Monthly Archives: July 2012

Performers At The Palais

Walking through the Midi-Pyrenees town of St. Girons several times each week, I am constantly on the lookout for posters advertising events and performances on the weekends.

Our Saturday morning walk contained surprises as we took our normal route through the gardens of the historic Palais Des Vicomtes (Palace of the Viscounts), a mere 4 blocks from our new apartment, and passed tents full of performers in costume as we headed toward the footbridge over the river that led to the weekend market area.
 

Palais des Vicomtes (Palace of the Viscounts) beside the River Salat in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France


 
The performers were just getting ready to stroll through St. Girons as they gathered in front of one of their vans and I quickly snapped this photo.
 

Performers preparing for the show in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France


 
Towering over her flock of admirers, I was amazed at how easily this painted, powdered, and bewigged creature could glide atop those stilts!
 

Admirers gather around one of the performers in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France


 
Across the bridge, into the old town, and through the streets they strode with a small band of musicians leading the way.
 

Musicians lead the way on a weekend festival in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France


 
This lovely creature was quite obliging about posing for photos.
 

A costumed stilt-walking performer strikes a pose in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France


 
And here was one of the posters that suddenly appeared on Saturday. What fun these surprise events are!
 

Festival of 7 & 8 July poster in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France


 

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Fabulous French Weekend Markets

They are ubiquitous throughout France — the weekend markets that contain a mix of items from fresh fruit and vegetables to cheese and sausage to clothing. We’ve been to a variety of them in cities and towns from one end of France to the other.
 

Bright umbrellas shade the buyers and sellers at the Saturday market in St. Girons


 
One of the nicest markets we have attended has been in the town that we now call home — St. Girons in the Midi-Pyrenees down near the border with Spain. And no, just in case you think I am being biased, this truly is a well-rounded market since there are just as many ‘pretty things’ like hand-thrown pottery and linen clothing and original artwork as there are stalls selling food.

You can always find live music each week in several places sprinkled up and down the streets and laneways.
 

Musician busking for change in front of a brasserie in St. Girons in the Midi-Pyrenees of France


 
The setting is especially charming, too — from the open-to-the-skies square at the end of Rue Gambetta down through the avenue of plane trees which parallel the swiftly flowing River Salat. Those traders beneath the lush green trees must be quite grateful for that shade on those blisteringly hot and sunny South of France Saturdays. We shoppers certainly are!
 

Shopping beneath the plane trees at the St. Girons Saturday market


 
We feel quite lucky to have this year-around weekly market a mere few minutes away from our new apartment. We walked out the front door with our canvas shopping bags and voila — we were across the footbridge over the river and right in the thick of things in just under 15 minutes.
 

Footbridge over the River Salat in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France


 

Picturesque St. Girons hugs both sides of the River Salat in the South of France


 
The produce is always ultra fresh and significantly cheaper than what we pay in the local supermarkets.
 

Shopping in the Rue Gambetta square in St. Girons in the Midi-Pyrenees of France


 
We fell in love with the vivid colours used by one potter who had a booth at the markets.
 

Bright coloured pottery for sale at the Saturday market in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France


 
We picked one vivid green bowl, changed our minds, and decided to go for the larger orange bowl you see at the bottom filled with fruit.
 

Buying a piece of pottery at the Saturday market in St. Girons


 

Large orange-glazed pottery bowl from the Saturday market in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France


 
Hope you are enjoying these slices of life in the South of France!

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Relaxing on a Tour De France Sunday

How to spend a gloomy and gray Sunday in St. Girons in the South of France? Sit alongside a very happy husband watching the live coverage on television.
 

Live Tour de France coverage on television


 
Can you see what’s on the console in front of the flatscreen TV? Those little pieces of sculpture are two cyclists that we bought in a shop in St. Lo up in Normandy. And the red and white polka dot hat is a souvenir from a previous Tour de France.

More soon!

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Unseen Forces At Work To Keep Me Safe From Harm

It didn’t take long after yesterday’s “Debacle In Toulouse” at the Hôpital Rangueil for me to realise that unseen forces had been at work to keep me safe from harm. I’ve named the hospital today because they really should be ashamed of treating anyone in that manner and they do need to clean up their act!

But as we exited the building and began to walk to the car, I told Mark that none of it had been right and I felt like we were leaving for a very good reason — not simply because it had been a farce from beginning to end and I was angry.

Mark was just a smidge grumpy about losing a full day of paid work when we’ve had so many unexpected settling-in expenses this month, but he too recognised that it was all far too not-quite-right. And having had those dreams ahead of time that I’m about to relate to you and which Mark was already aware of meant he laughed with good nature as we ate lunch and smirked, “Why, you’re positively psychic!” and I laughed back, “Yes, I actually am! And it serves me well.”

Any time I have ever had to have surgery or a complicated medical procedure in the past, I have taken the time the night before to do a longish session of meditation and guided imagery to smooth the way. I sat on the bed on Sunday night, did all of that, felt a glowing and twinkly light wrap around me, sensed the presence of several spiritual beings or now-departed people around me including my mother, and then off to sleep I went. But I awakened again and again throughout the night and each time it was from a vivid dream that was a different version of why the next day was not going to go well.

In the first dream, I saw us explaining to someone in charge that we had left far enough in advance, but we’d gotten behind an accident on the motorway and the delay was not our fault. The drive to Toulouse takes just over one hour, but we left here yesterday morning 2 hours and 5 minutes ahead of time. And yes, we did get into gridlock commuting-to-work traffic AND see an accident that was slowing things down even further.

In the second dream, we went to the wrong office after arriving and were then directed to another incorrect office. That is exactly what happened! We arrived early with my appointment sheet, went to the building, wing, floor, and office that were listed and the woman who told me “you don’t conform to our schedule” then let us know we were in the right building and wing, but on the wrong floor of the same department. So she walked us down to the correct place where the further unravelling of our day began.

In the third dream, we drove into a vast medical complex of buildings and were caught up in some round-and-round you go set of roads that led us everywhere except to the door of the correct building. That did happen! And Mark ended up dropping me off in front of a large central building, going down the hill to park the car, and then when he returned we walked through endless connecting passageways until we were in the correct building and wing.

In the fourth and final dream, a group of departed relatives were standing in a long white hallway leading to a set of double doors and they were all shaking their heads silently as if to indicate no-no-no. But in the dream I walked past them, waved at all those familiar faces, and went through the doors only to be confronted by someone with the body of a woman, the head of a dog, and a barking voice. Trust me, I met that woman too. She was the one who shrugged, told me the wrong time to come back, and told me to take another pill.

Let’s be truthful, I’d certainly received lots of psychic warning in advance. But I did the right thing, went to the appointment as scheduled, and watched as it all unfolded in spectacularly unprofessional fashion.

But what if that unfolding farce kept me from harm? What if all of those loving faces in my visions, meditations, and dreams were there because I summoned them and they made certain that no one did their job badly, harmed me, or gave me incorrect treatment or results afterward? That is the strong and very peaceful conclusion that I have come to. And everything will probably go well when I am rescheduled.

And if it doesn’t? I’ll be right back here reporting to you, faithful readers, on my impressions of the true state of medical affairs in France!

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Debacle In Toulouse aka The French Fluff Up Schedules

What I really wanted to say is that the much-respected French medical system can truly f*ck up schedules and impact people’s lives badly, but wait — I’m getting ahead of myself.

The day began well. In spite of a fairly sleepless night, I was up on time before dawn for the two hour trip to Toulouse to a strange hospital for a scary out-patient medical treatment. We got stuck in rush hour traffic, 6 lanes of gridlock, but still managed to arrive on the dot for my appointment check in at 9:15 AM. It all went downhill from there.

Mark had to drive me to the appointment because I had been told to take 2 oral morphine-blend capsules just as I left he house in the morning. I was prepared for the procedure and feeling no pain of any kind.
 

Morphine-blend capsules


 

But I stood in the hallway of the treatment wing feeling wobbly and stunned at the same time as the woman in charge of the department told me, “you don’t conform to our schedule.” What???

I pulled out my PRINTED appointment sheet and referral from my doctor here in St. Girons and, I swear to God, she shrugged. Then she told me to come back at 11:00 and by the way, take another morphine pill before I came back. Off to the cafe we went to kill an hour and a half and eat a yogurt to try and settle my stomach.

Arriving back in the treatment area 5 minutes early, we sat and waited and as the time began to slide by. Then I stood up and told Mark that something was not right — I could sense it. I went into the office and asked quite pointedly, “Quelle heure est mon rendez-vous?” (What time is my appointment?) Off she went down the hall and came back with the information that I was dreading, they MIGHT be able to fit me in after lunch — perhaps after 1 PM.

I’m usually quite a polite and respectful person, but I completely lost my temper and told her that it was the most f’d up thing I had ever heard of to both phone a patient AND send them a printed appointment by mail, have them drive a long distance for medical treatment, have the husband lose an entire day of work, somehow manage to NOT keep the appointment, and also to have the patient take unnecessary medication for pain. And I left as she stood there looking stunned that I had spoken up for myself.

As we drove home that afternoon after lunch, I had Mark swing by our local hospital and I related the entire sorry story to the local medical staff. The head nurse listened to my saga and I watched as her jaw became set with anger. She faxed my printed appointment to the administrative office in Toulouse and then called the hospital and absolutely shrieked at them on the phone! “Pourquoi?” (Why?) She was still angry when she hung up and she confirmed that I did just the right thing to walk out because they had plainly lost my appointment and they had no intention of working me into their schedule that day. Such incompetence! Aaarrrggghhh!!!

If my posts are a little thin on the ground in the coming weeks, it’s because I’m dealing with a few challenges right now. For those of you who were already in the loop, thanks for the many notes and good wishes. They are greatly appreciated.

And readers, I will keep you posted on the follow-up to this ‘Debacle In Toulouse’ story and any other relevant tidbits.

Bye for now!

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Photo Of The Day: River Salat and St. Girons in France

Just a taster of this beautiful region today — a shot from the Avenue Francois Camel bridge across the River Salat and into the old town section of St. Girons in the Midi-Pyrenees of France.
 

View from bridge over Avenue Francois Camel into old town section of St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France


 

We are ringed by mountains here and this is one of the prime cycling destinations in Europe. Organised tour groups come here from a variety of countries and in the last week alone I have heard groups that were German, Swedish, Danish, and Italian as I was out walking through the town. From the large front windows of our new apartment, we constantly see pelotons of brightly clad riders zooming by.

We both feel that we have made a very good lifestyle choice in moving here!

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