Village Guards

Upon entering a nearby village my presence was announced to all.....

then..

and then

and on the other side of the village.....

The Trip to the Bank

On Monday I went to the bank, but only an American would do that. Banks, and most businesses, are not open on Monday. 

I went to the bank on Tuesday. They were open, but did I have an appointment? No. 

Wednesday I arrived for my 3:30 rendezvous.  I had a lovely meeting with one of the managers and on my way out I realized I was ‘holding’ everyone up as it was after 4:00 and they close for the day at 4:00.

During all of this our car was at the garage and I was making the 22km round trip by bike. These pictures are of my route between Bourdeilles and Brantome.

Festival de la Recoup

Every village has an autumn festival. Celebrations of the walnut, chestnut, pumpkin, grape. Here in Bourdeilles we celebrate junk. 

That’s not really true. The celebration is called the Festival de la Recoup and it is a festival to call attention to how we can reuse objects and be mindful of what we waste.

This celebration starts off with a morning of apple ‘picking’. Not the first harvest of the season, but the second pass, picking up windfall apples. Apples easily gathered off the ground and perfect for apple juice.  

Children participate and see that juice comes right from the fruit not a jar. Pressed right in front of their eyes by their moms and friends. A fresh cup of cider from the stream pouring out of the press.

Then there is a vide de grenier, empty the attic, better known as a yard sale. ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.’ And it’s a hoot to see what gets swapped around.

The artist of our village also show off their creativity with found items. Creating fantastical creatures and giving them homes in amazing locations.

The Festival de la Recoup is finished off with a couscous dinner with local vegetables and organic wine from neighboring small vineyards. In the end it always comes back to food and wine.

Festival de la Recoup

Hey Mom look what I found.

THE CONTAINER

We love those village bells. They give a comforting rhythm to the day. But, on our return to Bourdeilles this fall something was amiss. The bells were off an hour, sometimes more than that, and they did their “crazy bells” at random times. 

Finally several weeks into our new lives the bells are back to their reassuring, regimented performance. Maybe they were off kilter in solidarity with our slow, sometimes confused, march into the rhythms of our new community.

----extra extra--- we succeeded in getting our official Visas  yesterday - and THE CONTAINER ARRIVED TODAY! Let the crazy bells ring out!!!