Solstice and other stuff

Today is Winter Solstice and although it may be the shortest day of the year, we actually saw some sunshine on this morning's walk. Winter is just getting started but at least the days will now get longer. 

No dogs were present on our first pass through the off-leash field on this morning's walk, but on the way back there were at least a dozen dogs running around, playing, socializing. 

We weren't out really early this morning, but the sun still wasn't up very far.

We took one of the bridges over the canal.

This was the most sunshine we've seen in well over a week.

Anyone who knows me can't be surprised that even after a move to France this blog, and my life, is still pretty much dog-centric. The biggest difference is that now my focus is on just one dog. As luck would have it, that one dog is a female shepherd type who is more than capable of totally absorbing all that focus. I recently posted a pair of pictures of Maya and Bailey taken two years apart and someone commented that I "have a type" referring to the similarities of those two dogs. That's no secret and again shouldn't surprise anyone who has known me for long. However, as needy as Bailey may be, we do get into some other things around here. She needs a break from the walking and she still doesn't care much for city stuff. Here are a few pictures from concerts and other events around town over the last couple of weeks.

These two pictures, above and below, are the only structures remaining from the old port of Dunkirk on the Deule river/canal here in Lille.

This is the creche in one of two old churches in the neighborhood. This one is Saint Maurice. The figures are formed from chicken wire covered with paper and lit from inside. This is pre-Christmas, so it just shows a pregnant Mary, Joseph, and a sheep. This church is interesting, and like the other one in the area, it's badly in need of some substantial maintenance that they don't seem to be able to afford. 

This is back at the cathedral in Lille where we went for gospel concert one evening. It was somewhat disappointing due to a bad sound system that didn't pick up the vocals very well. We left early and went for a beer. 

This is the Sebastopol theater in Lille where we went for a concert one evening featuring music from Edith Piaf. It was quite good and the place is beautiful. 

This is the prefecture, or city hall, that we walked past on the way to the Sebastopol. This is on a large square opposite from the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille.  

This was back at the opera house another evening for another event, this one a dance performance based on a medieval painting. It was strange but we enjoyed it.

The big ferris wheel in the Grand Place is beautiful at night. We heard that this is the last year it will have open-air gondolas. Apparently it's going to be refitted with more winter-friendly seats next year.

Also, the Grand Place is being closed to vehicular traffic sometime after the first of the year. As someone who only walks and doesn't have a car in this town, I'm very much in favor of this change.

We were back at the Sebastopol theater last week for a christmas concert.

This is the interior of the Eglise Saint Etienne (church of saint Stephen). We were there for another christmas concert last week. This church is just down the street from us. It's a beautiful building that is also in great need of maintenance. They have fabric hung across the ceiling to catch bits that fall off. I'm sure these city churches don't have much congregation any more and this is a city that had to skimp on its cathedral which wasn't finished until the 1999 due to lack of funds.  

At the end of the performance, the entire audience stood and sang some song directed to the statue on the left. Color me confused.

Street scene in Vieux Lille Friday evening.

On Saturday we went to a craft show and sale held in an old railroad factory in a Lille suburb. We bought a couple of things and there's a good brewery nearby.

The railroad factory was taken over by the Germans and then bombed out by the allies in WWII.

It was rebuilt after the war but closed down in the 1970s. The building is now a multi-use space.

Bailey making friends

My primary purpose since arriving in France has been to make Bailey happy and help her adjust. It is difficult enough with a dog, I can't even imagine how people with human children manage their transition. 

Access to green space was a primary factor in choosing where we live. I make sure she gets two good walks every day. I'm averaging 20K steps per day (about 14 km, or 9-10 miles) so I think we are doing pretty well on that point. I've also been trying to make sure she gets some dog-on-dog play time, including a good run, on most if not every day. Daily visits to the dog park were great during the summer, but that area is pretty muddy now and isn't used by many people this time of year. The big field near the dog park has taken its place once I got up the nerve to let Bailey really run with other dogs and enjoy it off leash. She has proven herself again and again, both in terms of being good with other dogs and in sticking near me and coming back when I call. 

I gave her the title of "Most Fun Dog" back in the dog park days but I'm happy to say that her reputation is spreading. Yesterday's walks illustrate my point. It was rainy in the morning so we just did a short walk, wearing her raincoat, to take care of necessary business. It cleared off later in the day so we went out for a long mid-day walk to get in our miles and play time. Our first pass by the field was disappointing, no one was around, so we just kept walking. After a while encountered one of the dogs she had recently ran with so well in the field. The dog's owner instantly recognized Bailey (maybe me too?) and asked if we could let them run together. We weren't near the field, but we were in a pretty open area bounded by the canal on one side and woods on the other. Her dog was already off leash and I freed Bailey and they immediately took off chasing one another around. The other dog's owner remarked that Bailey was the best running companion for her dog of any they had encountered. 

After the dogs had a good run, we went our separate ways. Bailey and I headed back towards the big field and this time found quite a number of dogs there with their owners. Some were familiar, others new to us. Bailey played with a few of them for a while and got in some more good off-leash run time. We headed out again on our own, going generally towards home but around the park again to get there. We met another dog walking off leash with its owner, both recognized Bailey and wanted them to play. I wasn't sure how much more play she had in her at that point but I took off her leash and Gentle Leader and the two of them took off running like it was their first run of the day. That other dog's owner also told me that Bailey was their dog's best running companion and they were very happy to have met up with us. 

Bailey and I made our way back home, on leash, and she slept very soundly last night. I was very happy that she's making friends with dogs and making an impression on their owners as well. This may not happen every day, but it doesn't need to, just often enough to keep her active, engaged, and entertained. There is no language barrier between dogs and she may be helping me overcome mine. 

I didn't exactly solve the problem I was having with photos on the blog, but I seem to have found a workaround, although it involved adding another step to the process.

Some of my houseplants:

The plant shelves were another Ikea purchase. 

The sun is so slow in the sky that we get no direct light even in this west facing window.

Once the sun climbs above the building height across the street it will get a lot more.

I may add some lights to shelves.

This amaryllis currently has six blooms open.

Three days in Cologne

Last Sunday we boarded a train for Cologne, Germany, for three days of visiting the city and it's Christmas markets. We hit all eight markets scattered around the center city area, including one on the waterfront and one far enough away from tourist crowds that we heard nothing but German being spoken. We lucked out on the weather, it really rained very little and it was much warmer than we expected. The markets all had different themes, but they were all interesting and beautiful. We went during the week to avoid the weekend crowds. The markets were prettiest at night, of course, but even mid-week the nighttime crowds were overwhelming. Shopping was better during the day. It was easy to get by in English anyplace that was vying for tourist dollars. I got the impression that more Germans speak English than the French do. On the train through Belgium and Germany, announcements were made in German, French, and English, in that order. Clay's usual thorough research and planning made the entire trip a breeze, at least for me. 

We took Bailey out to the boarding kennel on the Saturday before we left via a Pet Uber. She was scared and visibly shaking (and shedding fur like crazy) throughout the ride out there, but once we arrived she knew and remembered where we were and her demeanor changed dramatically. She seemed happy and excited to be there, which told me that she was comfortable there and had even enjoyed herself the last time. The kennel posted pictures of their guests while we were away, including a few of Bailey. They had a visit from Santa, that she did not enjoy and declined participation, but she did get in a few pictures of playing with other dogs. When we went to pick her up the woman who runs the place came over and loved on her and Bailey very much reciprocated that affection. That was very nice to see. They said that she had done well. She was very relaxed on the ride home and was very tired. 

I'm unable to post pictures to the blog for some reason. If I ever figure it out I'll come back and post them. If I can't figure this out it may be the end of the blog as we know it.

The view of the cathedral upon leaving the train station. 

Front of the cathedral.

One of many roman elements still existing in the city.

One of the 8 Christmas markets we visited in town.

This large gold chest is said to contain the remains of the three magi, as well as a couple of other saints. It was taken from a church in Milan during some war. It's all very Roman Catholic and Raiders of the Lost Ark. 

More Roman influence.

The Christmas markets were beautiful, but very crowded at night, even mid-week.

Out and about in Lille

I don't have much to say, but I have accumulated quite a few pictures from recent walkabouts in Lille, both with and without Bailey. We are heading to Cologne, Germany on Sunday for a few days to visit their Christmas markets so I needed to offload these pictures before we go. 

This is the belfry in Lille. It was built as a watch tower. You can go up it, but we did not.

The fleur-de-lis is the symbol for Lille, this one is at the mayor's office. 

Fun fact about France, all marriages take place at the local mayor's office. You can have a church ceremony as well, but it's not the official event and it has no validity without the civil event that occurs at the mayor's office. We were just visiting there to see a local arts and crafts sale.

The Porte de Paris

An interesting old house we walked past. See that smallish sign on the wall to the left? Those are found  on registered historical monuments about town.

Back at the Citadel on a sunny day. We are out here walking twice a day, rain or shine. There have been more cloudy days lately but I seem to take more pictures in those rare moments of sunshine. Even when it does rain, it's usually not raining constantly all day long.

This is the home of Charles DeGaulle's grandmother where he was born. The very next day they hustled him off to the church down the street to be baptized. The house was an interesting museum. They owned a factory of some sort nearby but the house was not particularly large or ostentatious. 

This little piece was in one of the bedrooms. We have an identical piece of furniture that we bought at the broderie back in September.

We had some luck finding good play companions for Bailey this week. This dog was fun. He appears to be part greyhound or whippet or something. He was fast and gave Bailey a good run. I'm finding myself trying to figure out the walking schedules of certain dogs so we can encounter them on the playing field. The sun goes down at 4:45 p.m. now so it's tough finding people and dogs to play with in the evenings although one night she ran with a dog in the dark.

A mute swan on the canal.

I'm guessing that this dog may have trouble finding good play partners because he's a big chonky bully-looking boy. He's about Bailey's age and they had a really good run.

I am fascinated by the canal and I love watching canal boats. This was a particular busy morning.

I made a walk to and through the Christmas market last night because I needed more steps to hit my 20K daily goal.