No Internet Day

Monday...the day of no internet! I went next door to let Noel know there was a problem.

 Mirelle was trimming some pitchers so I watched her for a little bit.

I saw Elisabeth coming up the hill and went down to meet her. She was going to be busy for most of the day and evening, but we had time to check out a couple of nearby lavoirs.

I had taken a picture of one without even realizing it when we had stopped to see Francoise, the village mayor, several days ago. We returned and sure enough, what I had thought was some kind of storage shed by a stream was a lavoir. 

This is what is inside...

We went on to Vivier. I never would have found this lavoir on my own. We found a place to park along the main road and then walked down a dirt driveway behind some typical stone houses and out towards the fields that held brown cows. There it was. 

The water within was clear, but the nearby cattle were able to get in the stream so where the water from the lavoir mixed with stream water it looked pretty muddy.

In another field nearby was a donkey named Cherry, but in French, therefore Cerise.

Later Stephane stopped by...he wanted to work on his pronunciation of English so we went for a drive. I wanted to go to the supermarket in Prisse and then see if we could then find any of the 3 lavoirs that are supposed to be in that town. 

We had tried a few roads with no luck and were running out of time when I noticed a stream and made a fast left. 

Sure enough, halfway down the road was a very unusual lavoir. It was built along the river bank and the washing would actually take place in the river! 

I'm actually standing on a stone ramp that juts out into the water a bit so, though it may look like it, I'm not really standing in the river to take this picture.

Women would stand behind the concrete wall and bend over to wash in the river water.

A couple were planting flowers in front of the lavoir and explained to Stephane that it had been neglected for years, but they had recently retired and now they have time to rejuvenate the lavoir.

It was time to pick up Clara and Gabrielle at their school and get them home to do homework and have dinner. So that our conversation could continue, Stephane asked if I'd like to join them. He prepared a meal they would normally have in winter because it is quite hardy. 

We had salad and charcuterie, which are sliced cooked pork products...a step up from our cold cuts...and boiled potatoes. There was a heating element on the table...I really should have taken a picture of it. Each person received a small pan for a slice of cheese which would be placed on the lower level of the machine where the cheese would melt. Then you would pour that amount of cheese on the potato and put another slice in your pan to repeat the process. Meanwhile the potatoes were kept warm on the upper layer of the machine.

Time to return home. Along the way I stopped to catch a picture of what farmers do with the rocks they dig out of their fields. This sort of hut dots the countryside. They are usually tall enough to stand up in. They become a shelter from rain or a place to eat lunch out of the sun or just a place to store tools.

At home the internet service was still not working. Anne let me check my emails on her computer. I did some writing on my computer even though I was disconnected from the rest of the world...and I had a good book to read.