Monday, 23^rd October

Today’s entry is all about golf. You have been forewarned.

So, golf. The little I know about it, I only learned today, at the green. I was invited by Jean Luc and I figured it would be interesting. Right and wrong I was. You see, on a usual golf course there are 18 holes, and you play EACH AND EVERY ONE. I mean come on. But before I begin my tirade, a little about the game;

We were joined by a friend of Jean Luc’s who was quite funny though I only understood about 50% of what he was saying.

They played 8 holes, which took them 2 hours, and I was kind of hoping that would be all, but if they are having fun, why stop? That’s how I feel when I’m having fun: honestly I would kill someone who bothered me. We continued on to the next 10 holes and added another member to our group, a friend called Bruno. We went through the 18 holes, them playing and me watching. I of course forgot my SD card for my camera at the house so no photos were taken unfortunately. They were however plentiful ducks and a solitary goose to stare at, which I did. There were also what I can only describe as water rats. They are about the size of a beaver, but with large rat’s tails, and grayish colored fur. Funny looking little guys and pretty tame, you could get within about a foot of ‘em before they went to the water. It was actually quite fun. Jean Luc lost 5 balls in the water and I found 2 on the course that people had left so we replenished with those. Afterwards, the men had a few beers and I sat in obliviousness to the very fast, very complicated conversation.

Tuesday, 24^th October

Some lovely flowers

In orange as well

Market day is on Tuesday. Not the farmers market mind you, but good old fashioned meat, fish and vegetables. Oh and don’t forget the cheese. All the cheese makes me want to drool. We made our way through the stalls, purchasing the fresh that was needed, and eventually arrived at the meat area. One of my food specialties is Lasagne, and I wanted to purchase some mince for it. However I neglected to remember that this is NOT Flores and it isn’t 7 Euros a kilo for mince, it’s actually 26 Euros. Boy was I surprised! I ended up with 17 Euros worth and a dearest wish that I could be back in Flores with well priced meat. Ah, the joys of adulthood.

After returning home, I went over to the neighbor’s house, because I had been invited to come and play their piano. No one was home but they had a beautiful standup sitting against the wall. I don’t have easy access to a piano in Flores, so it’s really very nice to just go next door. I played for a half hour and during that time realized exactly how much I had forgotten: a heck of a lot. I can’t even remember the left hand for All of Me by John Legend which used to be my favorite song. I guess Mom was right; I am contracting Alzheimer’s from aluminum. Props to you Mom, you knew all along.

A quick trip to the library revealed the amount of English books was more than in Flores but still not a lot.

 Of course after that terribly difficult and tiring journey I promptly fell asleep on my bed and only woke up when the next door neighbor’s son who is my age came to take me on a tour around town.

A statue in black and white

Literally I was still rubbing my eyes when I walked out the door. We walked from the house to the center with the statue of Napoleon on his horse. He actually built this city in the 1800’s. The walk was short, only about 10 minutes but Theo (the kid) spoke some English so it was really nice to talk to someone after speaking nothing but French since Saturday.

from teh front

We talked about schools, and my life on the boat. In the square they (there was also his friend Enzo) showed me the mechanical animals in the little ponds that you can control, like the crocodiles that can open their mouths and spit water and cruise up and down, the we walked to the post office, actually across the street was the goal, Theo said that the best Chocolate Chip Cookies could be bought here, so we tested that theory and it was almost 100% right. Then down to the park of the Prefect,

Just an old guy in the park.

across from the Prefect house. I don’t really understand what a prefect does but as far as I could understand he supervises departments of the government for La Roche sur Yon.

Then up to the train station to see the tracks. I enquired as to the possibility of putting coins on the track for the trains to flatten but apparently French teenagers don’t think of the idea of fun as getting train smashed coins.

Train Tracks

What can I say, I had an exotic upbringing. But really didn’t you guys do that when you were young? Its fun!

This is my favorite photo so far.

We passed the music conservatory (closed)

My wonderful guides Theo and Enzo.

and the horse stable area, one of only 10 in the country (also closed) and finally made our way home.

Interesting fountain

I went with them to Theo’s house to play some more piano, and tried to teach Theo how to play Heart and Soul which is a 2 person piece on the piano but we eventually gave up because he couldn’t remember the chords, but it was still fun.

An exciting day, and one made even better by a glorious sunset, worthy of the Caribbean and Flores.