Curiosities

Yesterday was a low-key kind of day, with that let-down feeling you can't help having after a big event you've spent weeks preparing for. After a bit of clearing up in the morning, we got some work done and also had the rare experience of actually sitting down at the table and eating a meal for the first time in days. I need to get the diet back on track before Thursday.

This morning we took Pamphyle and Martine to visit the bergerie, which they hadn't seen before. We took croissants with us, and it was lovely to sit on the terrace in the shade drinking coffee and looking at a scrapbook/notebook that A and his brothers had kept when they were restoring the bergerie in the 1970s. It contained a mixture of writing, drawings, stuck-in bills, wine labels, leaflets, cinema tickets -- all very evocative. The coffee came from a  50-year old East German vacuum coffee pot (see extra) -- a family heirloom. A was rather scathing about it -- "Oh, this old thing!" but we all admired it. He also showed us this snake that had tried to swallow a lizard and choked on it. And then we finished our morning with a walk to the Zen Hütte. It's such a magical place -- I think we may go and spend the night up there soon.