Thursday- woke up late, 11:30! Laid by the pool, read my book. Which is a Dean Koontz book and ironically the main character's wife's name is Holly and it takes place in San Diego close to where Ric lives.
Dragon Flies- I dedicate this part to my best friend Stacey, she loves dragon flies. Since I have become one with nature, that day was dragon fly day. I was floating in the pool and there were several flying around, mostly blue and flying solo. There was one pair (one blue and one green) that were attached. Blue had her butt right in between the eyes of Green, flying tandum. I wondered if they were mating and Blue had to lay eggs in the middle of his eyes. How does he fertilize them? Or maybe Mom took Sonny out for a flying lesson, "come on Sonny! flap those wings!" Again her behind attached to his head. Or maybe it is the dragon fly transportation system, Green gets off at the next stop. Guess I'll have to Google it to find out. They landed on my arm for about 30 seconds and their colors were so intense, deep blues and shimmery green, Mother Nature sure is talented I was losing balance on the childrens floaty so they flew away as I went under. The next 20 minutes I paddled from one side of the pool to the other chasing them to see if they would land on me again...no dice. :(
Bike Ride- was going to go to a nearby town to see the soap factory, Jim drew me a great map. I took a wrong turn, ended up in the same town I was already in, circles. The tourist office was no help. She just kept telling me very rudely, "it's not here, it's not here!" No shit lady, that's why I am in here talking to you so you can tell me how to get there. By that time I was out of water, really hot, lost and the bike seat had slid to the lowest setting so I was pedaling w my knees to my chest. My temper tantrum occurred then and I wrinkled up the map she gave me into a ball and tried to ride home thinking I never should have left the pool...did get a good workout though. Also, talked to my boyfriend Ric during the middle of all this so after we hung up he texted me wondering if Satan could bring his girlfriend back! I laughed, got out of my funk, jumped back in the pool and all was well.
Grocery shopping--should take me half hour to get like 10 items, but nope, not really. Drove J&D's car, shopping carts are outside and all locked up. Insert 1 euro to release, then when u lock it back up, u get the euro back. (Sorry for the shorthand, using blackberry and already deleted my first blog by accident). Since I couldn't really read anything, looked at the pictures. Some eggs and dairy aren't refridgerated for some reason, so if u look in the refridgerator section, Not There! Check out, u bag ur own stuff, cool, can do that, did it in Holland. Where are the bags though? Oh right, here u buy them for .10 cents apiece and she has to ring it up. Ok, cuts down on plastic waste for sure. Got everything I needed, except sunscreen bc by now already sunburned, but never too late. Grocery does not sell sunscreen, pharmacy does. Pharmacy also sells Birkenstock sandals. Go figure, had to by Birks bc flip flops give no support and thought I would get some sort of Vietnam Foot Rot if I'm always in socks and tennis shoes...but Birks aren't broken in and hurt my toes so wearing flip flops anyway.
Dinner- went to another close town for a great italian dinner w Liz and Alvin and his daughter Leslie. Dominique told this story about his parents, preface: the french word for the animal SEAL, is PHOQUE- pronounced F**k, our cuss word. Dominique and his parents were in the states on a boating trip, seals swam by and his mother is yelling and pointing, "phoque! Phoque!" The other passengers weren't too pleased and he is cracking up! It's better when u hear him tell it.
Dress shopping: jim and I were at the market and we found cute summer dresses. Bless his heart he waited patiently while I tried it on, and talked to sales lady and bought it. Told him he should be thankful I already went underwear shopping in Amsterdam!
Friday-rented a car in Salon de Provence and drove to Aix en Provence....by myself. Met Kristine, she is wife of Tom who I have gone on several houseboat trips with to Lake Powell. They now live in France for Tom's job as an Aeronautical Engineer for Honeywell. Only got to hang out for an hour w her, she had prenatal yoga to go to, I had lunch. Ordered white wine (twice) and he brought me red. Okey-dokey. I'll drink that and like it. Filled out post cards, shopped a bit more. Got ripped off on a manicure and was very steamed about it! Tried to find parking garage. Got lost!.... Phoque! Again, not knowing where I am. I hate that, very hot and tired from walking all over, took out a different map, sat down on the curb and cried for a minute bc being lost is scarey and frustrating. pulled it together, found garage and my car and drove around level 10 Yellow at least 5 times in a circle before I realized SORTIE is exit and that was the down ramp. Finally got out of town, supposed to follow blue signs for Autohighway back, ended up on Green signs for National roads, like country roads that take longer but have no toll. Both ways will get u there... Got to see a gorgeous sun flower field and part of the countryside. Made it to Salon and met up w Tom for a few beers, he works near there.
Got home by 9:00pm.
It is still light until about 10pm. Also in Europe they use military time for all of the pm hours, it makes sense actaually, but u just have to get used to it.
I have lost track of what day it is, what the date is and don't really care what time it is.
Hollyhocks everywhere!
Man purse-i don't really know what it is but many men carry something over their shoulder crossways like a satchel. It doesn't look bad at all. Let me know if any of u men want one.. ......
Vanilla Glace- ice cream, its the best vanilla I've ever tasted! The waiter asked if I wanted "one ball" instead of "one scoop" Oui. He went to get it and I wondered if it was Lance Armstrong ice cream. One ball.......he is respected here as an athlete, but not liked very well as a person. VERY cocky and pompous according to the French.
Rental car- all of them are stick shifts, good thing I know how to drive one. Reverse u have to slide a part up towards the ball on the shifter. Like as if u hold a syringe. Thumb rests on the ball, then pull up a bit w index and middle finger for reverse, Dominique had to show me. My car is itty bitty and so cute!! Big open moon roof, two doors and barely fits my suitcase in the back. Has painted little flowers on the ouside doors. I was excited, "it's a girl car!!" Yeah!
Nice- drove to Nice, made it to hotel, right on the Mediterranean Sea! Gorgeous!
Going to post this now, if I lose another blog after all this typing on blackberry...no bueno.
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