Signs.....

Signs of Josselin...

Symbol of the ermine, the Symbol of Bretagne found in a boarded basement enclosure

Handy Clinic 3 minute walk away

Circus is here this week!!

The Cinema

Signs of Spring.....

Ann's garden

Sue's garden

Signs of Yummy in my kitchen

 Sign of Skippy

VIDE-GRENIER!!

This sign advertises the upcoming "flea market" sale called VIDE-GRENIER, meaning..."Clear out the Attic" 
I went to one here in Josselin yesterday with Sue.   I did find some small picture frames (for drawings) for .50 each.  Also a terra cotta jug for utensils, for 2E.  

There were lots of nice things, but mostly not.   I think the nicest things never make it this far.
People here really hang onto their things.  There is lots of trading and bartering going on and so by the time somethings gets into the Vide Grenier, no one really wants it.

After the sale, Sue hosted me for another wonderful lunch, pictured below.  There are also some stills

taken in her charming house.    Anemones in Sue's garden.  

Today, I've learned all about the train routes from here to Paris and beyond.
Particularly to Prague.  I hope to make that trip one of these weeks, after the weather improves.  You can go straight through with the last leg on a sleeper.  Change over in Cologne.  I am really excited to do that.

 A new acquaintance, Derek, is an expert in rail travel, having consulted on the rail network throughout China.  He knows the European railways very well and is helping me plot out this trip.   I really have met the most interesting and well traveled people here.
 One lady I met, hitchhiked around the world on her own, twice!
Those of you who think I am brave or bold.....just think about that!!!  She ended up stuck on a south Pacific island off a freighter with no money.  She did finally manage a flight off after begging a ride to an airport on dirt roads.   I would just collapse from the stress in that kind of predicament.  

The weather today is awful. Heavy, Pouring rain.  They are predicting snow tomorrow!  It is snowing in England now and it is coming in from the north/east.   I thought we were all done with that as the last couple of weeks have been nice and mostly in the 50's. (F)   I can't wait for the good weather to finally arrive!!!   Bonjour, au revoir!!  K

Bits

                                             Above,  1.my friend's little dog, Gus.  2. An etching of the castle
                                             with little lamp in the antique shop window, 3. "Destokage" at
                                             the tea shop down the street, (meaning Clearance),4.  sign at a
                                            beauty shop,5.  and a window of my favorite house.

Chaussures

Update on the Bells:    Yes, I've heard them again.  This past Saturday I heard them twice!!

Once for a wedding, which was clear when dozens of car horns blasted the news all through town for a good half hour afterwards.  I was delighted to know that seems to be a universal gesture.  The second Bell ringing was evidently for the 6pm mass.  It was just as beautiful as before.

I filmed it, so I could post the video here.  That way, you could all hear it!!  However, even though I reduced it down in size, I can't seem to get it posted.  I will keep trying.

So, the title of this post is "Chaussures".   If you say it just right, it sounds a lot like shoes.  Which is of course, just what it is!!   

Why shoes?  Because I've just about worn mine out!!  I didn't bring that many.  Anyone who knows me, knows that's a real hardship to me, to be without lots of shoes!!  (and handbags, too....cringe)

I brought some black ankle booties and for the most part, that's what I've been wearing rain or shine.  They've lost their shape and don't look so spiffy anymore.  Also brought some tall black boots with a little heel and they suffice for "dressy" winter wear. 
I have some moccasins, and some flip-flops, sandals and sneakers.  Ladies here don't really wear sneakers.  It is said, they are a sure sign of a tourist.  ha!  No, the ladies here wear real shoes most all the time.  They will wear sneakers when engaging in an athletic activity or maybe for gardening.  But on the street, they are wearing real shoes, often heels and almost always the type that makes that sharp clicking or tapping with each step.  I was here only a few days when I began to notice that.

Back in the 60's, I got my first pair of heels (they were pink with a little "Queen Anne" heels we called them) for Easter and I just loved that clicking sound they made.  I was so proud of wearing heels then. 
 Once, my girlfriends and I got all dressed up, with our heels, and little white gloves and rode the bus to the city.  (I think we were 13 or 14, and you could safely do that then) The city was Cleveland, of course.  We went shopping at Higbees and then had a shake at May Co. basement. (they were famous for their vanilla shakes) We walked all over clicking as only sophisticated ladies could.  Ha....by the time we got back on the bus, our feet were burning and aching like mad.  We were practically in tears.  Of course, we paid that price many times over in the years to come!   But I must say, I have enjoyed these recent years spent mostly without heels.   But I understand the click.  The lady-ness of it.  
 So, I am in the market for new chaussures!
But maybe black flats or loafers will have to do.    Clickless. 

 I thought I was in luck for just 2 doors away, there appeared to be a shoe store! Closed for the season, I thought, like many of the shops.  But recently a large van parked in front of the shop, was being loaded with boxes of shoes.  At first I thought they were unloading and I got excited.  Then I realized they were loading.......can't tell you of the disappointment.  The only shoe store in town, two doors away, and it CLOSES!!!  Tragic. So I've been going online to see what I can find.   Prices here seem very high.  There's no possibility of shipping from US as the shipping is more than the goods are worth.  So, I plan to go to Rennes soon to be checked by the Immigration office anyway and will search out some shoes!   It's strange how such a little thing can become an obsession.   As an American, it helps me realize just how self-indulgent our nationality is.  Well, maybe I should just speak for myself.   

Below are pictures taken this week, while walking around town, quietly.   Notice there is some scaffolding on the castle.  Just some maintenance before the tourist season.  

The little arched tunnel is the walkway from my street down to the canal.   The tall stone walls back up to my street.   The little chapel is at the Castle gate. 

The "peeping tom" cat was just outside my main guestroom on the roof.   I like to use that room as a sitting room because it gets full sun.  

Bonsoir, mes amis.....

Photo: Vitrail - Basilique Notre Dame du Roncier - Josselin - France

Photo: Vitrail - Basilique Notre Dame du Roncier - Josselin - France 

here is a link to a picture of a stained glass window in the Basilique....I forgot to  put it on the regular entry.  The windows are magnificent. 

Basilique Notre Dame du Roncier

Basilique Notre Dame du Roncier  

Last Saturday I went walking with Skippy around 6pm.   We wandered around for awhile through the narrow streets of Josselin.   Then, the bells of the Basilica began to ring.  Well, I mean, they didn't just ring, they rocked!  It wasn't just the single bell that rings out the time.  It was a joining together of multiple bells of various tones each ringing in its own time.  Maybe some of you have heard this kind of ringing before.  I'm not sure I ever have.   Maybe in a movie.   This was a pealing of the bells.  Loud and constant and crazy.  It filled my head with wild sound.  It made me grin from ear to ear.  I wanted to turn to someone to say "Listen to that!!!"  Wow, I was just blown away by the cacophany of it all.  A full rapture of sound.  I've heard lots of beautiful music in my life.  Hardly anything has moved me quite the way the pealing of the bells of the Basilique Notre Dame du Roncier on Saturday.   Awesome.  

While standing there in my little bell reverie, the people came walking from all directions.  This was the call to worship.   Well, I didn't go in cause I had Skippy.   But I can't wait till this Saturday evening.  Maybe I've just always been in the house before when the bells went crazy.  I can't recall hearing them like that since I've been here.   I hope it wasn't just a one off special occasion, because I am really looking forward to hearing that again.   Up close and personal.  Well, yes, standing right next to the Basilique during the ringing is huge compared to the sound of the bells from say,  a farm a mile out.   They seemed to go on forever.......a good 15 minutes!!! Then gradually they slowed down and dropped off the number of bells ringing until just a single bell rang out a final single tone.  Beautiful.  And total silence.....until the sound of the organ seeped softly out to the street.

There is a story of how this Basilique came to be built.  And its name......such a beautiful sounding name and yet such a small and simple meaning.  Here in Josselin in the 9th century a peasant was said to have found a wooden statue of the Virgin under a bramble bush: "du roncier"  .   So this is Our Lady of the Bramble Bush.   The original church was built on that spot.  The statue was burned during the Revolution but a fragment is preserved here.  In July and August the tower is open to climbers.  September 8 is an annual gathering of thousands for the festival called "The Pardon".   Regular concerts are held throughout the year.   Parts of the Basilique  date from the 12th century.   It is located just a few steps from my door.  I took some of these facts right out of the travel site online.  You can read up about it there.  It's quite a place.  

 

Here I am just in from walking in the cold

Wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day!!!  

   

 

"Les Petites Choses"

Ah Oui,  like connective tissue, there are always the "little things" that keep our minds and hearts together.  Sure, there are always the big things, but it's valuable to search out the little.
I've been noticing little things, the cliched as well as things I haven't noticed so much before.  

A thousand little things to think about during the process of arranging for my year in Josselin....
the gathering of many documents to prove so many truths about my life.   Who I am...where I came from, to whom I am related, why I wish to live in France.   One must "prove" with a document that one is not a criminal.   One must prove that one is healthy enough to visit another country and that one will not impose a medical issue on the host country.  Add to these many, many more.
The process refocuses one's thoughts onto the scope and sum of a lifetime.   What are the little things that formed beliefs, hopes and goals, achievements and relationships?  What were the little things that were sloughed off and maybe regretted? 

I have been looking at the universal human "things", but of course, I am wondering about all these things around me now that are especially "French".   Who is here and what are their little things?

 Traditions, habits, customs, architecture, bureacracy, fun, cuisine, style, language, "slang", humor, attitude and on it goes.  A viewfinder in my head clicks through every vignette and lingers on the most appealing, the most surprising.     Notice, my frame of reference is not digital fast forwarding, but  a vintage manual effort.   France, and of course Europe are for me framed in "vintage".   What will I collect and treasure? 

                                                                   Little Things....