Even after all these years, I still marvel at the community of friends I have in France. As someone who thrives on alone time, I still do love to hang out with my people, wherever they are. Even better, when the two worlds collide and a friend from the other side of the ocean comes over and is welcomed into it.
As usual, it’s been a busy time. When isn’t it? Work is never-ending, that’s a given. But boy, has there been a lot to do outside work. The heat is still unrelenting; at this point we’ve had 37 days of +35 to +39 degrees. Only one day has it dipped below 30 degrees. One. So, of course, certain activities have to be curtailed to certain hours, which definitely tightens up the schedule. Throw in my friend Hana visiting from Canada, and a little weekend away in the Savoie to see Didi, and time certainly flew. I had so much fun with both of them; I wish it had been longer. Still, I am grateful for every moment of the visits.
Then there was the insanity of the women’s Tour de France coming through the region with the Etape du Tour the day before. The roads were chaos, the number of cyclists outrageous. But it was great to see such support for the women’s race, and they did not disappoint. I hightailed it over the Dentelles to see them whoosh by before heading up to the Col de Suzette, then hopped back on the bike to watch them finish up at the top of Mont Ventoux on TV. There were amazing crowds to cheer them on and a lot of support. Hopefully this is the beginning of much better coverage of women’s cycling.
And just because all of that wasn’t enough, nature provided us with a spectacular celestial event last week with a solar eclipse right before sunset, followed by a show of the Perseids meteor shower. My friend Didi happened to have some glasses to share with me, so of course, it behooved me to have a little eclipse fête with some friends here. We snacked, we watched, we raced up to the top of Château to see the final part before the sun went behind the mountain. It was profound. It was magical. It was humbling. Sharing it with my lovely people just made it so much better. I am so very lucky.
