Hello Summer

The Château de Joux located in La Cluse-et-Mijoux.

Before reporting on the past week, I give you one last image from our trip to Switzerland. I didn’t post this photo last week, as it was taken in France on our trip back home. We passed this attractive site, but only admired it from afar. The complex, which originally was a castle, built in the 12th century, is called The Château de Joux (the castle of joy). It has served many purposes down through the ages. It was a border fort for the Dukes of Burgundy in the 15th Century. It was a prison and then a fortress used during the first world war. Currently it is a museum and tourist attraction. I found it very appealing perched on the top of a peak in the Jura region of France. Perhaps next time we’ll stop to discover it up close.

This week was spent in Paris. We stayed at Emily’s to help out with a bathroom remodeling project. Before flying home, the Harrison family stopped by to have a picnic dinner with the Wilson family. We walked to the canal on a gray evening. A rainbow came out to give us a little color.

The canal d’Orqu, a short walk from Emily’s house, cheered by a rainbow. Photo by Emily.

The grandchildren on both sides are close in age. We had a very pleasant evening together. As it happened, Quinn’s best friend from preschool, Beatrix, who moved from France to Maine when she was five, and who hadn’t been back for almost ten years, was in town visiting and joined the celebration.

Zinnie, Quinn, Beatrix, Kylie, Mila, Chandra, Eli. Photo by Emily.

We had thought we might spend two or three days helping remodel the bathroom in Emily’s downstairs apartment, but ended up staying the entire week because, as often happens, the scope of the job was much bigger and more complicated than anticipated. It involved replacing the shower, sink, toilet, lighting and furniture as well as painting the walls and tiles. We had even anticipated replacing the floor, although that was not possible with all the other demands of the job.

Rick replaces the shower pan at the beginning of the week, when it still seemed we had plenty of time ahead of us. Photo by Emily.

The job turned out to be very complicated at every step but we kept forging ahead as best we could. Emily added a few items to the to-do list, including repainting the small kitchen cabinets and replacing the knobs.

Zinnie was a cheerful helper on the kitchen project. Photo by Emily.

As usual, Emily fed us very well. One day she made lavash sandwiches which were as tasty as they were beautiful.

Emily has a wonderful Turkish grocery store right down the street. Photo by Emily.

It was a pleasant week, although the bathroom remodel caused us all a few moments of heartburn. Still, it was nice to be in Paris and to stay with the family. Quinn was in the middle of his oral exams at the end of middle school. Here in France Middle School is for four years and High School is for three. We were able to listen to his very interesting presentations. He gave a ten minute talk on the Effect of the Cold War on Current Affairs and an English Literature presentation on The Catcher in the Rye, discussing children and grief and the loss of innocence. That all seemed fairly heady for a fifteen year old. But he knows his stuff and did well.

Of course, this week we had the solstice. On the longest day of the year, the sunset over Pantin, where Emily and her family live, was magical.

Urban landscape. Photo by Emily.

We traveled home last night and encountered some interestng clouds as we drove along. This country has some very extravagant cumulus formations. I never tire of them.

Cloud decorations.

With such long days, it’s easy to work too long and lose all sense of dinner time. We didn’t reach Noyers until almost 9:30, and we still hadn’t eaten. We had called ahead to our local pizza place from the road and Bruno had two pies awaiting us, which we took home for a very late dinner.

I am always happy to return to Noyers.

When we arrived after several days of being away, we were greeted by a whole new crop of brightly colored blooms.

The purple spring irises are followed in early summer by lilies and other sunny flowers.