Saturday April 10th

It's another beautiful day with warm temperatures and cloudless skies. A Face Book post from a friend back home revealed snow on the ground in places there. I guess I picked the right place to vacation. The view of farmland and countryside from Jean and Catherine's home is gorgeous!

After a leisurely breakfast of coffee and toast, we went to the market in Nogent. Every Saturday the town square is shut to auto traffic and vendors set up market stands. It is very similar to our Farmer's Markets, but on a much grander scale. You could buy meat, cheeses, fresh fish, lobster, scallops, roasted chicken, fresh vegetables, herbs, jams and jellies, flowers, breads, and much, much more. It seemed to be the main social gathering in town as well. Jean and Catherine were stopped many times to visit with friends, teachers, and retired teachers. Retired teachers in France seem to enjoy their freedom as much as ones in the US.

On a side street, clothing vendors and shops were set up too. So one could do all of your shopping right there at the Saturday Market. Next stop on our morning journey was a stop at a bakery. Jean buys fresh bread on almost a daily basis. A stop at a supermarket was next. They have almost the same things as we do at our supermarkets, although I think they have more offerings of fresh fish and fresh produce. Most of their out of season crops came from Spain. I did see some Florida Grapefruit. Last stop of the morning was at the butcher shop. Here Jean and Catherine selected from a host of meats and sausages.

An observation about the streets and cars is necessary. The streets are extremely narrow. What look like one-way streets are actually two-way. Cars park in whatever direction is convenient. The cars are all very compact. Large cars would not work here. I have not seen a pickup truck since I arrived. Motor scooters seem to go wherever they want. Most vehicles run on diesel. The price of gas and diesel is roughly twice what it is at home by the time you convert liters to gallons and Euros to dollars.

Just like yesterday, we had a long and leisurely lunch. In fact, Jean said that they have an hour for lunch in school. That's a far cry from our twenty minutes. Like yesterday, lunch consisted of a variety of salads, wine, cheese, fruits, and coffee.

By now I was ready for a nap! Come to find out, after I laid down Jean snuck off for a nap too. Later in the day they had a retired teacher couple stop and visit. While I did not understand much of the conversation, the talk was lively. Jean occasionally brought me up to date, and the conversations are the same things we talk about, such as the weather, additions to the house, storm damage repairs, etc.

We had company for the evening meal. Carol Reed, one of the Canton chaperones and original founders of the exchange program came to dinner along with her host. Dinner was at 7:00, and we never left the table until after 10:00. Jean and Catherine had prepared a fabulous meal of duck. The wine and conversation flowed. Dessert was a cream cake out of this world, followed up by tea. I'm getting the impression that food is serious business in France. :-)

To cap the evening off, Carol whipped out her iPad to show it off. That made me really jealous!! In bed at 11:00. Jean has an auto tour of the region planned for tomorrow.