Eleven months and counting

Yesterday was my birthday and today is the 4th of July, but more significant than either of those events is the fact that we've now been in France for 11 months and will soon be hitting the one year mark. This is still the best decision we've made since getting together.  

Street scene in Lille, looking down the street from Le Capsule. 

Pictures of Bailey, just because she's pretty.

Our recent Le Creuset purchase.

My first dish cooked in it—poached salmon.

Followed by a simple chicken pot pie a couple of days later.

Our other recent purchase is this indoor air conditioner. It arrived just after the first heat wave ended but we are now better prepared for the next. France is reluctantly beginning to embrace air conditioning.

This is an open doorway we passed when just walking around town. The mail slots outside and the corresponding mail boxes inside were something I hadn't seen before. 

Bailey chilling at the dog park.

Resting in bed with me during the day.

It was getting dark so this is hard to see but those are two sheep or goats grazing on an elevated area at the Citadelle. They use them to cut the grass and control vegetation.

Bailey doing an "up" on a downed tree trunk.

Just hanging out at the dog park.

Scents of summer

When I walked the trails at Pleasant Grove back in Virginia, the woods in the summertime had a particular smell, especially on hot days following rain. The air was heavy (because it was summer in Virginia) and it reminded me of the smell of a stale humidor, thick odor clinging to the earth like the smell of smoke emanating from damp wood. 

Recently I have been noticing a particular smell in the woods at the Citadelle and even elsewhere around town that I couldn't place. It's sort of a mild perfume smell, not unpleasant but it could be if it was much stronger. I've been looking as I walk, trying to figure out the source. There's some shrubs and roses flowing now, but they aren't particularly fragrant nor sufficiently abundant to account for the widespread scent. The place I notice it most is a wide stretch of treed green space called the esplanade that runs along the side of the Citadelle next to the old part of Lille. The tall trees are mostly one species and they've been trimming them lately leaving piles of limbs on the ground which gave me the chance to identify the trees from the foliage. They are Lindens, called Lime trees in Europe or Basswood in the United States. There are many species of the genus "tilia." 

I also discovered from the downed limbs that they are currently in bloom and those flowers are the source of the scent I've been experiencing. I thought that most trees were finished blooming by now but Lindens are just getting started. I had planted a Linden tree in our yard back in Virginia. It had been damaged in a storm but was recovering well by the time we left. I hope it still is. They are rather remarkable trees and a good source of pollen for bees. 

Lately we've been having a heat wave with temperatures in the 90s. That's not unusual for summer in the states, but it's warmer than normal for the north of France and it's particularly oppressive without air conditioning. I walk Bailey early in the morning and then we lay low for the day, emerging only for the evening walk after the sun has gone down. I'm getting less mileage in but I'm okay with that for this weather. 

Bailey on an evening walk on a rainy day.

Trees planted in giant pots are a common decoration for public spaces around town. That red is also the city's color.

Hanging out in the bedroom on a hot day.

These are beautiful, they don't even look real.

They look like they must be related to thistles.

Bailey wearing her lighted collar on a late walk.

The foliage of the Linden/Lime/Basswood tree. They are tall trees but they also produce a lot of secondary growth from the base, which makes each tree look like it's growing out of the center of a bush. The one I planted in Palmyra did this as well.

The heavily scented flowers.

Summer Solstice

Yesterday was the Summer Solstice. The sun went down at 10:04 p.m. I didn't even take Bailey out for her second walk until 10 p.m. because yesterday was also the Fete de la Musique in Lille and all over France. More on that below.

We went to the last concert of the season at the opera last week. It was two guys playing various instruments.

One played stringed instruments and the other played wind instruments. Most were unknown to me.

Sweet William purchased at a market last weekend.

Wildflowers (intentionally planted and maintained) on one of our walks.

This was on an evening walk a few days ago. It doesn't show in the picture but there was one planet visible just above the moon, Venus, I assume.

On late evening walks I put Bailey's lighted collar on her. It makes it easier for me to keep track of her if she's running through the woods after dark.

Harry the heron at the lock on the canal. 

The Fete de la Musique is a nation-wide event with a wide variety of musical performances all over the country. Some are indoors like this recital of guitar players from the music conservatory in Lille. It was held in St. Catherine's church which is nice because it's a large, stone building and we are currently in the midst of a heatwave. It was very pleasant inside and the performances were good. I had forgotten the range of music that can be produced by an ordinary acoustic guitar. 

This was a guitar/flute duo and the sound of that solitary flute in that cavernous church was just amazing.

Most readers know that I don't care one whit for religion in general or catholicism in particular, but old churches are beautiful spaces. There's lots of old art work in this one.

We went over to the conservatory itself for the next event.

This space is also beautiful but it was hot and the music wasn't as good so we didn't make it all the way through it.

Much of the music was in the streets, like this fanfare (a brass band of university students), playing outside our favorite beer bar. There was a lot of street music, much of it electronic, very loud, and accompanied by much drinking, partying, and general merriment that went on well into the night. Bailey didn't care for it and we might send her off to her boarding camp for this event next year.