Linda's Journal
January, 2005

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January 3rd-

The last week of December was spent with my sister and her husband here in Paris. I showed them many of my favorite places in Paris, including Pere LaChaise.

This tomb has become famous as a fertility visit by many women.

I like this lady

Another sad goddess there.

Great sky in Paris one evening.

One rainy day, we all drove out to Loire Valley to show my sister some of the castles there. We went to two that we have visited before. They are all so great it is hard to chose which one to visit.

Chambord was our first stop with its incredible roofline.

Closeup of famous staircase there possibly designed by Da Vinci.

Second stop, Chenoceau.

View of the river it lies over from inside.

Famous gallery, once made into a hospital ward in WWII.

View from the garden.

January 15th

Another cemetery visit, this time to Montparnasse. There aren't as many famous people, at least to me, here and I don't like it as well as Pere LaChaise as there aren't all of the trees. I just like the layout of Pere LaChaise more. But, it was a beautiful, if cold, sunny day and it was great to be outdoors. I did find the tomb of American actress, Jean Seaberg. I believe she killed herself. She lived in France for a while and was in several French movies.

I like this unusual tomb.

Don't know if the figure underneath is coming or going-it has its finger to its lips.

Man Ray was a famous French artist/photographer really out there on the edge. It says, on the oval shaped part, "Unconcerened, but not indifferent. I expected something more wild for his tomb.

Here lies a famous philosopher and writer.

January 20th

Well, it is a new year. We had planned to spend Christmas at the house but stayed in Paris instead when company arrived. About the middle of January we finally made it. I have really missed our house while in Paris, especially the size of it as we sit in our tiny living room.
The sun was shining when we arrived but the wind was blowing and it eventually clouded up and rained the next day. It was nice to drive from the TGV train station making the now familiar journey to our home. We pass Aix, drive through the urban mess of Pertuis and then, finally, go through la Tour d’Aigues and make it to the little country road that takes us to our home. It is all rather bare and deserted looking this time of year but it is still a pleasure to be home once more.
The big surprise was our property. I usually don’t know what Maurice and the landscaper are talking about so never know what to expect in our yard. We arrived to find many bushes and trees have been planted. The biggest difference was the land down below which has been totally cleared. Our closest neighbor down below us has also cleared their land and it looks entirely different. I noticed that the land to the side of our got cleared too, in an area that I had spent hours trying to trim and tidy up. We now have a mound of wood to burn and will have to wait for it to dry out a little and the wind to die down before we can burn it. The air in Provence is filled with the odor of wood being burned every where and sometimes, when driving through an area, I think it is foggy only to catch the smell of burning wood drifting from someone’s bonfire and filling a valley with smoke. I would think that someone with asthma would have a difficult time with this.
Maurice received a sort of year’s end newsletter from the little village above us. There are some major water changes being made and streets are being dug up to replace water pipes. The newsletter also said that three couples from the village were married last year and that two people died. No new births, though.

These trees will some day be large enough to block the view from the road above to our pool.

I don't like this cypress tree here and am going to move it.

Our really bare land. It has been seeded with some sort of wild plant.

View from below. The new plants have grown well.

View from our house showing how bare it is now.