From Sologny to Blanot

After our trip to the north we returned to the Godon's home in Sologny.




Francis and Marie-Annick live in an old stone house that Francis has almost finished rebuilding by himself. The stone steps in the living room that lead to the second floor are smooth and beautiful.You can see where they are along the wall, but you can't actually see the steps.

Marie-Annick cares for four pre-school children which explains all the bibs hanging by the dining room table. Beyond is a laundry room, the toilet room, and a new bathroom plus the downstairs bedroom where I stayed.


The new kitchen is a dream of modern conveniences. Beyond is an enclosed porch that used to be used as the dining room as well as a play space. Now it's mostly the latter.

 

The view of vineyards includes the TGV zooming past every so often in the distance, just before the hill rises. The nearest patch of dirt is the vegetable garden waiting to be planted.

The next morning I got to practice driving Lauryne's car, the one I get to borrow. I'm going to call it the Body Builder, or BB for short. Francis took two non-working vehicles to create one for the monstrous sum of 500 euros! The brakes wait until the last minute to engage. I'll be developing arm muscles to turn the steering wheel! But it runs.

(After driving the BB, I did order a rental car to use when Carol and I head to the south of France.) Francis wanted to do a little work on BB, so a little after noon, Elisabeth picked me up and brought me to Blanot. We had lunch at her place (below) before heading up the hill to my gite.

 

After Mirelle and Noel showed me all the spaces, how to close things up at night, how to work appliances and use the ancient key in the door...all those necessary details...Elisabeth left me alone to settle in. Francis and Lauryne dropped off the car, peeked at my new digs, and then went on their way. Anne from next door dropped by to say hello and then Elisabeth returned. I'd asked her to join me for my first meal. Of course I'd forgotten to get olive oil and butter, so I was a bit limited as to what I could produce...pasta in tomato sauce tossed with mozzarella cheese and topped with steamed broccoli followed by bread and goat cheese did just fine. 

 There is really just one big room with a bathroom and bedroom beyond. This is the living room corner with a fireplace I don't expect to use. The wooden door behind the straight-back chair is a big closet. The drapes have been pulled across the window for the night.

Below is the dining corner. I've got 2 lamps on the table with my little net book set up between them. That's the "working" end of the table. There's still plenty of space for eating at the near end. Elisabeth has loaned me a long sleeved sweater.

There's a step up between the big room and the rest of the gite. Going up and down that one step became a problem for my back. This morning I managed to find Noel in his workroom and, using my limited French, I was able to explain the problem and request a wooden step so the drop wouldn't be as high...two gentle steps instead of one. He immediately created the extra step for me! It works... makes a big difference.

 

And there's the kitchen corner...sink (only human dishwashers), gas stove, about 18 inches of countertop space, and what you can't see is the refrigerator which isn't any bigger than the stove. Actually, that's good because it provides a place for the coffee maker, toaster, and cutting board to sit. The bathroom has a nice shower which I enjoyed this morning. Around 9 o'clock I got out my backpack and walking sticks and 

headed down the hill to buy the fresh goat cheese that I remember so well.

Mark knows who I am, but he doesn't speak any English! It was a limited conversation, but we actually managed a joke! He asked if I'd come to buy the store and I answered that that wasn't possible as I showed him the change I had in my pocket.

The white car in the distance (below) is about halfway to the little cheese shop.

 I figured out how much I owed and actually came up with the right amount. Not bad for a first encounter!

With the cheese in my backpack, it was time to head for home. I hung a left in order to pass by the church (you can only see the tower and roof behind the stone wall) and the chateau. This Friday evening will be a free concert by musicians from a Dutch music school who like to play in Blanot. The crowd that attends isn't overly large and the acoustics are excellent in this old stone church.

Another neighbor, Daniel, was in front of his home with his old dog, Lilly. We manage a simple conversation in a mixture of French and English.

At the gite I turned the heat off and opened the door so I can see more of the outdoors as I work on this blog. It's time for another walk. Then Elisabeth will be here and I will drive her to Cluny in the BB (we'll see if she ever wants to go in "my" car again!) so I can pick up a few more supplies and learn the roads a bit.