Remembering a Favorite Day in France

     Facebook reminded me that two years ago today, as I was getting ready to move back to Colorado after seven glorious months spent in SW France, I visited my favorite local town of Condom for the last time.  Yes, it's an odd name for us English speakers, but the name probably dates back to the time of the Romans.  There are Roman ruins nearby.   Southwest France was a Roman playground!
     One of my favorite days when I lived in Vic Fezensac, in the SW region of France known as the "Gers", the ancient name of which is Gascony, was spent driving the thirty minutes to Condom.  From my cottage it was a wonderful drive through ancient woods, past vineyards and small farms, crossing a few lovely streams, viewing ancient church spires in the distance and enjoying the beauty of this area of France which was my home for seven months.

A view on my drive to Condom

     The main purpose of my drive was the restaurant called "Le Balcon" adjacent to the cathedral.  I discovered this wonderful restaurant on my very first visit to Condom the September that I arrived at the cottage.  Their summer menu was still available it included numerous crèpes, my favorite being the "jambon et fromage" - ham and cheese.  Followed by the "crèpe au chocolat" - chocolate dessert crepe which I sometimes had with vanilla ice cream.  My mouth is watering just thinking about how much I enjoyed that lunch.

Taken from inside "Le Balcon" with a view of the cathedral

     I had a "carte bleu" which allowed me to park my car in front of the cathedral in the spaces marked with blue.  If you parked in one of those spaces without putting your blue parking card on your dashboard you would get a ticket.  The parking card only costs one euro in any local store and you can use it in any town in France!  Granted, you're only supposed to be there for an hour (there's a little clock on the card that you set showing when you parked), but I noticed no one seemed to check as long as they saw the blue card.
     So, with my blue card on the dashboard I could park right in front of the cathedral and walk right up to the restaurant.  It was called the balcony restaurant because it was located on the second floor of the ancient building and the on the side that faced the cathedral there were small balconies where, in the warmer months, you could sit at a small table in the sunshine.  When Fall had officially arrived, the savory crèpes disappeared from the menu for which I was quite sad.  Until, I realized that their daily specials were fabulous.
     One of the things I love most about the French is their desire to eat locally and with the freshest possible foods.  The chef (and owner) at this restaurant had two specials on offer every day and it was to your advantage to choose one of these.  They had a fixed menu, but the specials were always wonderful and never cost more than $15 (approximately), bread basket included.  And then I usually got the chocolate crèpe for dessert!
     After lunch I would visit the cathedral.  I never tired of seeing this magnificent 16th century structure.  It's quite amazing that it survived the wars of religion in the 17th century and then the Revolution in the 18th century.  Both of those conflicts were strong in this area of France.  The 19th century restorers added the beautifully carved stone enclosure around the choir as well as replacing the damaged stained glass windows.  I'm not sure when the statue of the Musketeers appeared in the courtyard, but I think it's great that the French celebrate their culture wherever it may be found!

The Four Musketeers - d'Artagnan was a Gascon!

The beautiful carved choir inside the cathedral

The cathedral and square as seen from the restaurant

     This cathedral is one of the stops on the road to Santiago de Compostela in Spain and there are pamphlets and maps available for the modern day pilgrims who travel along this route in SW France.
From here it's south to and through the Pyrenées mountains for those determined souls.
     After a visit to the cathedral and once the shops had opened back up after lunch (all shops are closed between noon and two), I enjoyed walking down the pedestrian only street to the little book/stationary shop decorated with a drawing of a cat.  The older lady who owned the shop was delightful and I could always find something I liked - paper, pens, bookmarks, journals.  On the way to this delightful shop I would stop and read the signs in the window of the local realtor's office.  Just to see what was for sale and dream . . .
     Then it was back to my car and a stop at a chain store on the edge of town called "GIFI".  The best way to describe this store is to call it a small version of a Bed, Bath and Beyond.  They have everything for your house, but also an auto section and a pet section.  I loved going in there to wander around and see what I could find.  They have seasonal decorations also and I was surprised to see a huge section for Halloween, a celebration that has never been big in France.  They don't have trick-or-treat, but I guess Halloween parties are becoming popular.

Halloween decorations inside the GIFI store

Springtime decorations appeared in March

     On the road between Condom and my cottage stands an amazing abbey founded by the Cistercians in the 12th century.  It is called the Abbaye de Flaran and is amazing for many reasons!  First, just the fact that it is still standing in its entirety since the Middle Ages!  It is set against the woods with a nearby river and you can imagine how life must have been for the monks who lived there.  After you buy your $5.00 ticket inside the courtyard you enter a small interactive video room where you can watch short presentations of multiple areas of interest in this region.  That alone is quite impressive, but set inside this nine hundred year old building is quite unexpected and wonderful.

The church at the abbey

The courtyard of the abbey

     You can wander at your leisure and follow your written guide (many languages are available when you buy your ticket) spending as much time as you want in each room or division of the abbey.  The builders of the chapter house reused Roman columns from and nearby temple!  You can go inside the kitchen and imagine what it was like to cook here.  As there is no heat anywhere in the abbey except the kitchen, I decided I would be quite happy to be a cook!

The closest column is Roman

The cloister

The kitchen.  Looks warm!

     The church is impressive and is the only place I have visited in Europe where you can see the masons' marks that they left on each stone.   It has a very tall vaulted ceiling that always makes me want to sing something just to hear the acoustics!

Stones showing the mason marks

     Then you go upstairs to something totally unexpected.  The monks' dormitories are now rooms filled with art.  Not just any art, but there are paintings by Cezanne, Monet, Renoir, Rembrandt and sculptures by Dali!  All this for $5!!!  They also support local artists and allow them to hang their paintings in the main gallery.  I love this place!
     I miss days like this.  As Facebook reminded me of my last few days in France two years ago, it made me a bit melancholy thinking of everything I loved about life in that little corner of France.   I wanted to share this particular day with all of you.  I visited Condom at least three times a month.  I have other favorite days that I will share with you on future blog posts.  I'm happy to be back in Colorado, but a big part of my heart and soul will always be in France.  Thank you for letting me share this with all of you.

Blame it on Max

     I had such great plans of being more consistent with writing my blog . . . and then Max came into my life.  I have fallen in love with him!  He has wavy white hair peppered with silver and brown.  He is charming and playful, affectionate and funny.  It was love at first sight - for both of us! 
     Max is a one year old Havanese that came to National Mill Dog Rescue the end of January.  He was labeled as a "yellow" dog, meaning that he was extremely shy and didn't like to be touched.  In fact, the groomer who bathed and brushed him the day after his rescue said that he bit her when she tried to pick him up. 

     However, I went into his kennel a couple of days later and was able to get a leash on him, pick him up and bring him into the area we call the recovery room where there are some padded chairs.  I just held him and talked to him.  A couple of people walked by and said, "Is that Harry Potter"? (That's the name he was given at intake, oddly enough!). "He let you pick him up?"  Most of the volunteers were amazed that I could pick him up so easily.  After that, I would go visit with him everytime I was there until I realized that I wanted him to come home with me.
     I changed his name to Max.  Even though, as you all know, I am a huge Harry Potter fan, it seemed like such a big name for such a little guy.  I tried out different names for him, but when I came to "Max" I realized it was a perfect fit! 
     The Havanese are a toy breed that was the lap dog of the Cuban aristocrats during the 18th century, most likely having been brought to the island by the Spaniards in the 16th and 17th centuries.  The breed is known for all the things I mentioned before - charming, funny, animated, sweet, affectionate, lovable, easy to train.  Bella is definitely in love also and tries to play and snuggle with Max.  CoCo, who doesn't like anyone or any other dogs, is tolerant.  Max is only a year old, so he's still very puppy-like.  He and Bella are the same age and are a good match for their energy!
     Our puppy mill rescues come with their own set of challenges having spent their lives in a crate.  So it's like having a puppy - teaching them about potty training, leash walking, going up and down stairs, sometimes doorways are scary for them although Max has never had any trouble with that.  And he's quite a bit underweight which is also a common trait of our puppy mill rescues.   I think he's finally house broken (after about 4 weeks), but he is such a charmer that I can never be upset with him. 

Max's first day at our house.  He loves the outdoors!

     He is fitting into our lives wonderfully!  He sleeps in his own little bed which is on top of mine, along with CoCo's little bed and Bella's side of the bed.  (There is a little room for me! ha!)  I am very happy with Max joining our little family.  Three is enough, for those of you wondering . . . 😃

A loveseat full of love!

"All Creatures Great and Small . . . "

    My earliest memories are of dogs.  I don't remember much before we moved to Colorado Springs when I was 3.  But I remember most things that happened after we got here such as following two stray dogs down the street and a couple of blocks away to play with them in a drainage ditch.  I don't remember the spanking I got from wandering away from my mom, but I remember wanting to play with the dogs.  It seems that passion began quite young.
     Some of the most delightful books I have read were written by a British country veterinarian named James Herriot.  He spent most of his life (1916 - 1995) in North Yorkshire, England as a veterinarian surgeon for all of the local farms and nearby townships.  His books chronicle his extraordinary life working with animals "great and small."  His titles are from the opening lines of a well-known poem/hymn:  "All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all."
     When I retired from teaching French (after 32 years) about 10 years ago, I had no idea of what was in store for me.  I suppose no one does.  My dream, as you all know by now, was to move to France and enjoy retirement exploring the French countryside.  I was able to see that dream come true and those 7 months were amazing, and, as I reflect on that time I realize how much animals played a part during that time.  Besides the 3 resident cats and CoCo, of course, I found opportunities to visit 3 zoos.  One was incredibly sad, the other 2 were wonderful where the enclosures were welcoming and filled with enrichment opportunities for the animals.  The animals were healthy and seemed quite content.  I watched them playing with each other and with toys.  It made me quite content.  I had a "singing" contest with an African Grey Parrot and we both thoroughly enjoyed it!

My singing competitor

     I have had a membership at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo for at least 30 years - since Andy was little, although I've been coming to the zoo since the 1950s.  When I retired I tried to go a couple of times a month and now I make it a point to go once a week.  It is so rewarding to see that the animals - especially the great apes - recognize me and come over to the glass to "greet" me.    The lions know me and respond when I call out their names.  I am totally enthralled with their beauty and majesty and intelligence.  From the 400+ lb silverback gorilla, Goma, and 500 lb male lion, Abuto, to the tiniest of reptiles, I love them all.  They are all fascinating and I enjoy sharing my knowledge of them with visitors.

Abuto and his girls

Goma

Tank, the plated lizard was a favorite at the zoo

     Our lion cubs will be four years old in June and are almost full-grown.  I was at the zoo almost every day when they were born.  They were just about the cutest little furry balls of feline I had ever seen!  I loved watching them grow and learn how to be lions.  I enjoy watching the little primates as they become beloved members of their family and troop and am entertained by them every time I go.

Elsa at 6 months

Elsa last week

Our newest orangutan, Kera

4 year old Ember being a ham

     I have had dogs my entire life.  I don't remember the dog we had when I was born and whom we lost just before we moved to Colorado Springs.  But when I was 7 we got a miniature poodle that I named Pom-Pom.  Let that be a lesson to parents - don't let your 7 year old name your pet!  Pom-Pom didn't know he was a dog.  He was well-trained, but certainly had a mind of his own.  He went everywhere with us and loved rock climbing on our camping trips.  I was in college when he died.
     As an adult I have had many dogs and I can't imagine life without one - or two - or . . . .   And now my retirement life is filled with many many dogs on an almost daily basis.  My two, who are both rescues, and all the dogs at National Mill Dog Rescue.  I never imagined being so in love with an organization that I would choose to go out there weekly with no pay to spend time with these dogs.  I won't spend the time here telling you all about NMDR, but if you are interested in our mission please do check out our website at milldogrescue.org.  I am so proud to be just a small part of this work of love.  We rescue, rehabilitate, and find homes for these precious "discarded" dogs.

Bella as a puppy - notice her black face

Andy with Bella at Thanksgiving - notice her not black face!

My present loves

     We can learn a lot from dogs.  They are resilient, brave, forgiving, and they show unconditional love.  Once you have earned their trust they will do anything for you.  They want only to be loved and to give love.  What more could anyone ask for?  Here's a video I took of one of our rescues - a 3 legged Pomeranian -  with his first ever toy!  Enjoy!

     I know that wherever this path of life takes me, there will always be "creatures great and small."  Thank you, God, for making them all and letting us see a glimpse of You through them.

"The Mountains Are Calling And I Must Go"

     Pikes Peak and the entire Front Range was covered in snow Sunday morning.  Absolutely breathtaking!  I grew up in Colorado Springs and except for a few years I have spend almost my entire life enjoying that view every day.  In those years that I lived elsewhere, I couldn't wait for the first glimpse of Pikes Peak when I was heading home. 

Photo of Pikes Peak taken the first morning after I returned from France

     The title of today's blog post is a quote by John Muir, a Scotsman who spent most of his life in the US as a naturalist, philosopher, writer, botanist, geologist and environmentalist.  He is often referred to as "John of the Mountains" and "The Father of the National Parks."  He was never happier than when he was in the mountains and spent most of his life in the Sierra Nevadas campaigning for the establishing of Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks.
     My love of the mountains began early.  My dad loved this part of Colorado so much that he was determined to live here and have me grow up in this beautiful area of the US.  So, when I was 3 my mom, dad and I moved to this lovely little town of about 40,000 people.  We spent many happy hours picnicing and hiking in North Cheyenne Canyon and up Ute Pass.  And then when I was 9 we got our first camp trailer and, oh boy, that was awesome!

Our 1953 Cadillac pulling our very first camp trailer

Me with my dad and our poodle, Pom Pom hiking along Tarryall River

     I shared in my dad's passion of the rocks and minerals that make up this section of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains - a passion that has been passed down to Andy.  We had a couple of books that identified the different rocks and in the evenings on the little table in our camp trailer, we would lay out the rocks we had gathered that day and identify them.  I can still recognize many of them - feldspar, quartz, iron pyrite, granite, amazonite, jasper. 
     When I first realized I wanted to live in France, I had fallen in love with a region called the Dordogne.  It's a beautiful area with limestone cliffs, deep forests, caves with prehistoric paintings, rolling hills, lots of castles and medieval towns.  And I had decided that this was the region where I wanted to live.  And then I spent two years in Liberal, Kansas taking care of my mom and realized that I have to have mountains.  It is a part of my spirit.  It's as though I don't recognize myself without mountains in my life.
     At that point I decided to look further south in France closer to the Pyrenees Mountains.  And so I ended up living in a region called The Gers in the department known as the Midi-Pyrenees.  On the hilltop about a mile from my cottage I could see the range of mountains.  Just about every Sunday that I lived there I drove towards the mountains and felt the same joy as I do in Colorado as they get larger and larger before my eyes.  They have a very different look from the Rocky Mountains, but they are still majestic.

Autumn colors on the Pyrenees

Snow-capped Pyrenees

Pyrenees on the Spanish side, taken from the French side

     For Christmas, Andy gave me some gorgeous crystals from his own dig which is somewhere not too far out of town in a secret location!  He has found numerous smoky quartz crystals of all shapes and sizes, from tiny fingernail sizes to one that's about 5 pounds.

My Christmas present!

     This earth is filled with wonders.  Ancient, forceful, awesome, powerful, beautiful, breathtaking wonders.  The mountains do call to me -and many others.  When we come to them let us do so with respect and honor and the desire to care for them and preserve them so that many generations to come can also enjoy their beauty. 
     The title of my blog, "Just around the next bend" actually came from our camping trips.  It was my dad's answer when asked if we were getting closer to the campsite and he didn't know for sure!  Sometimes you never know what's around that bend.  Even if we were lost - in the mountains - we were never disappointed at the views!
    Thank you for letting me expound on this, one of my many passions.  I wonder what I'll find to write about next week! Stay tuned . . .
    

2018 - The Year of the Dogs

Happy New Year!  I'm back, at least for now.  I have missed writing my weekly blog and have tried to figure out why I stopped.  I think the reason is that I don't feel like I have a mission anymore - I'm not preparing to move to France, nor am I in France to be able to share my adventures.  So, what do I have to write about?  Last year I thought I might cook and write about that, but my heart wasn't really in it.
And then came Bella!  I would love to be able to blame her for my lack of time to write, but the truth is that I just didn't take the time.  As I'm writing this, CoCo is lying on the rug just chilling and Bella is lying on the rug chewing on a bone.  She is seldom at rest!  At least she isn't chewing on CoCo, which is progress!  ha!  (Update - As I finished this blog Bella is trying to get CoCo to play with her and is making all kinds of noise!)

Bella at 3 months

Andy with Bella on Thanksgiving Day - her face looks so different now!

Me with Bella and CoCo on Thanksgiving Day

I have spent time this past week preparing my weekly planner (yes, I still use a physical planner - one that has photos of Italy on every other page.)  I enjoy doing this as it gives me a chance to see what I spent my days doing during the past year as I check on birthdays, anniversaries, etc. and get them listed on the planner for the new year.
Seems I spent lots of time with animals!  Since I started volunteering at National Mill Dog Rescue last January I have taken on many jobs.  I am a Group Volunteer Coordinator, which is part of the educational department.  I help organize groups that want to come and volunteer with us for an afternoon.  I do an orientation of our history and mission, a tour of our facilities, and monitor a volunteer time spent socializing our dogs.  I also am, unofficially, a part of the off-loading and intake teams.  I love being there when our rescue teams return with new dogs so that I can welcome those special souls to freedom.  We take them off the van and put them into kennels with water and food and beds and blankets.  Then within 2 days of the rescue we have intake which is where each new dog gets a name, initial medical care which includes being tested for heartworm, and initial evaluation of their personalities/behaviors.
Many come to us so "broken" and shut down because of traumas experienced in their previous life in a puppy mill.  Many come to us having had no grooming ever, no shots, no basic care and very little socialization with humans.
Our mission is to rehabilitate every one of them, get them physically and emotionally healthy enough to find them forever homes.  It is such a rewarding work.  I love being out there and spending time with the dogs - and all those awesome dog people!  In the past 2 months I have been hired to be part of the Meds Delivery Team.  I go out early every Saturday morning to give meds to our dogs who, for any number of reasons, are on medications.  It's a 50 mile round trip for me every time I go out there.  It's been many years since I got up that early to drive that far, but I actually enjoy the drive heading east as the sun is coming up over the prairie.  And then the drive home heading west towards Pikes Peak is always a joy. I never tire of seeing the mountains, no matter what time of year.
Bella is a year old now and has finally grown into her legs!  She is a hound mix - part whippet and part fox hound among other breeds - and has loads of energy.  She just finished her Agility 2 classes and I have her registered for Agility 3 starting next month.  She was born to run!  If I can keep her focused on the course she does great.  However, that hound nose of hers gets in the way and then she's all over the place.  Or she would rather play with Izzy, a chocolate lab about the same age as she is and they love each other!  Having a puppy is always entertaining, if sometimes a little frustrating.
Once Bella is settled down I would love to train her as a therapy dog.  She has such a sweet, affectionate personality.  She would be great in therapy work!
CoCo, bless her little heart, is very patient with the crazy puppy.  She comes with us to social hour and agility classes, both on Saturdays and as long as she stays in my "CoCo purse" she is fine with all the crazy activities.  She will be 12 next month and is in pretty good health except for some arthritis in her back legs which I'm treating with supplements. 
If you've been following my blog over the past years you know my love of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  I try to go out there every week.  It is such a joy to have the gorilla girls come over to the window to greet me.  I love the great apes and the lions the best of all and enjoy telling visitors about them.  Our lion cubs will be four in June and are almost full-grown.  They are so beautiful!
I meant to start this blog again last week, but I spent the beginning of the year with friends, both human and animal.  I went to the zoo last Wednesday with friends, Jay and Barb Matheson, and their "adopted" family including an adorable 7 year old with whom I spoke French for most of our visit!  (More about that in a later blog)  What a wonderful day which included many things that I love doing - visiting with friends, showing them our animals, and speaking French, which I don't get a chance to do much these days.

Who says African animals don't like snow!? Kwisha is enjoying a snack.

My beautiful Elsa - the female cub

The manes are getting fuller and darker on our male cubs (Aslan here)

Chewy enjoying a day in the sun

Abuto (father of the cubs) is "calling" his pride

I miss France terribly every single day.  But I love spending time with Andy even more.  So I don't regret coming back to Colorado after those 7 glorious months spent in Le Gers.  I'm so happy that I got the chance to go back for a few days in April and I'll tell you all more about that in a future blog post.
Although I feel like I don't have a specific purpose in writing anymore, I've been told that my blog is missed and that people enjoy hearing what I have to say - go figure!  I promise that there will never be any negativity or politics (perhaps that's redundant!) or anything that will make you uncomfortable, unless it's in a way that makes you look at life a little differently.  I think that's always worth the effort.  Perhaps that's why I love being with the animals.  There's something about watching the beauty, the power, the resilience of nature that often makes me look at life in a new perspective.
Over the next few weeks, I'll review why I started this blog 4 years ago.  And how it's still relevant (at least to me) in this new year of 2019.
As always, I thank you for joining me on this journey we call life, as I curve around those bends in the road, always facing forward, but sometimes reminding myself of where I've been.  Until next week.  Au revoir, mes amis!