We had a pretty busy social calendar last week, but of course everything revolves around Bailey's twice daily walking schedule.
Thursday evening at the opera was another dance performance. It was modern and quite weird. Can't say that I really enjoyed much of it but it was an experience and I don't regret going. We did have great seats. We had a beer on the way home and all was made right.
Friday night we went to a performance of Sheherazade by a local symphony orchestra. It was very good musically, and it took place in the Eglise Sainte Catherine, a local church that we hadn't yet visited. The church was quite beautiful, with a vaulted wooden ceiling that looked like it had been constructed by ship builders. There was also a good amount of 16th century Flemish art hanging on the walls. The church doesn't seem to be open much (none of them have much of a local congregation any more), but it was in much better condition than two of the other nearby churches that we've visited. Interesting fact about churches in France, virtually all of them, including Notre Dame, are actually owned (since 1905) by the French government.
Saturday night we went to performance put on by what I guess is a circus training school. The students included jugglers, acrobats, and aerialists. It seemed to be a performance put on by the school to give its students stage experience in front of a live audience. I'm guessing the audience included a lot of friends and family; it was a friendly and supportive crowd. I'm also pretty sure we were the only Americans in attendance. I'm not sure we'd do it again, but it was fun and they sold beer and popcorn. (We left at intermission.)
Sunday I had my usual long morning walk with Bailey and then went on a bike ride in the afternoon, leaving her at home to nap. This time I hopped on the subway and went to a new part of town. I picked up one of the city rental bikes at the metro stop and rode into some new (to me) green space. I'm not sure what the area is called but it's a series of small lakes with trails running along it. It seems to include a historic farm as well. There is also an archeological museum, the museum of modern art, and a museum of windmills in the area. The trails were great for bike riding. The really nice surprise for me was the wildlife. The lakes are in a protected area so they must be perfect for waterfowl nesting. I have never seen so many swans, including several broods with multiple cygnets swimming with their parents. There were so many swans on the largest of the lakes that they looked like seagulls. I'm getting somewhat accustomed to seeing swans on bodies of water here in France, but I still get a thrill from each sighting.
The swans were great but I got an extra wildlife sighting today. I was riding past an open grassy field and spotted what, at first glance I first took to be a dog, but then realized it was a fox ("renard" in French). He was just standing in the middle of a field, a good distance from the trails. A couple of other people along with trail noticed him as well and stopped to watch and take his picture.
It was a great ride. I got slightly lost on the far side of the lake, but found my way back. I made gazpacho after getting back home and cooked a pizza for dinner. My legs were tired but we still did Bailey's evening walk. Sunset is now after 10:00 p.m. so there was still plenty of time.
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