Une étude: la porte des sœurs

There is an old family enclave on the Chemin du Tour du Parc (~ Tower Park Road) which follows the stream that runs along one side of the village. I love to peek in there when the gates are open, which is the usual state of affairs. The nice thing about them being closed the other day was that I had a chance to study the ironwork, which is very nicely designed and still strong at least a century on.

Arts Vagabonds

 Artist: Sylvie Hébrard in the garden, chez Madame Blaquiére.
I love the shape of her figures and they were artfully place in the garden.

Atelier Lucien Noygues (formerly Madame Fontanille's)

Massage Room Cat

Volet de fenêtre

Window shutter.

Lit Perdu

Children gone. Bed stripped.

Le Meteo, The Weather

On the Home Front

D'Orsay

Inside the clock at the Musee D'Orsay - the bronze version. 

Just a little random sunset.  Know that you are getting close to home!  xoxoLPC

Somebodies you might recognise...

It was a fabulous parade this year!  Look who I saw in a great big fire engine!  I was so excited that I only took close-ups!

Love you!
xoxoLPC

Vendredi à Castres

Coming this Friday to Castres:  a band playing Turbo Klezmer Balkan Ska !!!

I think I have to be there even if I can't find anyone to go with me.
But what should I wear?  A gypsy skirt, peut-être...

Street Theater in the Parc

Street theater by Triade Nomade in the parc at the Abbaye Ecole tonight.  

It was a little windy but wonderful.  They danced the tango and jumped a fire rope.
On stilts.
In a word: Spectacle!

Hailey Beavis - Singer/Songwriter/Musician

Hailey Beavis is a singer/songwriter from Edinburgh, Scotland, who began writing her own songs when she was 14.  I saw her perform in a salon setting at Chateau Padies on Friday night.  By the end of her second set she had galvanized the room full of people, and at least half of those people only speak English as a second language.  Unique singing and writing voice.  You can listen to her song "Patience" here. 

For a back corner of France, we sure do get an amazing variety of culture here in the Tarn region.

Les Chouettes (The Owls)

A local artist was selling these at the spring Marché de Fleurs in Revel on May Day. 

 Too heavy to carry home, but I sure was was tempted.

Osprey Breakfast

Sorry to have been gone so long!  I have enjoyed catching up with your photos.  This is from last week, one morning out at the Lake.  I saw this guy zoom into the trees and was fortunate to see where he landed.  He did keep an eye on me, so I didn't get in too close.  Soon he/she will be feeding the hatchlings!  I feel an urge to get the kayaks out!

La Violette

This one is for the Corn Tiger. We were video chatting the other day and I talked about the great olives here in France (he loves all pickles and has been known to drink the "juice" out of the caper bottle). Then I went on to talk about other things he will like when he comes to visit me here and he said "More olives, Nana."  I mean, who wouldn't be transfixed by the idea of purple olives?

Électrique Jaune (Electric Yellow)

Les champs de colza électrifier le paysage.

Fields of rape electrify the countryside.

Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) was bred by scientists in Canada to produce a variation, canola, from which we now get canola oil (or huile de colza in French).  The name "canola" was derived from "Canadian oil, low acid".  (adapted from Wikipedia entry on Canola).

Interesting fact, non?  A close cousin to the field mustard (Brassica campestris L. or Brassica Rapa var.) which grows all over the vineyards in northern California, only here it is a cultivated crop. Mais bien sûr, il est «cultivé» c'est la France, n'est-ce pas? (But of course it is "cultivated" this is France, is it not?)

Vide Grenier

A slice of the vide grenier life on Sunday, April 22 -- also voting day for France.  

It was a good vide grenier day.  The gentlemen of a certain age were likin' me.

One dropped his price 3€ without me having to get tough, another gave me three booklets on historical sites as a gift, another threw in a free poster picture that I've been lusting after for the Corn Tiger.

Bisous all around!

N2

Seedlings

Lettuce starts, 15 Euro cents a plug, that would be 90 cents/~$1.17 a six pack in American terms. These were in Germany. Can't wait to go to the market in Revel tomorrow and get some to plug into my mini-potager on the alley here on rue Ferlus.

Fusion Cuisine

German bread and French butter, a match made in heaven.