Puttering around

Bailey and I go for a long walk after breakfast every morning and another one in the late afternoon or early evening. I'm lucky that she's young and has a strong bladder and regular digestion. Those two walks take care of her bio needs and I make them long enough that they take care of her need for exercise and energy outlet too. She's always content to nap when we get home and she's always ready to go to bed before we are.

Sometimes we have things to do mid-day, in between walks, but not always. I need to find new ways to entertain myself. There's shopping, cooking, and we often make excursions to look for a few specific items that we need at home. I like those mid-day excursions. They add to my daily step count while Bailey gets to rest up. When we lived back in Virginia, any down time that I had was usually spent puttering around outdoors. I could do that for hours, working on small projects around the house that no one except me would ever know were needing to be done. A trip to Lowe's would often be needed and we were fortunate to have one just up the road about 15 minutes away. I miss the puttering.

I have found a small hardware store (called a brico in French, pron. "breeko"), that's pretty decent and not far from where we live. Sometimes I walk there just to look around, getting ideas for things we might need. I've also picked up a few plants there.

After our walk Saturday morning Clay and I took the subway out to the suburbs. We were headed to a brewery out there that he had read about (Ninkasi) and were planning to have a beery brunch. Right next to the brewery was a store called Leroy Merlin. It's a huge brico, a DIY/home improvement store the likes of which I hadn't seen since we were last in Lowe's. We went in and wandered around the multi-story building. There were tools, home improvement goods, a garden center, and much more. All I can say is that it was the closest I've come to feeling homesick since we've been here. 

But, I wasn't thinking of being back in Palmyra working on our old house and gardens, I was fantasizing about a small French farmhouse on a nice piece of land with an old stone barn and plenty of garden space full of the rich, black, Flanders soil I see in the fields around here. 

Reality returned and we went next door for lunch and beers. We aren't ready to move to the countryside yet, maybe not ever. We are enjoying city life. But it was a nice thing to think about. 

The forestry theory in practice in this park is to let nature take its course.

When trees fall they are left to return to nature, at least if they aren't in the way.

The down trees make a lot of "up" opportunities.

I'm using this new harness all the time now, unless she needs to wear a raincoat.

Bailey loves being off-leash once we get into the wooded areas or the open field.

As always: FUCK TRUMP, FUCK ICE, FUCK THE GOP ENABLERS. 

La Citadelle de Lille

The place where Bailey and I walk every day is called the Citadel. Where we walk is actually the area surrounding the Citadel, a fortress built in 1667 by Vauban after taking Lille for the French king, Louis XIV, (the "sun king"). It's known as the queen of the citadels because it was the first one built in the design of a five pointed star, which became the new standard of defensive design. The grounds surrounding the Citadel in Lille, which include peripheral defensive structures, have become a public park but the actual fortress itself is still in use by the military. It houses the headquarters for NATO's rapid deployment force. It is normally closed to the public but they periodically hold tours, one of which was yesterday, a snowy Sunday afternoon. 

The tour was offered through the Lille office of tourism. You have to sign up in advance and show up with an ID, which they take and hold in exchange for a visitor's badge that you wear throughout the tour. It was focused on the history of the Citadel and necessarily the history of Lille and was very interesting. Lille is located in the area known as Flanders, which has changed hands several times. At one time Flanders was itself a sovereign territory and it included part of what of now Belgium and the Netherlands. It has variously been held by Spain, Austria, and France over the centuries. Of course, the tour was conducted in French so I couldn't really follow what the guide was saying but Clay gave me occasional translations of the essential elements sotto voce. 

Did I mention that it was snowing? It was one of the coldest days we've had for a while and the snow was coming down pretty fast in a strong wind. The tour guide gave a lot of the tour when we were in a couple of the indoor spaces included on the tour. It was very good. I have become very familiar with the structures outside the walls on my twice daily hikes with Bailey so it was nice to see things from the other side.

This is the front entrance, known as the royal port.

Notice the three fleur-de-lis on the center shield? That's the royal emblem. The city of Lille uses a single fleur-de-lis, generally white on a red background. Bailey wears one on her collar.

There is still a drawbridge at the entrance. The fortress was surrounded by a moat, or series of moats, remnants of which still remain in the surrounding parkland. 

Emblem of the sun king in the stone ceiling of the entry passageways. 

Between fires, sieges, and bombings, the buildings inside of the fortress walls have mostly been rebuilt and replaced over the years, although a few original structures or fragments remain.

The guide gave a lot of her exposition in this room at the beginning and end of the tour, out of the snow.

The royal port from the inside. Most of the ground is covered with cobblestones although there are some trees in the center, where they still do military drills and marches.

One of the original fragments.

This is the chapel, a blessed respite from the snow and wind, although it was still quite cold.

They employed shipbuilders to construct the curved timber structures of the roof and you can see why.

This is the Dauphin's Gate, the back entrance to the Citadel. I've posted pictures of this from the outside from some of my walks. 

The foundry. The Citadel was designed as a city in itself, containing everything needed within it's walls to withstand a long siege.

This was the entrance to the bakery. Those are bags of grain in the pediment.

Bailey on our evening walk around the Citadel. There was some accumulated snow but it wasn't really cold enough to last.

Wearing her coat and collar light, perched on a stump.

Early signs of spring

Clay's scouting trip to Lille was in January, 2025. What he had read about the winter weather and what he experienced on that trip was that typical days were cloudy and often rainy, but temperatures above freezing for the most part and little snow. Everyone asks us why we chose Lille and are often surprised when the weather one of the factors we mention. Most retirees want to live in the south of France, lured by sunshine and warmth. However, in a country without air conditioning, that winter warmth is sultry heat in the summer and didn't want that. Lille seemed to be closer to more comfortable year round temperatures. 

So far, this winter has been better than I expected. We did get a bit of snow once or twice but it never amounted to anything and I was fine with that. There have actually been more sunny times than I expected and even when it was cloudy and wet, the rain was not constant. The south of France has actually had worse weather this winter. Several severe storms from the Atlantic have hit the area and caused widespread flooding as well as wind damage. 

I realize that it's only mid-February but we are already beginning to see some early signs of spring as evidenced by these photos. The first spring wild flowers seem to be snowdrops and they are in full bloom right now. Other things are sprouting as well giving me something to watch and look for. My indoor plants are growing as well and I keep adding to them when I see something. This morning I bought some tulip bulbs and planted them in an indoor planter. I'll post a picture when they are in bloom. 

Snowdrops

I'm not sure what this is, but it's sprouting.

Cyclamen, planted, not wild. This was the first houseplant I bought, it died.

A wet day walk. 

This is some type of moss that has recently greened up. 

Daffodils, forming buds already.

This is a planted area I pass by twice daily, neat rows of tightly trimmed shrubs.

Just recently I've noticed rows of daffodils sprouting. They are going to be beautiful.

Don't forget: FUCK TRUMP, FUCK ICE, FUCK THE GOP ENABLERS.