Adieu, L'Auvergne! Hello, Brooklyn!

For more than seven weeks, my quotidian life has evolved around an old stone house in a small village in the Auvergne region of France.  It was time to get back to Brooklyn, to slip back into my city life. Brooklyn life.
I won't lie.  It is a hard transition and no matter how long my stay in the Auvergne, I always wish I could stay just a few more days, a few more weeks.  Because, you see, as much as I love Brooklyn, this part of France and our house up on top of a hill, is never far from my thoughts when I am away.  Somehow, for me, life seems to be lived more intensely in the country.  I love the open sky, the fact that I can see rainclouds approach from far away, can admire the setting sun as it bathes everything in hues of orange and pink before setting beyond the horizon.
I shed a tear as I drove away from all this a few days ago. I am sure you understand.

Thank you for those of you who have come along on this trip.  I hope, like me, you have enjoyed yours summer and have been able to escape the City for a while.
I am now back in Carroll Gardens, sorting through mail and waiting for a cooler day to start weeding my Brooklyn garden.
I promise, I will start bringing news and posting photos of the neighborhood just as soon as I get settled and get over the jet-lag.

My, how the weeds have grown here in Brooklyn during my absence.

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A Short Side-Trip To The Alps

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Last week, my husband, son and I took a quick trip to the Alps, which are only about five hours away from the Auvergne. Granted, the Auvergne has its famous chain of volcanoes, but the Alps are impressive and its highest peak, the Mont Blanc ((15,782.3 ft), also called "la dame blanche",  is worth a trip.

Taking small roads, we made it through Grenoble, Albertville and Annecy, which is just lovely. In between there are charming towns and beautiful valleys.


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Of The Joys (And Hard Work) Of Taking Care Of An Old Farmhouse In The Auvergne

Though spending the summer here in the Auvergne involves a fair amount of going to the various market, cooking, eating and drinking, it also involves a huge amount of work on the family's stone farmhouse.  In addition to regular maintenance, there are bigger, unexpected jobs that need to be taken care of.  The summer of 2013 will be remembered for all the time spent digging a drainage ditch to (hopefully) keep rainwater away from the back of the building.
This little project involved four days of heavy digging, pick-axing through a ridiculous amount of rock and wrangling meters of perforated pipe into the ground.  Luckily, our son was willing to spend a significant amount of his vacation to help his father.
One advantage?  Both my husband and son now know all french terminology related to drainage. That's one way of learning a language, I suppose.

An equally back breaking job is pruning the giant elm trees that grow on the property.  The branches still need to be cut into firewood, but that will be today's job.

While all this hard work is going on, I spend my time weeding and planting in the garden. Easier said than done, since the high altitude and cold winters in the Auvergne can be rather unkind to plants. But each year, there are more blooms and so I continue to enlarge the flower beds every summer.
I was particularly happy to see that the many seeds I had spread last year actually resulted in some beautiful pink poppies, like the one below.
This year, my friend Alain gave me a shoot from his jasmine, which I planted against one of the stone walls so it will be protected.  I hope it will take.

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A Long Awaited Event: The Yearly Pétanque Tournament In Our Village In The Auvergne

Registration for the Concours De Pétanque 2013 in our little French Village

The official rules

The prizes

The drinks

The spectator

Our friend Michel with his young partner

Getting ready

Let the game begin

My son Max checking on the competition

Getting ready to throw

The importance of a tape measure

Friend Simon

Team Kelly with friend Timo on left

It was a picture perfect day for the yearly Pétanque tournament in our little village here in the Auvergne this past Saturday.
Boules in hand, the villagers started gathering shortly after 2 PM in the main square next to the church. Everyone was encouraged to participate, whether expert or beginner, old or young. In all, thirty teams of two players registered for a chance to win a giant cured ham, bottles of wine and/or umbrellas and t-shirts.
Before even starting, many took advantage of the drinks served at the 'buvette'. At 50 cents, the glass of rosé was the best deal.

The official tournaments began at 3 PM. Since there were so many teams, the competition took place not only on the village pétanque course, but also behind the school.
In all, each team played four games. The winning team was the one with the most points and the most wins.

Of course, after each game, the winners paid the losers a drink, which resulted in quite a few hilarious moments as some ended up having one too many.

As always, it was amazing fun. Thank you to Michel and Patrick for organizing. I can hardly wait for next year's tournament.




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