17 June

(Photos)

Eric and I went downtown to wander around before his meeting with his (former) HR people.  We spent some time in the garden of plants (where I had previously visited with Julien) and saw a peacock (le paon) and some other birds.  Love the pretty birds.

After that we went out to Colomiers to have a bite to eat on our way to where Eric used to work.  We stopped at a restaurant Eric knew and had a nice meal.

The salad course was a simple green salad with a vinaigrette accompanied by melon and white port (for dipping or dousing the melon).  We drank Ricard (of course) then a palatable house red.

For the main course Eric had trout and I had beef with lardon.  Then Eric had a cheese course (with which I assisted) and I had a couple of deserts that looked interesting (a kind of chocolate lava cake and a sort of compote with fruit).

All in all quite an excellent repast.

We visited his work where I met several people and tried to nap in a chair in Nelly’s office.  That went ok because she likes naps too (I think), which is to say she didn’t try to talk to me very much and let me close my eyes whenever they happened to do so.  After a meal like that a little nap really is in order.

After that paperwork was all signed and ready to go, Eric and I split back for Bonnefoy.  Once we got back we took a little walk around the neighborhood.  Ostensibly seeking a used store where we might find a lamp, but really just wandering around familiarizing ourselves with his neighborhood.

As we meandered we found an art space that does both visual and audio arts (such as sculpture and music) and promised to return when their new show was up after our visit to the countryside.  They seemed like cool people and the space is great, so I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s like when it’s in gear.

The guy we talked to at the art space told us about a fountain in a nearby park which featured the alphabet (font) they had developed based on triangles.  We walked around the corner to the park and took a look around.  The fountain was nice but I can’t say I’ve deciphered the font as yet.  I think they have the font posted somewhere and I’ll try to post a link for that at some point.

On our way back to chez Eric we stopped in to see his landlord.  Her surname is Mazas and her family is very old to Bonnefoy.  Her house is in the oldest building in Bonnefoy and it’s on the corner of Rue de Mazas.  She gave us a nice tour of her place and we talked about castles and electricians.

Why electricians?  I may have already mentioned that the electrical wiring in Eric’s place is a bit wonky, and the previous night Eric was changing a bulb and shorted a lamp as he twisted the bulb out.  This killed the lights in the kitchen, the toilet, and his bedroom.  The fuse box (yes, fuse box) has no markings so we were at a loss to determine which fuse might be in need of assistance.

Anyway, she promised to get an electrician over to the apartment while we were off in the country, and apologized for the lighting (which she doesn’t like and would prefer changed).

Since we were delayed from leaving for an extra day it gave us another opportunity to visit the music festival.  Today was the official first day of the festival and we went down that evening to have a go at it.

We stood in a long line for tickets, and Eric didn’t notice that though he asked for two tickets she only sold him one.  I quickly pointed it out and we were ushered to a special window for problems where we were able to buy a second ticket without standing in line again.

We met with Nelly and Patric who were already inside.  We had a great snack consisting of red wine, cured meats, tomatoes, olives, and baguette.  Damn, what a great fair snack.  Take that elephant ears.

Johnny Clegg was the headliner (and the act we had hoped to see the previous night) and all the music was pretty good.

We also ran into Jeff at the booth for his restaurant and we helped to drink some of their beer (a kind of white beer).  Such a rough evening.