Day 7 A Day in Verdun

It was such a beautiful day we decided to get out and about in the village. People take such pride in their landscaping. Everyone has a splash of color to add to their homes. We also got a few photos of their local fruit trees. We only got a few stares from the neighbors trying to figure out why these crazy Americans were taking pictures of their trees.


Lovely windowsill on left and mmmm mirabelles down below.




After lunch off we went: Alain, Evan, Kleta, Jacqueline, Daniel and moi...heading to Verdun. Too much history to cover in one evening, so will post more soon.  Tomorrow we head out on a 3 day trip around Alsace. Guaranteed to see beautiful mountains, a few vineyards and many photo ops.  Will post more when we return.  Enjoy and Bon nuit.

Day 6 - Let's get out and Play!

Day 6 starts out dark and cloudy, but quickly clears out to be a partly sunny day!  We venture out to take advantage of a little sunshine and shoot a couple of pictures in the garden. Some of the stonework has been in place for hundreds of years - kind of fun to think it's our turn to tend the garden!

After taking advantage of our photo op; we head over to Jacqueline's and Daniel's for a lunch meal.  Jacqueline baked for us a fabulous tomato and onion tarte!  Another day...another delicious meal!  After lunch, Tricia, Kleta, Evan, Nicole and Jacqueline head out on a short drive to the nearby town of Montsec.  On the butte outside the town of Montsec is a monument erected in the 1930's as a tribute to the American armed forces that helped to secure the region during World War I.  The battle was fought in 1918 and was a decisive battle in which the Americans played a major role.  It was damaged in WW II, but has since been repaired.  The views are spectacular from the monument, which is the highest elevation in the area.

There is Evan entering the monument to give you the scale of the area.

From the monument, you can see for miles - this is a picture of our little village, Buxieres.

Another fabulous view from the monument - Lake Madine

Tres Senoritas - Jacqueline; Tricia and Nicole at Montsec. From the monument, we head over to another sleepy village to take in some local flavor.

How to train your gargoyle...

Every home and windowsill is decorated with beautiful flowers!

This is one of Tricia's favorite houses.  It has bright purple shutters and the entire house is covered with Ivy.  Well, it is time to head home and rest for tomorrow.  We hope everyone across the pond is doing well.  Tricia and I will write more tomorrow.

Day 5 - More Rain & More Paint!

We are starting to sound like a broken record...it's Day 5 and it is raining again, but this is a good thing:  Yesterday we finished the entry hall and the bedroom.  Today, we will wrap up by painting the salon and the bathroom.  It was a long, kick-butt day, but we were able to get it done!  We did see a little break in the weather and heard a strange noise outside the salon window.  Christine was outside on the front stoop burning off weeds with a flame thrower!  It was a crazy sight...and we have pictures to prove it!

Christine is an amazing woman!  Not only can she control weeds with her flame thrower, she can build a compost bin and chop enough wood for the winter!  We are impressed!

We finally finish our painting! Yeah!  We have been wearing the same painting clothes for 3 days straight!  The weather finally breaks and so do we!  Tricia heads out to the garden to pick some of the best grape tomatoes that we have ever eaten.  After dinner, we slip out for a walk around the neighborhood and snap a few pictures of the Kamerer garden.

The rain has really been a blessing!  It kept us busy indoors and gently watered the gardens so that we could eat it's produce and smells it's flowers and photograph it's beauty.  All in all, it has been a good and productive start to our trip.  Tomorrow, Alain has promised us a day off...can't wait!

Looks Like More Rain!

We have barely scraped yesterday's coat of primer from under our nails and out of our hair and we get up and have to paint some more!  Today, we are excited, though because we get to graduate to color!  It is a decidedly great day for painting, because it is raining outside.  Since we can't get out and play, we have nothing to distract us from our task.  The only pictures we take are from the windows...

This is a picture of the house directly across the street from us - it is now vacant, so our street is very quiet.

This is a photo of the view outside the bedroom window.  The clock tower is on top of the church around the corner and chimes every half hour and every hour.  Looking down from this view, you would see the garden (le jardin) where there are fresh herbs, lettuce, tomatoes and green beans.  The potatoes have already been harvested and we eat them almost daily.  The vegetables are fabulous!

Of course, Tricia has beautiful roses in her garden.  This picture was taken from the front door on a trellis.  OK, enough playing around, it is time to get to work!

OK, we have worked hard and will call it a day so that we can rest up and finish up tomorrow.  But, why is it that the women and children continue to work, while the men get to knock off at 5pm for a beer!  Could this be the French way?

Incredible!  Alain and Daniel break for beer - those union guys are busting our...bunions!

Day 3, primed and ready

Did I mention the house is old...like 260 years old...time to repaint.  Alain and Daniel spent this Spring prepping the house for Kleta and my arrival. They put up lots of sheetrock and insulation in anticipation of us coming to paint. Of course it keeps the house warm too, but I digress. So how do you make a house that is really old that now looks new because of the sheet rock, look old again? You first prime, prime and prime. We spent the first day priming the entry way, the salon (a really big room that is serving as a second bedroom, but will probably end up being a sitting room) the bathroom and the bedroom. Everyone was on board with a roller in hand. 

After working so hard who could cook? Only a superman...Alain !!!  We had a hearty pasta dish with a fabulous salad picked right from our garden and Jaqueline brought us over a mirabelle tarte. Did I tell you I like mirabelles?

 Our first dinner at home at Chateau le Kamerer by chef Alain

Doesn't this look like a piece of art? but it tastes much better...mirabelle tarte.

Another Day - Another Country - Day 2

Alain finally let us get some sleep!  After a very hard night's sleep we awakened refreshed and were ushered out the door early for our short trip to Metz, the closest really big city.  Cousin Daniel drove us through the beautiful and pastoral countryside to town so that we could shop at the closest hardware store - the french version of Lowe's is called Leroy Merlin.  Tricia and Alain spent hours looking at paint while Evan and I examined nearly every aisle in the store.  It was a productive morning, as we purchased a carload of paint and supplies.  I think we have plans for the next few days to paint, paint, paint!

Apres Leroy Merlin we headed to Alain's cousin's house for a very large midday meal. It began with a champagne apperitif, some amusee bouche (appetizers) and then the main meal of a nice beef, lamb, pork and potato stew; but wait...we were just getting started...a course of salad et frommage (cheese), and finally dessert of a chocolate cake, rice pudding and yummy mirabelles, a local fruit treat.  Whew...of course there was plenty of wine.  A lovely day of food and family.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles - Day 1

Crazy long day!  Tricia and I arrived in Paris at 8:30 am, after an incredibly long flight.  Neither of us slept on our flights.  Amazingly enough, we were able to find each other at the terminal - I should say that Tricia found me - as I am sure I was dazed and confused!  We were able to make our way through the airport to the TGV station where we boarded a high speed train to Lorraine.  Alain, Evan and cousin Daniel picked us up at the station and we drove about an hour to arrive at the tiny village of Buxieres Sous-Les-Cotes.  Alain allowed us to nap only about an hour and then we popped over to Jacqueline's and Daniel's house for dinner.  We dined al fresco and enjoyed being in the company of our gracious host and hostess.  We also dined with Eric and Christine, who also happen to be our neighbors and have helped us set up the computer.

This is beautiful country and a very old and picturesque village.  I hope the pictures we post can help you enjoy our little guided tour of the French countryside.  More later...    Kleta & Tricia