Les Choses Part 2

Some additional things to note about life in France.  At gas stations they provide gloves, so you don't get gasoline on your hands.

They also keep sand handy in case of fire and to soak up overspill gasoline.

 In Paris, we went to a cooks' shop.  They had loads of wedding cake toppers.  Some were a bit unusual.  First, two grooms.

 Then, two brides

Next, an interracial couple

Finally, an older couple like Ron and Barbara

Outside pharmacies in vending machines, condoms are sold.  The word for condom in French is préservative.

The French adore their books - vraiment.  The sign below indicates that there is a book exchange in town.  You just leave your already read books in the plexiglas shelf for others and help yourself to another.

Here's our friend Alexis helping himself.

Not all books and material can be digitally downloaded as the French are determined to protect independent booksellers.  You may have seen the vintage booksellers with their green stands along the Seine in Paris.

During a holiday market in Tours, a vintage bookseller offered this enormous volume on Napoleon.

Les Choses Part 1

Here are a variety of things we have observed that were curious.

In the meat section of the grocery store along with boeuf, agneau, veau, et porc, one finds cheval, yes, horsemeat and rabbit as well.

No pussyfooting around by the French about all their constant smoking:  Translation "Smoking Kills" - forget all that language about the Surgeon General has found smoking is injurious to one's health.  I have spared you the graphic pictures on the other side of the pack of cancerous tumors all over throats, mouths and lungs.

Refrigerators have a wine rack as standard equipment

Here is a sequoia tree given as a gift by America on the bicentennial of the Declaration of the Rights of Man of France and the Bill of Rights of the USA

This struck us as really odd.  Different states have reciprocity to obtain driver's license without taking the written exam in French and paying thousands for driving school in order to pass the exam.  Michigan luckily has reciprocity.  Georgia does not, so our friend from Atlanta went through an awful ordeal to obtain a license.  Barbara got her's fairly quickly, but they did not like Ron's photo pose, so his took a great deal longer.  We did not expect reciprocity with individual states instead of an entire country.

The train conductors have stylish uniforms with a purple and yellow stripe

Experiences

Two evening shots of "our bridge" and "our chateau."

Well, we had an unpleasant experience.  Ron planted 8 small cypress trees in front of the patio he built. Upon our return from Paris, we discovered 4 stolen.

Not to be defeated Ron decided to replant and protect his saplings.  He built a wooden frame for each tree.

Then he connected them all with steel rods and concreted them in place.  If a thief tries again, he must pull up all 8 at once which will be difficult since they are all connected with steel. Finally, Ron put wire and wood cages over each one until they are sufficiently rooted.

This accomplished we were off to Fontdevraud to see the burial site of one of our historical heroines.  She was a Queen of France and a Queen of England.  She was buried with her second husband and her son, both Kings of England.

Do you know this powerful woman?  Eleanor of Aquitaine.  Her second husband, Henry II, and her son, Richard the Lionhearted.  No faint woman, she went on the crusades and was portrayed by Katherine Hepburn in "Lion in Winter."

William X delighted in his intelligent, lively daughter and she received the best possible education, which was most unusual for a woman.

In 1137 William X of Aquitaine died suddenly and Eleanor, aged fifteen, became the Duchess of Aquitaine, and thus the most eligible heiress in Europe.

Since kidnapping an heiress was, back then, seen as something quite valid in order to get his/her title, William appointed King Louis VI as her guardian.  He decided to marry the duchess in order to blend Aquitaine with the French Crown. 

Queen of France

The couple married on July 25, 1137. They also become Duke and Duchess of Aquitaine. Within days, also, they would become King and Queen of the Franks, as her father-in-law died on 1 August.  In a matter of months, the 15 year old Eleanor of Aquitaine had become Queen of France.  Since Eleanor of Aquitaine was having an affair with Henry, Duke of Normandy, Louis granted his wife the annulment she desired on 11th March 1152.Not one to mope and rest on her laurels, six weeks after her annulment, Eleanor married Henry, Duke of Normandy and grandson to the King of England. Twelve years her junior and her cousin to the fourth degree, Henry had been advised against any involvement with Eleanor of Aquitaine by his father who had also been her lover.

Queen Again (of England this time)

In 1154 Eleanor's second husband became King of the English and so Eleanor was once again Queen, just of a different country this time.  Unfortunately, Eleanor was imprisoned for 16 years by Henry when she and her sons (Richard the Lionhearted among them) plotted against him.

The Abbey at Fontevraud is quite a large compound with a colorful history after Eleanor's death in 1204.  It became a prison in later years, and now has been restored.

Très Occupèe

We have been busy with all sorts of things here lately.  First, a charmant neighbor, Mary O'Flaherty, from Ireland (no surprise there) invited us to her home which also has an incroyable view of the chateau.  She has lived here 6 years and can fill us in on foreigners' life in Amboise.  Next, a professional photographer just rang our bell and gave us a gift of a gorgeous photo he took of the chateau as viewed through our little jardin out front.  It seems people are always doing wonderful little things for us like the first man who gave us homemade confiture that he actually made.

We had a visit in Paris with Jill and Steve Miller and their friends Vivian Banda and Bob Field.

 Steve recently finished up his stint at Hawker Beechcraft, Jill's daughter is getting married soon, Vivian retired from Prudential and Bob is a true oenophile who is willing to share his knowledge.

It was a delightful visit.  They just decided on the spur of the moment to fly to Paris for a few days.

On our little island, the dog lovers who abound in France, held agility contests.  We went with Lola to observe, and she went nuts.

Denise Seidler from Michigan came and stayed with us in Amboise.  Naturally we dined very well.

Denise and Barbara cooked a traditional French meal of poulet for a dinner party of 7 served on the outside terrace Ron built.  Then it was off to the International Garden Festival at Chaumont.