“You should have the lentils. It’s a regional favorite. “

Me: “OK”

Bonjour! What a difference a day makes. August 31st in Paris was grey with a quite chilly breeze and showers. Meanwhile, Lyon is all sunshine and warmth. Mmm. We had time to walk around a bit near the Gare de Lyon.

I fell asleep almost as soon as the train left the station. Ed said I missed a lot of beautiful country views. Well, we’ll be walking through it soon enough! Took a little tour of the neighborhood last night. This image caught my eye. Notaries do a lot more in France than in the States. I was a notary and would have quite like signage like…

Was asleep by 9:30 last night and slept deeply til 8. After a hearty European breakfast (American style), we headed for Vieux Lyon. The concierge had said we could pay on the bus with a credit card. She really meant a travel card. The bus driver kindly allowed us to board and informed us as to purchasing the necessary ticket. One purchase of a 24 hour ticket provides ridership on any public transportation: bus, tram, metro, and funicular.

Basilica de Notre-Dame de Fourvière

I spent a lot of time “reading ” the mosaic stories. Also reading informative signs, in French, so it took a little longer.

On the way down to the crypt, 45 framed copies of the Hail Mary in 45 languages, some I’d not heard of, adorned the stairwell. Each had the nation’s flag as well.

A few photos of quirky sites and then to bed!

Today will be continued tomorrow.

Beau rêves mes amis

We were here in June for brother Steve’s wedding. Here now to celebrate the life of my mom, Claire. She died in 2020, donated her body to Brown med school, and her ashes were returned this past May. We’ll be going out on a boat today (8.28), motoring to Beavertail on Conanicut Island, a place she and my dad loved for the beauty of the water, the rocks, the breeze. We’ll share memories and enjoy lobster rolls.

Ed and I arrived Friday, the 25th, getting to our rental after midnight. It’s on Hundred Acre Pond in West Kingston which is in South Kingstown. very dark here at night and many more stars are visible than in ABQ. The quietude is lulling. We go to sleep to the sound of crickets and the breezes. Kayaks are available and the pond, what we’d call in lake in NM, feels so good for swimming. It’s a little bit of paradise.

Not long after arriving, Ed came running, “I’ve just killed the biggest mosquito ever!”

Now, for those of you who have always suspected something was “wrong” with me, the below may explain. Also, a little more RI humor follows.

Sadiddy night we went to The Narrows in Fall River, MA. It’s a concert venue in an old brick mill. The northeast is loaded with old mills, many converted to various types of living accommodations and other uses. We saw David Alvin and Jimmy Dale Gilmour with their band, The Guilty Ones. Only thing they are guilty of is slamming out some awesome rhythm and blues, cowpunk, rock-a-billy style music. Great musicianship, funny stories, good comraderie on stage. They played for 2 hours straight. Dang good for a bunch of old guys. Except the drummer – she’s young and boy, could she play!

I swam every day and went kayaking once. Guess I’d rather be in the water than on it.

Meanwhile, our charmed lives brought an unexpected gift in the form of a complimentary wine tasting cruise on the Coastal Queen around Narragansett Bay. Thanks to Donna, my brother’s SO. She works for the company. I especially appreciated this as I was too focused on guests and organizing mom’s memorial the night before to appreciatethe view. Another perfect night for a cruise.

In Boston now about to board our flight to Paris! Oo-la-la

This is our last night in Rhode Island. We arrived last Tuesday night the 6th, coming to town for the wedding of my brother Steve. I’ll have a few photos of a few people at the wedding, but none of the nuptualing couple. Blame the martini.

The wedding was on Saturday the 10th (also Ed’s birthday, but we kept that on the down low) so we had plenty of time to sight see and see family and a few friends. Mostly family as I have few friends left here.

Gosh, I’m really terrible at remembering to take photos. Took Steve and Janis (the affianced) to lunch on Wednesday. Visited old friends from mom’s time at Atria after that. Then to friends Kim and Ed. No photos – pathetic!

On Thursday we walked to downtown Providence and up the hill to Brown University. Here are some sights from downtown.

Thayer Street near Brown has changed so much since my hay day. The IHOP where we used to go for late night chocolate chip pancakes after a concert or a crazy night at Lupo’s is gone. Most of the cute little shops and independent shops are gone. But the beautiful mansions remain and we had a nice walk, including to this overlook that I don’t recall having seen when I lived here.

I don’t know what it is, but I’m allergic to something blooming here. And there’s lots blooming! It’s beautiful with dogwood, azaleas, catalpa, and lots of other plants I don’t know the names of. An it only just started yesterday! Does the body require time to dis-acclimate?

Thursday night we met Peter, Debbie and Kim for dinner (at Cafe Vino) and then dancing at Strings, where a marvelous band was playing. Dancing ensued. And playtime with a little man that showed up on the bar.

On Friday we walked to India Point Park. Along the way we came upon the flood gates installed after the 1938 hurricane that wiped out downtown Providence. It took until 1966 or so for them to be completed. Truly a marvel of design and implementation.

There were several informative boards providing the design and placement of the gates and of the Highway 195 bridge atop them. Parts for the bridge were constructed in various locals, then brought together. The bridge platforms were placed on tugboats and chugged into place, including waiting for the tide to come in to be raised to the correct level.

India Point Park had several historical information boards as well, from information about the arrival of Roger Williams and his relationship with the local Indians, to the many immigrants who came to the Providence ports, and up to the woman who had te vision to create a park where before was just a blighted and no longer used port.

On the way back to the apartment we stopped in to Trinity Brew House for a bite and a beer. It has this wonderful mural. See if you can name everyone. I missed two of them.

Saturday morning found us in Roger Williams Park, walking around a large lake. It was a delightful change from the city.

And then, the big event!

I was too busy catching up with nieces and nephews, and old & new acquaintances, to take photos. It was a beautiful event, with some levity included in the ceremony. The food was great and we had a good time dancing!

The above is from our walk today, through the neighborhood to a greenway bike and walking path. Although a bit humid, the day was pretty comfortable with breezes taking the stuffiness out of the day. All in all, this June weather has been great. A few sprinkles here and there, no big rain storms, beautiful cloud formations adding drama to the sky, and comfortable temps. Not to mention the late spring blooming plants that add depth and interest. Even if they also added sneezes. We’re home tomorrow night! I do love my home state and am ever happy to return – for a visit.

That’s the general greeting around here when you pass someone on the street or on their porch.

So, to wrap up our stay in Breaux Bridge and Sunday at Festival…

Today we awoke to gorgeous sunshine and a comforting breeze. Arrived at festival in time for Turvengen Band from Mongolia and the US. Again, the stringed instruments have a different twang and timbre, one guy sang in that guttural multi-tone that Mongolians do, and the drum set was not your usual. Plus the drummer also played a horn that had a sound akin to a dgiereedo (sp). We stayed for several songs, but then wanted to get over to another stage to hear Karma and the Killjoys. They rather killed my joy. We didn’t stay long. We heard them on youtube doing a Tiny Desk Concert and they sounded interesting. Live, however, their singing and playing didn’t stand up. So off we went to hear Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole. Their playing was solid and Cedric plays a sharp little accordion.

We didn’t stay too long though because by now Sora Jobarteh from Gambia was about to commence. Off to that stage! She and her band were another highlight of this festival. Wow. We stayed for the entire show, including encore, which featured each of the players, providing the their moments to shine for a longer period than previously. Aside from Sora on the kora, a 21 stringed calabash instrument, there was the bass player, drummer, electric guitar player, and the guy on calabash (no strings, just an overturned squash – a big one) and congas, and a guy on acoustic guitar. What an ensemble! Another captivating band that you really wanted to listen to closely. Sora spoke of how the kora is an instrument used throughout West Africa, but typically only played by men. She is the first professional female to play. She is exquisite.

We stayed a bit for a band from Haiti, RAM, that was also quite good, but by now I had to eat! Many of the food court places were out of lots of their offerings, or the lines were way long. We’d hoped initially to eat at Spoonbill, which we’d enjoyed last year, but it was closed. We did find a pizza place with good salad also. Those were some hard-working waiters! I bet they went non-stop from opening to close. And they were attentive and pleasant! We finished lunch just in time to make it to the final act of the festival – Dub Inc – a French reggae band from Saint-Étienne, active since 1997. They combine a range of styles, including dancehall, dub, ska and rap. Their music is also influenced by African music with their songs being sung in a mixture of French, English and Kabyle. They were a lot of fun. Equally enjoyable was observing the young people all around us – and the size of the spliffs. This was a vibrant and energizing way to complete the festival experience!

Tomorrow we leave early for Tulsa to visit a friend for a few days. Then we are homeward bound! What a fantastic journey so far… We are indeed fortunate. Bonsoir!

We met some people briefly at the Bayou Teche brewery and ran into them Thursday night at Festival. They told us about a historic Acadian Village they’d visited and enjoyed. That was our Friday afternoon event before heading to downtown Lafayette. It’s a beautiful property and they’ve done a good job of creating what a small village would have been like. The buildings were all moved from other locations. There are several homes, a blacksmith shop, doctor’s office, church, general store.

Perhaps the unique band of this festival, that we heard, is San Salvador from a ery small hamlet, Sainte-Salvadour, outside of Avignon, France. Six friends (2 pair of siblings) who grew up together. Using just their voices, 2 drums, clapping, and a tambourine they create riveting harmonies that had me rapt and actually brought tears of emotion. Here is how Mark Sampson, who interviewed them and attended a workshop, describes: “Working in a call-and-response fashion, together they embellish the phrase with vibrato and variations of pitch, and build it by repetition into something hypnotic and trance-like.” Although completely different, both Ed and I were reminded of Dakha Brakha in terms of harmonizing and pitch. We would have gone to her them a second time the following day but for the cold rain and breeze which blew in just as we arrived downtown.

We braved it for the walk in and to a stage, but it was just too uncomfortable. Home we went to return later, which while still cold and blowy was at least dry. I warmed up real fast dancing to Corey Ledet and then Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr. – both zydeco masters. Dopsie, in fact has lots of credits to his name, music used in films and recording with Paul Simon on his Graceland album. I don’t know how old he is, but man can he move, including dropping to a split and bouncing back up. He’s a real entertainer! So glad we saw him here as we missed him at French Quarter Festival.

Closing out our night was Lisa LeBlanc who we also heard the night before. She’s from New Brunswick. Again, an energetic entertainer, full of life and laughter and humor. She describes the cuisine of her area as grey. No spices, just salt. Everything is boiled. Even has a song about it. Her band was tight. They all just semed like they have a helluva good time together. Another thing we really appreciated: before their encore, Lisa left the stage. The bass player then introduced the crew, starting with support. He really took his time introducing band members all the while playing background riffs. Then Lisa came out for the finale. It was raucous fun!

And that was a rap for us!

Yesterday, Wednesday, we walked around Lake Martin. Initially the walk is on a road which ends at the beginning of a trail. We walked the length of the road and entered a quiet, leafy, trail that ran between Lake Martin on our left and a desultory canal that didn’t look like it had much life in it to our right. I can imagine that in the height of summer this walk would be neigh unendurable due to heat, humidity, and mosquitos. On this day though it was quite pleasant.

The loop around the lake was 6-7 miles. About two-thirds of the way around was a Visitor Center which in the past had been a Creole house. It had a beautiful mural of the trees and birds of Lake Martin. A photo would not have done it justice. There were also a couple of alligator skins to touch along with other items. One of my favorite was a binder with feathers collected from the variety of birds making their home here. We did see lots more birds on the walk – tons of small blue heron, white egrets, snowy egrets, and flying overhead, one roseate spoonbill!

Post hike, we went to Bayou Teche Brewery outside of the town of Arnaudville. They have a very creative pizza menu; we selected the muffuletta pizza, a take on the famous New Orleans muffuletta sandwich. What might that be, you ask. Basically a round bread – sort of a cross between a focaccia and ciabatta with lots of sesame seeds, loaded with olive salad and Italian deli meats, and provolone cheese. So, the pizza had the olive salad, andouille sausage, and the usual mozzarella cheese and red sauce.

Wondering about olive salad? It’s delicious for one thing – and so good soaking into the bread. Recipes vary, but pretty much all of them contain chopped olives; chopped pickled celery, cauliflower, and carrots (giardiniera); garlic; olive oil; and vinegar and maybe capers.

Wednesday evening and the first night of Festival Internional Louisiana! Only one stage and just two bands. Band one, was local, traditional: Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band. Lots of fun to dance to. Band two, Chris Ardoin and Nustep Zydeco, was also local, but he infuses his zydeco with soul, reggae and hip hop. The place was packed with mostly young folk who knew the lyrics. We thought it was boring and left.

Thursday morning was gloriously rainy with a wind chill factor of cold. I put on several layers (including a sweater, t-shirt, and leggings I bought at Costco on Monday, that cold-ass day) and still needed a blanket wrapped around my legs. Having the appropriate “gear” for the weather makes all the difference! I was able to sit on the hanging bench under the car port with my coffee and a good book, thoroughly enjoying it all. After lunch the sun came out, and we walked into town for rolled ice cream. It was delicious and too rich. Upon reaching home we fell into a mini coma and took naps. And then it was time to head into the Festival.

Have you heard of Lauren Daigle? I hadn’t, but if you’re Christian, you may have and if you’re Christian and live in Louisiana you most certainly have heard of this singer/songwriter. She was the closing act on the large stage at 9 p.m. and a local favorite. Born in Lake Charles and grew up in Lafayette. People were there saving space by sitting on the hard top and just packed in. No chairs allowed for this act. We were at the stage for the 7:45 show Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba from Mali. Most of the crowd clearly wasn’t there for them as they were paying no attention. We were leaving because it was too hard to hear, but as we got further away from the stage and the crowd the sound was better. To finish the Lauren story – that area was at max capacity for her. We didn’t return to check her out as we knew it would be impossible. I did check her out of youtube and she has a husky voice. I can see why she’s popular.

It was an early night for us as ADG7 was meh and not much else happening. Might be that next year we come for Friday-Sunday. The thing is, I really love Louisiana in April, so hanging out here and exploring surroundings is a plus.

Monday was a cold-ass day! Especially in the morning. My feet and my legs were like ice! Had to sit on the couch for a bit with my legs wrapped in a blanket. By 11 or so we decided to head on out. Having heard about St. Martinville from a few of St. Bernard’s parishioners we headed in that direction. I layered up as best I could to keep the cold at bay. I just can’t get over the difference in temperatures this year compared to the previous two times I’ve been here.

Are you familiar with the poem by William Wordsworth Longfellow, Evangeline? I wasn’t until visiting this part of the country. Longfellow heard of a legend about a displaced Acadian woman spending her life searching for her love after they were separated. The tale is based upon actual historical events: the expulsion of the French speaking Acadians by the British in 1755-1758. The Brits entered towns in the region demanding that Acadians swear allegiance to the British crown. Those who wouldn’t were forced to leave, put on ships and sent to other parts of North America, some returned to France, others escaped to New France (Quebec), and still others to the French colonies in the Caribbean. Many settled in southern Louisiana and came to be known as Cajuns.

There’s a link here to St Matinville! Eventually, Evangeline was reunited with her love Gabriel under a live oak tree in St. Martinville alongside the Bayou Teche.

Along the road by the side of the church and then continuing up to the church and around the other side are markers chronicling the history of the Acadians. As an example:

I’m going to see about finding the Dolores del Rio film.

The French came to south Louisiana territory and settled here as early as 1604 – before the pilgrims of 1620 in Massachusetts, before the English of 1619 in Jamestown. DeSoto and his company are said to be the first Europeans to explore the southern US around 1530. After being relentlessly pursued and attacked by Indians, De Soto died of fever and was given a burial in the Mississippi. The remnants of his party escaped via raft and reached Mexico in 1543.

Leaving St. Martinville we stopped at the Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site. Here we enncountered an enthusiastic guide and received a bit of history, as well as a short film which was really forgettable. It’s coming along as a historic site and it seems they’re planting native plants and plan to put in identifying markers. The site includes the Maison Olivier house which you visit on a self guided tour. Maison Olivier was a Creole Plantation, but Monsieur Olivier did not have the good fortune that the family did at Laura Plantation which we visited last year. Still, it’s a good example of a Creole home in a beautiful setting.

I don’t get tired of visiting historic homes and getting a glimpse into life back then. And comparing it to now. If you were a domestic back before electric and piped in gas, you were pretty much a slave (whether you were an enslaved person or a hired Irish immigrant woman – also a common occurrence) to the stove. Water would have been needed all day every day for cooking, cleaning, baths, laundry. It would have been sooooo hot and humid on top of the natural heat and humidity.

It was an enjoyable and informative visit. There’s also a small museum in the visitor center, worth a look around.

And now, to bed. Beaux reves. (I wish I knew how to make the little hat above the first e in reves… I know it did it earlier.)

Today, Tuesday the 25th April started out with the coolness this year has brought. We went for a walk and within the hour, sun appeared and the temps went from cool to warm immediately. Which made it a great day to tour a cypress swamp on Lake Martin, about a 10 minute drive away. The “lake” is generally 3 feet deep and aobut 7 feet at it’s deepest and is loaded with alligators. Also snapping turtles on the muddy lake bed, so no swimming or paddle boarding. Lots of kayaks out and quite a few fishermen in aluminum boats.

We were 19, including our guide Brett, a couple from Holland (who had shipped their motor home to Baltimore and were on a 6 month tour), 2 young women and a young man (late 20s?) from France, and a local family (men, women, children).

These trees, when not growing in water, grow to be 200 years old and about 120-160 feet high. Growing in water, they will always be this size as they were planted here prior to the area being flooded. It’s green in Louisiana that even the water is green!

There are quite a few of these dotting the lake. At some point it was determined that no more could be built. So even though they are privately owned, the first person to arrive at any duck blind has the use of it for the day. Hunting season is November through January.

Fortunaely for the gators, lots of logs float in the lake. Gators need to sun themselves until their body temperature reaches 76 F in order to be able to digest food. Another intersting fact: measure snout to eyes; the number of inches equals their length which in turn tells you the age. Oh, only the males get longer than 8 feet.

We also saw ahingas also known as snake birds ( and one of the few birds with solid bones), great blue herons, a bald eagle, osprey and at one point went by a cloud of baby dragonflies. I did not get photos of any of them. Oh, we were also accompanied by a slew of butterflies that kept landing on us.

It was peaceful. If I lived here, I would certainly be on this body of water tooling around. But not on my paddle board!

On to the next adventures…

We left the New Orleans area via the Lake Pontchatrain Causeway, which is the longest continuous bridge over a body of water in the world! It’s 24 miles of huggingly close to the water bridge. I read that some people freeze due to the expanse of water and must be escorted off the bridge by the police. At one point, looking left or right, you cannot see land, just an expanse of water to the horizon. I was surprised to see nary a boat – neither motor nor sail.

We enjoyed the Louisiana State Capitol building so much last year we returned. It was equally enjoyable. Here are a few photos from the 27th floor observation deck. The building itself is 34 stories high. Huey P. Long had a vision and brought it to fruition. Unfortunately, he was assassinated here while serving as US Senator. It seems Huey was gerrymandering some area to preclude a rival from being able to be elected. Said rival’s son-in-law took issue with this and shot Huey. That probably didn’t help him get elected. And then he’s got a jailbird SIL; I’m sure neither killer’s wife nor FIL were happy about this. He was a very mild-mannered looking ENT doctor. Go figure. You really can’t.

If you ever find yourself in Baton Rouge, I highly recommend visiting the caitol building and the grounds. In addition we found a restaurant with interesting food, a great atmosphere, and cocktails: Cochairs. Check it out, too!

After settling into our digs (same place we stayed last year) in Breaux Bridge, we took a walk into town, about 3/4 mile. This time I picked up a few brochures at the visitor center. One was a walking tour of the town so we proceded to follow it. Truly worthwhile! We didn’t even finish it before heading back home to continue tomorrow (whcih is now today as i write this). Well, before getting the brochure, we visited St Bernard’s church as mass had just let out. Therein, we got to talking with a local Cajun/Acadian. Got a little history about the area, about the loss of French for some due to government policies (similar to what happened to Spanish speakers and Indians in the southwest). Talked with another woman waiting for her daughter who was making her First Confession. She remarked how nervous her daughter had been and now it seemed she didn’t want to leave the confessional! Must have been an interesting conversation in there.

We’ve been in three churches in these parts. In all three, the Stations of the Cross are in French. So, while the government tried to eradicate the language and the culture, it remains strong here.

Teche is the Chitimacha tribe word for snake. Bayou Teche was once part of the Mississippi which snakes ever so much through the territory. In fact there is a sculpture depicting the Bayou as a snake with towns listed along the snake. There’s a wonderful legend that goes along with it, but would take too long to go into here. It’s right by the Bayou Teche. There’s so much history in these small towns!