Well, we had probably our most important visitor to the chez today … the dame of the village, Andrée. She lives just a few feet away and is an avid gardener. In fact, she may be the reason our passageway is named Impasse des Fleurs. She dropped unannounced today as I was sledge hammering some stone in the kitchen. She had her hands over her ears and I feared that I had upset a native with my racket. But she quickly had a smile on her face and was talking a mile a minute in her Provincial French. Thankfully Dory & Lynda quickly appeared to translate.
After that first visit, we quickly lost count of how many more times she popped in, often with another village resident in tow to meet us! Among them, we met another neighbor, Barry, who is from London and has a beautiful restored house with a lovely garden. When he heard our story, he quickly advertised the fact that he has two suites for rent “if we wanted to stay closer to our work or if prospective owners want to see Chez Mirabel and sample the village.” I complimented him on his salesmanship and he responded, “I’m just an opportunist.” In any case, he has two lovely suites with full kitchens and may well see some Chez Mirabel use.
The other big event today was my harem increased by one with the arrival of Alice from San Miguel, Mexico. She was originally going to hem all the curtains for us, but it looks like picking up a scraper, putty knife, and paint brush is higher priority. So, as I continue to demolish walls and prep floors for tile, 4 women will be hard at work on the walls.
While Dory & I drove to Marseille to pick up Alice, Lynda & Martha attended Cairanne’s annual Soup Fest, where about 15 chefs competed for the honor the village at the upcoming regional Fest at Vaison la Romaine.