Container arrived

Today was a great day!! All our stuff arrived! We had to put most of it in another storage and take some of the stuff home with us. I am so happy to see all my clothes:)

We did see that one of the bed post broke, we wont be opening any of the boxes yet so we still dont know what survived.

Doug the Scot helped us out
Tatiana's surprise birthday present

Our furniture
We wont be seeing any of these things until we buy a house

Ended the day at this great restaurant for a late lunch



Every restaurant has a resident dog, this was theirs

Creon Market day

I was told I had to go to the Creon Market. It is on Wednesdays.
I now have my own car a little Renault and it has GPS.
I decided to do the drive and go. It is 30 min from our house.

French people can even make fire wood look fancy

More spices

fish head soup anyone?

Went inside the church to pray for awhile, they had organ music playing
but it was so loud I couldn't concentrate. I had to leave

I started getting hungry

Very creative ways to display your fruit

Celery here is different it has very skinny stalks and tons of leaves

more homes

Shot a few more homes today. I feel I am getting a bit better, even though I arrived thinking I was totally prepared. When I put the flash on my
camera the batteries were dead, didnt even think about checking them.
Since we have been doing this, word is getting around that Maxwell properties is very fancy and has an American photographer who will photograph your home :)

This Thursday I shoot my first Chateau

I noticed the fashion is oversized lighting

They took down a wall and expanded the kitchen which is why
there are two fireplaces

next.....

The owner of this house is a négociant (a wine dealer)
it is also three stories

This guy even had a gym, beautiful floor

and a massage room

looks like antique lockers

They are not big on pillows on the beds here, all the lights you see had
to be turned on individually, no ceiling lights or master switch.
I love all the beautiful fireplaces in the bedrooms

La Nuit de Patrimonie

This weekend was the St Emilion fete.

Saint-Émilion's history goes back to prehistoric times and is a World Heritage site, with fascinating Romanesque churches and ruins stretching all along steep and narrow streets.

The Romans planted vineyards in what was to become Saint-Émilion as early as the 2nd century AD. In the 4th century, the Latin poet Ausonius lauded the fruit of the bountiful vine.

The town was named after the monk Émilion, a traveling confessor, who settled in a hermitage carved into the rock there in the 8th Century. It was the monks who followed him that started up the commercial wine production in the area.

Today was a celebration of its history.

There were midnight fireworks which we didnt stay for. The next day Prince Albert of Monaco was in town so it was a bit crazy.

There were Spanish dancers

Tatiana got her face painted, it was
not Disney caliber but it was free :)
I think its a butterfly on her face.
A storybook reading then some harp playing
crossing cows

crossing horses
Tatiana rode the clown car




a wine auction
marionette show
the band
huge inflatable TV screen, we didnt see what
they showed on it because we left early

Romantic dinner for two

Tidbits

We live in the Aquitaine area which is like saying Orange County
It was once ruled by Caesar, then the French, then for 300 years by the English then back to the French. There is a love hate between the English and French, much like brothers and sisters.

The average income here is $30,000 a year,
most of these work on the vineyards

There is a very small middle class

The French don't understand how anyone could leave their country and retire in another. The idea that you will die in a country that is not yours, they don't understand.