery, the wine cellar. So it appears this was a tiny village that served the surrounding farms at sometime in its past. Though there have been many upgrades over the years, its rustic heredity still shines through.

We like to watch the British show “A Place In The Sun”. It is about Brits who want to buy a place in France, Spain, Greece, or Portugal. Often the clients look at inexpensive properties, thinking of doing the renovations. These properties are plentiful in France. It is quite easy to find homes for 50,000€, BUT they can be quite derelict, needing a lot of work. Tricia and I comment often about how we hope they know what they are getting themselves in for.

As I write this a contractor is working on the roof. It has been in a bad state of repair since before we moved here, almost eighteen months ago. They started the work a few weeks ago by erecting the scaffolding, then they left. A few weeks later they returned to remove the old roofing, then they left again.

A week or so later they came back for a couple of days and worked on the waterproof fabric and slats. (For readers unfamiliar with this type of construction, just know that it is quite different from what I knew in the US.) Then of course they left, for a couple more weeks. While we waited, there were, bien sûr, torrential rainstorms. Finally, today they are doing a bit of work, we will see how far they go. From what I hear, and read in books written by others, this is just c’est normal here in France.

We have other rustic reminders, such as our stove. It is pretty much like you might find in an RV – called a caravan by our Brit friends. Every month or so we have to take our empty butane tank to the Intermarché and exchange it for a full one. The oven pretty much is either hot or not so hot, so we adjust cooking times and watch things like a hawk; simmering is really tricky.

Hot water and showers are always exciting. The hot water heater, which is more accurately called a boiler in British English, because the water gets almost boiling hot, does not have a temperature setting, it is just hot. You must be careful when turning on the water as you can get burned.

Then to add to the excitement, we have really old pipes that are calcified. So while taking a shower, with the water nicely adjusted, the cold water will stop, and only scalding hot water comes out, yes, even if you move the handle all the way to the cold. So with head covered in shampoo, you step aside and wait for the cold to return, then rinse quickly. This is caused because someone in an adjoining unit turns their water on. We have been waiting for almost a year for this to get fixed. We are not sure what the hold up is, or what the solution is.

We have other reminders of our rustic life, like waiting for the cows to be transferred from one field to another, just as we pull off the road, or of chickens crossing the road; both of which are quite entertaining. Of course all of these critters add their own aroma to the air at times.

We have so enjoyed living here, and all of the quirks are just enhancements to what our friend Shirley calls, Notre grande aventure. We do get away to Paris and other cities often, just to remind us that there is civilization out there, yet we are so thankful to have experienced a side of life that many dream of but never get the opportunity to actually embrace.

A Week of Food and Friends

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Food and drink, France5 Comments

Tricia and I are foodies; we talk about food, we plan our next meals while eating, and we both read food blogs. When we travel, seeking out a good place for lunch is as important to us as visiting some iconic sight. Thankfully, our friends Tim and Lisa enjoy good food as well, so their time with us has included varied venues, both geographically and culinarily. Thank you Tricia for most of these photos.

Not all of our meals were in restaurants. Sandwiches, or paninis, which of course are the same thing, but panini sounds more exotic, were a mainstay. Lisa with her comfortable stalwart of sliced turkey, Tricia with tomatoes and sliced goat cheese. Tim and I had sardine salad with spices, onions, and pickles. One day we had grain bowls, a welcome vegetarian break from meat-heavy French cooking.

Sundays were at home, since open restaurants on Sundays in France are not common in the rural areas. Sunday Lunch is a revered tradition in France which I suppose contributes to the restaurants being closed. We cooked breaded chicken one Sunday, braised lamb and mash the second.

We visited a number of restaurants, Saint Julien’s twice. We went with Tim on his first day here. Last Tuesday all four of us went.

Menu du jour at Saint Julian’s

We had Indian food in Mayanne. We even went to the Buffalo Grill to have American-style hamburgers. One night our neighbors invited us over for the UK version of chili, which is not Tex-mex at all, yet was quite good.

Last Wednesday we went to Au Point Nommé  in Saint-Fraimbault. Tricia and I went there in March of 2020 when we were here to check out La Thebauderie, it was good to go back. We sat in the sun and enjoyed the meal.

On Thursday we took a long drive to Granville, a historic town and the location of one of our favorite restaurants in Normandie, La Citidel. The lunch was a gift to us all from Lisa’s mom who lives in far away Southern California. We enjoyed every moment, sitting outside under an awning that gave some of the photos an orange tint. Thank you so much Anne.

Apéros and oysters for a perfect start to a meal by the sea.

Tricia had scallops, what an amazing presentation. Tim and I had seafood towers.

Friday we took them to our favorite place nearby, which I have written about before, Auberge du la Source – wonderful, c’est normal.

It has been a good time. Thursday we all head for Chartres to visit the famed cathedral. Of course, as iconic and historic as the Gothic church is, Tricia and I will be in search of good food.

Normandie – Or “The French UK”

On By Terry ChristophersonIn France8 Comments

It is beautiful here in Normandie in the spring. How can you beat a sunset like this one?

For centuries Normandie has attracted foreigners who attempted to make it their own. The earliest residents were pre-historical. They left behind cave paintings and mysterious megalithic monuments. When Julius Cesar invaded in 58 BC there were thriving Celtic tribes. Rome established multiple sites with ruins and names which are still in use.

At the end of the 3rd century AD the Germans came, destroying much of what the Romans had built in what is now Normandie. The Germans were followed by the Viking raids that started in the early 800s. These raids continued for years and eventually the area was called  Normandie, the land of the Normans. Then, a Viking descendent, William the Duke of Normandy, attacked England in 1066, which resulted in Normandy becoming part of England. In 1204 Normandie was freed from English rule and rejoined France. Yet Normandie has never lost its English roots.

These days Normandie is overrun with tourists intent on visiting the D-Day Beaches, Mont Saint Michelle, churches, and sampling the food. Folks from the UK relocate to Normandie in numbers large enough that some villages have more English speaking residents than French speakers. We can go days never speaking French because all of our neighbors speak the British version of English.

The architecture of Normandie, from my non-professional eye, seems more English than French. On our recent trip to La Rochelle the change in architecture was evident as we drove south.

Compare this old cottage in England (left) with the one we see looking out of our window.

The food is one of the few things that remains more French. Cuisine tends to be influenced by the terroir of the land, thus Camembert and cider are icons of this region.

We like Normandie but are enthusiastic about exploring other regions of France, so we travel. Curiosity fuels the urge to wander; thankfully we share that urge.

Printemps en Normandie

On By Terry ChristophersonIn France6 Comments

Springtime in Normandie – food, a bit of sprucing of chez nous, and kicking-up our French.

Auberge de la Source in Sainte-Cyr-du-Bailleul remains our favorite place to eat in our area. We are regular enough that we share bisous (the French kiss on each cheek greeting) when we arrive and au bientôt when we depart. So it is always a treat to chat with the owners, she handles the front of the house, he, the classically trained chef, does the magic in the kitchen. Back from our trip to La Rochelle where we were spoiled with good food we headed to la Source for a local fix.

During the week the only offering is the menu du jour. Friday’s was of course perfect. It was bar, a common menu fish here, not so common in the US.

Tricia usually does not order the dessert, but she most always steals a bite or two of mine, you can see why.

It is Tuesday 9 May 2023 as I am writing this, we have been busy getting ready for tomorrow, when our dear friend Tim arrives to spend almost three weeks with us, on Friday his wife Lisa, another dear friend, who is conveniently married to Tim, it works out so well, will also arrive. Part of our preparation was redoing our gallery wall to accommodate an original painting we got from the artist named Canard in Ars-en-Ré while on our trip to La Rochelle. Here is his gallery and studio, he has been painting for years and I am sure some of the brushes and such are as old as I am.

He paints boats and people of the sea. We bought this painting as it reminds us of our trip and we also commented that it made us think of La Conner in Washington.

Here is the finished gallery wall, well as it is for now. We find that these walls are never finished and that is part of the pleasure of it all.

One of the reasons we came to France was to enjoy France more as residents than as tourists. Part of that has been the French languasge which we both have studied for years. Our Neighbors however all speak English, well the UK version of said language, so we don’t get to speak as much French as we would like. So we found a tutor. She is a delightful lady with a delightful chien, they all live in a house older than ours. AND … She said Tricia was the most advanced student she has, me, I get to play catch-up.

We so like France, the food, the art, well even the language though it is a challenge. It makes the expat challenges all worth it. Hope wherever you are reading this you take some time to appreciate the beauty around you and the joy of good food and friends.

I Needed a Burger, in France

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Food and drink, France8 Comments

Thirty six years ago this month I went on a date with the lady who would become my love, the mother of our wonderful daughter, my best friend, as well as my travel and food buddy. We have made it through the ups and downs of any relationship yet we still love to eat and travel together. Today I had my first real hamburger in over 16 months – before we moved to France.

When we moved to France we did so with the intention of embracing the culture, and we have done so quite well. Our UK friends still have people bring them beans and brown sauce from the UK, we have only asked for red pepper flakes and Panko. We strive to eat what is here, though we do make nachos at home now and then. But we live in another country, one that is known for its food, which we accept and enjoy.

One of the challenges of living as rural as we do is that the variety of famous French foods is limited. At even the smallest of cafes the food is done quite well but often without variety. It is the same if you live in rural USA, all the restaurants have similar food, I know as I have traveled there. So we do at times crave different tastes. We go to Mayenne to have Indian food, we get to Paris as often as practical to visit wonderful cafes. But every now and then a food from the past gets into my brain as a craving – a hamburger.

Early in our relationship Tricia, who has a degree in nutrition and food science, told me, “If you are going to have a burger then have the juiciest greasiest one you want, enjoy it, but just don’t do it everyday.” Some folks, when they learn that she has a degree in nutrition, give me their sympathy, thinking we must have an austere diet, au contraire, we eat most everything, but with a bit of balance – frites don’t count of course. So it made sense that when I began to vocalize my craving for a burger she was completely supportive.

The French do eat hamburgers, it is common to see them on menus, even at rather upscale restaurants. McDonalds are relatively common, and it is not because McD has forced themselves on the French. McDonalds is a big business, they would not stay in France if the French were not patronizing their restaurants, the French eat hamburgers.

BUT… Often the burgers I see on the plates of other diners do not look much like what the burgers in the US look like. I did order a burger last summer, the bun was black, not gray, not burned from grilling, but black. I have no idea what kind of flour or process made it that way, I have seen the same at other restaurants. It’s texture was like a macaroon, almost like eating air; defiantly not a genuine burger in my book.

The other interesting difference is that when you see a person eat a burger in France it is almost always with a knife and fork, not picking it up and eating it with your hands. In France most everything is eaten with a knife and fork, even pizza.

There is a chain of restaurants here in western France that promotes itself as American food, Buffalo Grill. We have driven by them over the year but never stopped, well today we did, in Le Mans.

They have burgers, ribs, chili, even buffalo. So the time and place was right to fill my craving.

I ordered the Extra Cheeseburger – here is the menu description: Steak haché de bœuf façon bouchère ou galette végétale façon chili, cheddar, sauce cheddar, sauce premium, oignon, salade, cornichon. Or, thanks to Google Translate: ground beef steak or vegetable patty chili style, cheddar, cheddar sauce, premium sauce, onion, salad, pickle.

Confusing description aside, it was a genuine American style cheeseburger and I enjoyed every bite – and of course I picked up and ate it properly, with my hands. Tricia had fish and chips, again quite good. So my hamburger craving is satiated for now, and we discovered a place that will work well if we want a taste of non-French cuisine.

I started this blog yesterday, today we are in Montmorillon in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of France. We had lunch with friends at a crêperie where I had a galette with chicken and curry sauce, so delicious. French food is great, but every now and then a bit of home comfort is required. We will visit Buffalo Grill again, there is one just 30 minutes away in Flers.

A Bistro, an Auberge, or Both – You Choose

On By Terry ChristophersonIn France, Trips and travel7 Comments

Should you ever get near enough to meet-up with us in our rural part of Normandie for lunch we would recommend a choice between two places: Le Bistrot Saint Julien or Auberge de la Source. Both are about 15 minutes away.

The first restaurant we went to after moving into La Thebauderie was Le Bistrot Saint Julien. In another blog soon I will address the different terms for eating establishments here in France: Bistro, brasserie, auberge, café, bar, restaurant. We chose Saint Julien for the same reason we would take a visitor there, it is next door to the ruins of Château de Domfront, a place we were anxious to see. We have also discovered that in the Michelin Travel Guide for Normandie it is one of only two restaurants listed for Domfront.

A bistrot (bistro in English) is usually a smaller more casual place with a local feel about it. Most will have a menu du jour, which is always the best value. Bistrots usually follow the traditional opening hours of 12h00 to 14h00, though keep in mind that does not mean they accept seating until 14h00, we have been to many places that stopped seating at 12h30 – 13h00. Many reopen later for dinner, Saint Juliens re-opens at 19h00.

This is where we go most often for lunch, we rarely, well I guess never, go out for dinner in Normandie. You know when you have become a regular when instead of au revoir (good bye) when you leave, the owner says à bientôt (see you soon). We have been on à bientôt terms for some time now.

In addition to a changing menu du jour, which at any restaurant in France will have fish on Fridays, Julien’s has a menu of local specialities. One of our favorites are the many tartins. Here is one Tricia had, as always thanks for the photo.

Look at that wonderful chèvre! One of my favorite tartins is chorizo. When our friend Tim visited he was daring enough to try the andouillette, an acquired regional taste; as I remember he quite enjoyed it.

Here is another dish that Tricia had, cod on black rice, and one of my plates.

Auberge de la Source is located in the tiny village of Saint-Cyr-du-Bailleul.

Auberge translates into English as “inn” or “hostel.” Some do have rooms as well as a restaurant. Most tend to be a bit upscale from a bistro but not always – traditional and local products are the norm.

During the week Auberge de la Source only has a menu du jour, while on Friday and Saturday they have quite an extensive menu and no menu du jour, though they do have prix fix options. Like Saint Juliens it is operated by a husband and wife team, something that is quite common here in rural France. The chef at la Source is classically trained and it is evident as soon as you see the first dish, even if it is the apero.

We have had many great meals there, and will have more. Here are a few more photos, thanks again to Tricia for almost all of these in the blog, check other photos out on her blog.

There are plenty of places we go to eat, but these tend to be our most frequent stops. It is a pleasant characteristic of rural France that in some of the most out-of-the-way villages you discover a bistro or auberge, that may be quite plain in its exterior appearance, yet the food and experience is truly memorable. For Tricia and me that is one of the joys of travel, whether it is around where we live or in another country, we do love food – and of course we love it when friends join us.

Best Memories Our First Year in France I

On By Terry ChristophersonIn France9 Comments

Just a year ago today we were in Cynthia’s (Tricia’s sister) basement putting the finishing touches on packing for our move to France, our friend Dave was set to pick us up on the 14th to take the three of us, Tricia, Neville, and me, to the airport. This was an endeavor that began in earnest at the end of 2021 – already two years behind schedule thanks to COVID.

Moving to a different country is always a challenge so we had a lot to do just to satisfy the French thirst for documents. Dave, who has himself worked and lived abroad in the Middle East and South Africa reminded me that the large companies he worked for took care of most of the details. We hired a consultant for advice but the dossier gathering was on us. And of course after arriving we have had plenty of situations to try our patience, but as they say here, C’est France!

Now lest anyone think that the French bureaucracy or the French culture (i.e. frequent strikes that cancel trains, etc.) has dampened our affection for this country I felt I needed to relate some of the highlights of living here. My plan was to do a blog titled “The Five Best Memories From Our First Year.” But… I came up with a list that I could not pare down to five so will just pass on some good memories now and then.

This is a photo of one of my favorite moments since arriving here, it was on 14 April, 2022 – the first time Neville went outside since we kept him inside for the first month. Tricia’s comment was that he must be thinking, “Is this heaven?” There is quite a backstory to this moment.

Photo by Tricia – Travels Through My Lens

Neville was an outdoor cat before we moved into our Martha’s Vineyard condo in Mukilteo where he became an indoor cat with only his catio for going outside, and it was quite small. So if cats have emotions I would think all this space to roam felt great, like “heaven.”

Just getting Neville to France was quite an effort. The EU is quite demanding on their pet requirements, and of course France adds more just because C’est France. Between vet visits, Fedex payments to the USDA in Olympia, and some stressful moments because of narrow time requirements, we had a complete dossier on Neville and had spent over $800, not counting the extra that Delta would be charging us to take him in the cabin with us. We were doing all this while we were packing to move and shipping household items to France, I am sure Neville had no idea what these boxes represented in his life.

Adding to our stress was the vet’s diagnosis in January that Neville had a serious kidney failure in progress, he talked about needing regular IV’s of fluids etc., just to survive, quite serious. I doubted that he would actually live to make the trip to France. Well make it to Normandie he did, after 21 hours in a carrier – checking in at the airport, waiting for the flight, ten hours under the seat at my feet, then a four hour car ride to where we live in Normandie. Neville did quite well. Oh! And never an IV.

It was spring and warm, Neville loved his rural yard. The old picnic table is good for sharpening claws, sleeping in the sun, and helping me sketch.

Photo by Tricia, sketch by me.

We did have some cool days that made a fire necessary, our main source of heat. Neville exchanged the gas fireplace at the condo for a place in front of the wood stove.

It did not take him long to make our 230 year old cottage his own, settling into his bedroom, where he allows us to join him at night.

So here we are one year later and Neville is as healthy as can be expected for a 13+ year old. He doesn’t go out as often nor for as long, so he is slowing down a bit, but that is what all us senior folks do.

Thankfully he has not lost his touch when it comes to hunting, he is our mighty hunter. I am pretty sure of the count, though Tricia might come with a different number, but I think this is close: 1 in the house while we were gone, the neighbor found it when she came to feed him. 1 or 2 outside, 3 more inside. He always brings them to us for approval, looking quite proud don’t you think? We do live in a rural farm setting so there are mice, but with Neville on the job we sleep well – except of course when he catches one in the night and brings it upstairs while we are sleeping.

Neville has his own Instagram @Nevilleofnormandie and he would love it if you followed him there. He is often featured on Tricia’s blog, Travels Through My Lens and her photos are far better than mine.

One of my fondest memories is that Neville is getting to spend his senior years in this wonderful place that he loves. As I write this he is sleeping in the sun in a basket we found at one of the many brocantes in the area. It warms my heart.