Finishing up Lot River France Fun....

Mostly Jean piloted...but every now and again, she trusted us to take the helm. (I must add that she did use good judgement about being the main driver/pilot/captain).

We encountered a few glitches along the way...at one point we had no water and no adapter and we had to invent an alternative.  Jean was not too happy that day.  Every time I see this picture, I burst out laughing!

Here Linde and I share the challenge....

I have not mentioned the FOOD! We had such great meals and here are a few examples.  Oh, and I must say, the French fries are to die for....they have that down and are aptly named.

In Saint Cirq Lapopie we had lunch at a restaurant with no translated menus.  We all just ordered the best we could.  My order had a word that looked like barbeque and so this was my lunch.  I have to say that I usually don't eat hot dogs or bratwurst, but when in France.....

 

Kim had a salad with fried goat cheese.  She was a happy camper!

 The girls wait for a meal that I created....

I have to say, I was pretty happy with it.

A nice place mat...

 Our last dessert together back in Toulouse....

I know that this post has gone on for a few months...I could go on and on.  It's very different to write postings upon my return!  What a luxury to have lived in Italy for a year and to just write on a daily basis as things occurred.

Suffice it to say, we really had a wonderful time and if any of you have the chance, I highly recommend this type of adventure.  Just make sure that you carry the appropriate protection with you. 

Sister Wendy and Cousin Angelica served us very well! 

(And, to hedge our bets, we DID purchase the Gold level of insurance....)

Hitting Those Locks....Southwestern France

From Left to Right:  Rachel, Kim, Jean, Linde, Sister Wendy.

We were off to South Western France, to the River Lot; September 2011.

Our departure was from Toulouse where we caught a train to Cahor, France.  Kim, Jean, and Linde plotted our course.  From Cahor, we took a taxi to our destination, Bouzies, France.

While they plotted our strategies, I took up with a beautiful French woman; our eyes met, she whispered words I did not understand, but I immediately knew why our paths had crossed.

Soon, it was over and we found ourselves in Bouzies, preparing to go aboard.

Our first view of the boats....Check out those cliffs...

A welcoming.

My galley.

Le Boat!

Kim and Jean receive a quick orientation...

Many locks are on the river; we had to learn quickly how to navigate and operate them.

The boat enters and we manually open or close; Linde in blue on the left, me on the right.

An approach....

Closer....

Here we are just about to enter.

We did something like 20 locks during our trip...we got really good at it!

Here we are back in Cahor, navigating their lock.

We had an audience from time to time!

Often, a good walk was involved in going back and forth to accomplish the opening and closing process.

At the end, we would climb back in.  We often climbed up this way upon enter a lock.
It was steep!  Down below, Jean holds the boat steady.
I believe I was inside having coffee or just relaxing.....

Work! Work! Work! That's all we did on this trip...Do you feel sorry for us???

Afterwards, we would have to rest...

Often we would not attend to necessary business...

Sometimes the lock would break down and we would have to call for assistance....

Kim waits patiently, pondering...

As good people, we always would apologize for the lock being broken--
The repairmen were always very nice and basically would say, "no worries, it's our job."

This one only needed a swift kick....we had already tried that but you know how that can be....

Here we helped with another boat...by this point, we were experts!

How about some river sights?

Yikes!  Was that what I thought it was???

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.  Sigh.

For now, I will say au revoir....to return later.
Next up, our crew and more!

Now Let Me Speak....

Now, I know that it's been awhile and as the clock ticks forward, 

 I do not see Rachel making progress with this blog. 

So, I take the reins in hand and write what must not be forgotten. 

I speak of faces, relationships and the creation of beautiful friendships.

We remember and took joy in seeing Rita's sister in law, Nadia.  

Never during our time in Alessandria did we see a frown on her face!  

She is a glowing smile whenever encountered and she takes special care of Chiara
when Rita or parents may be busy. 

Chiara is surrounded by love and influence that I, Sister Wendy, greatly approve of.

Yes, Rita has gotten much "blog time", but look at her beautiful face

and her joy of life--as the French say,

Joie de vivre!

And upstairs neighbor, La Senora (as Rachel calls her), our friend Leda.  She is so full of passion!  She told a wonderful story about how last year she left her apartment and moved away to another town to be closer to her son.
She lasted one night and headed back home to Alessandria.
Who, may I ask, could blame her??
It's Alessandria after all!
She has fierce political stands and beliefs which both Kim and Rachel greatly approve of...
She is not so much for my Holy Father, Il PaPa in Red Shoes,
but I must forgive that...

And then there are Rita and her daughter, Stefania. 

They are a close knit family who are there for each other each and every day. 

And upstairs neighbors, Roberto and Francesca came and spent an evening with us.  They no longer live in our little compound but came over to see us. Robert calls Kim and Rachel, "My sweet girls".  Sometimes they leave each other little Skype message that I over hear.

The gang went out for a traditional Italian pizza dinner.

A little wine too...

Roberto so generously paid the bill!

Here's Alessandro, son-in-law to Rita, husband to Stefania, and father to Chiara.

Here was Rachel's little pizza dinner. 

And lastly, for myself, I met with two of my old dear friends...Mary and

Mary.

This Mary resides in Rita's bedroom and we got to know one another while Rachel and Rita would be cooking and Kim and Chiara would be practicing Kim's Italian.

Often we were like flies on the wall, listening to their chatter, proud of them as they always seemed to manage their language barriers.You wouldn't know it from this picture but Mary has one sense of humor; we giggled together a lot!
Now I must admit that I grow a bit weary with all my keyboard tapping and hopping. My knees are not as flexible as they used to be in my younger years...All these years of kneeling have take their toll (but so worth it).
These were my special memories from a reunion that, quite frankly, I never believed would really occur.
Lucky us!!