THE BATS

We go for an after-dinner stroll every evening around the village. Tonight, we were out just before sundown, walking around as it began to get dark. Suddenly we noticed something zipping through the air in great big arcs. The bats were out for their pre-dinner stroll. They whiz around, chasing each other, flying right over our heads.
There is something very comforting about bats on patrol. They seem to come just so close, veering away before they crash. I love the fact that we live in a place where bats are an important part of the environment – an indicator that nature is all around us. We certainly can live in harmony with nature if we slow down and take the time to see what is all around us, swirling around our heads, zipping in and out of our lives like the wonderful bats.

VILLAGE LIFE

As soon as we got the geyser lighting we were very pleased with ourselves. But first thing in the morning, ready for our first hot shower we ran out of gas. We had to drive down to the village store to buy two new tanks of gas. Then back up to the house, a quick installation, and a fine hot shower at last.
We spent most of the day at Karen’s house (she spent considerably less time there!). She had roped us into helping her niece, Tiffany, set up lunch for a party of gay cyclists that were coming through the Loire. We did a lot of running around but we did get to meet some interesting people. Karen had put the word out to all her gay friends that fine strapping young men would be passing through. Several neighbors “dropped by” to check out the action. We met an interesting couple from Fort Lauderdale who have a house close by. One of them is a cardiologist who “consults” via the Internet. I wonder how hard it would be to teach kindergarten from France via the Internet.
We all drove down to Chinon in the afternoon to do some banking and to check emails. While we were pottering about we bought some bread in a little bakery. An old man started up a conversation with me. He said I resembled an artist friend he had known in his youth. Unfortunately, he couldn’t remember the name of the artist. Later he began speaking English and revealed that he hadn’t spoken a word of English since 1948. He was quiet a character!
After dinner we took our walk along the Loire to the covered bridge about two kilometers from the village. We looked back from the middle of the bridge to our chateau guarding the confluence of the two rivers.

FIRST HOME MADE MEAL

We took a ride to Saumur today. We stopped at a plant nursery along the way, just south of the town. We picked out some blue hydrangeas and some pink geraniums to brighten up the back yard.
We walked around Saumur for about two hours. It’s a bustling little city with lots of boutique shops. We found the gay bar, a café called Le Cafelito, opposite the Mexican restaurant. We think it was the gay bar, partly because everybody stared at us when we walked in, like they couldn’t believe that anybody would just walk in off the street, and partly because everybody was pierced and tattooed and smoked like in a sailors’ bar.
We couldn’t find the Irish bar that had been there last time we were in Saumur.
When we arrived home we were barely in the door when we had our first visitors. David Crook, the man who sold us the house, came by with a friend to show us how to light the gas water heater. He sat and chatted for an hour. We drank a bottle of good Chinon wine while we talked about some of the changes we would like to make to the house.
I needed a nap when they left. I lay out on the couch and slept for an hour. Rich went for a walk to Candes while I was asleep.
When he got back we walked to the village centre. We bought our first few bottles of wine for the cave: a 2001 Chinon that the lady said would be ready to drink in five years and a 2002 that we will have to wait for 10 years to enjoy.
We made our first dinner in the house, a salad nicoise with broiled salmon. We were even able to wash the dishes for the first time.

NANTES

PLUS IMAGES

POWERSCOURT

PLUS IMAGES

Sunday we spent at Powerscourt. We drove through the Wicklow Mountains, through Blessington and Hollywood, through Glendalough, and up to Enniskerry. Not the fastest way to ge there but definately the most scenic.
We met up with John and Ligia and Ilir and Radu at Powerscourt. There was a little sun between the showers but the gardens looked magnificent in the overcast light.
John didn't remember that we had been there once as kids. Tim took us out there in his new car for one of his Sunday jaunts. I think it was before the house burned down, so it must have been around 1971 or 72.
We went back to John and Ligia's in Bray for dinner. By that time I was feeling pretty washed out. I had been up since 3am (thanks to jetlag). I started to fall asleep on their couch.
We drove back to Walkinstown - I was doing the driving even though I was very tired. It was a miracle that we survived the M50.

HIGH SUMMER, WET WINTER

Today started and ended with miserable weather. June 21 - the beginning of Summer and the longest day of the year. Of course it is raining, hasn't really stopped since we got here, but today was the worst. We were looking forward to a good day of walking and exploring the city centre but our plans were curtailed by the inclement weather.
We did take the bus into the city centre. We have a three day pass for the bus so we are trying to make the best of it. We started by walking down the quays to see the the developments in the Docklands area. A whole new city is being built there but right now it seems like a vast building site. As we walked the soft misty rain turned into a bitter downpour. We took cover in an Italian cafe where we had coffee to wait out the rain. We might still be there if we were waiting for the rain to stop. We walked back up Lombard Street and Pearse Street into Westland Row to say hello to Treasa. She wasn't ready for her break so we decided to walk up to Merrion Square to the National Gallery. We pottered about, taking in the Jack B. Yeats (not all at once, mind you) then walked through the new Millenium wing to the Clare Street exit. Still raining. Hard. We took a taxi to the other side of the city, up to Parnell Square to the Hugh Lane Gallery. We were enjoying the video interview of Francis Bacon when some very loud Italian ladies walked through, shattering any hope of quiet reflection on his art. We did take a look at the reconstruction of his studio - a work of art in itself.

WESTLAND ROW WALKABOUT

We took the bus into town today for our first official day out. The intermittant rain was a little discouraging - it is Summer after all - but we were anxious to see Olde Dublin before it disappears in the next ten minutes.
Our first stop was to visit with Tony Fitzgerald. It was lunchtime for him so we met him at the GPO then walked over to Arnott's for lunch. He brought us up to date on Tadhg, his son, who has already had a run in with the law for drinking in public. Apparently that's not allowed until you are at least 16!
Then we walked up to Trinity College to meet with Treasa. The rain was spitting in our faces. We decamped to a coffee house to chat about old times (last year). We walked her back to work at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. The RIAM is located in three conjoined Georgian buildings in Westland Row. Right across the street is the house where Oscar Wilde was born. Further down the block is the church of St. Andrew with its distinctive statue of the martyr being crucified. We went inside to check out the interior. The church sextent gave us a mini tour of the church though he wasn't very knowledgable about its history. We did find out that this whole area was the Lazarotte of Dublin in the 12th century - the place where leper pilgrims stopped on their way to the shrine of St. James at Compostela.

WELCOME HOME

We arrived at Dublin Airport on schedule - 10:30 in the morning, though our internal clock said 2:30am. Timmy picked us up and took us home. We did a little socializing (mainly scoffing down Carmel's scones) before heading off to bed for a nap.
I woke up at about 7 to the sound of rain lashing down. Helen was home from work and Timmy had our dinner almost on the table.
I tried to stay up as long as I could but started fading at around 11 so I went back to bed. But here I am, up again, unable to sleep, listening to the birds twitter as the first rays of dawn are lighting a cloudy sky.

DUE DILIGENCE

Diligence is one of the seven contrary virtues. The Contrary Virtues were derived from the Psychomachia ("Battle for the Soul"), an epic poem written by Prudentius (c. 410). Practicing these virtues is alleged to protect one against temptation toward the Seven Deadly Sins. Diligence is opposite to sloth, so diligence would be pertaining to activity instead of such things.

GETTING READY

Two days to go before our big adventure begins. We are leaving on Monday. First, we have to get to San José, then Los Angeles, before settling in for the 10 hour flight to
Dublin. After Dublin, we take a Ryanair flight to Nantes. We may stay overnight in Nantes before taking the train to Saumur. From Saumur it's anyone's guess how we are going to get to Montsoreau.

BON VOYAGE, REY REY

This picture courtesy Eunice.

ReyRey's retirement/Bon Voyage party.