Playing tourist and back to work

Shortly before Bill arrived we went to hear the London Welsh Male Voice Choir in Angoulême. There were only sixty of them on this tour, and they were fantastic. Most of the audience stood to join them in the Welsh national anthem at the end.

After arrival, Bill remarked that he didn't realize the wood-burning stove in the kitchen sits in a fireplace. It seems we've never made a picture of that side of the kitchen, so here's a photo from a couple of days ago to correct misconceptions. Just to the left of the picture is the door to the kitchen porch. The open shelves were once a dank, closed cabinet. The fireplace surround is newish, but the opening has always been there. We haven't lit a fire since mid-May, although we thought about one the evening of this photo.

The day after Bill arrived we went to La Rochefoucauld for the market, only to discover it was cancelled that day. Instead we visited a lovely 13C gothic church, St. Cybard, just off the market square. (Here are gerfaut.d's photos of the church at Flickr.) Missing the market, we did our grocery shopping at a regular grocery store after lunch.

The next day was lovely and warm, so we all walked to Ecossas, down to the creek and up the hill behind us. Here's proof that Bill actually went along:

Friday we went to see the cave paintings at the Font de Gaume. Scroll down on that site to see some examples of the paintings -- they are really amazing to see in situ. Here are we are at the entrance afterwards:

Saturday evening we went to a concert by Lurra, a Basque polyphonic octet, in the lovely little church at Manot.

Bill had especially wanted to lunch at Cherves-Châtelar, where we feasted in March, but the restaurant was providing the food for a brocante that day. Between the rain and the fact that it was Mother's Day, the brocante was not well attended, but we had a nice meal under the tent with the locals, fewer courses and simpler food, still quite nice.

Monday we took Bill to the train and ran into another storm. We dashed into the train station through the rain and stood under cover on the platform while a deafening hailstorm beat down on the plastic and metal roof. On our way home, we saw hail 20cm (8in) deep in some places in La Rochefoucauld, but luckily it seems to have bypassed our area. Whew!

Since then, we're getting ourselves back in the unpacking and work mode. There's now a shelf over the toilet for the WC reading material. There's a sparkly string curtain hanging over the mezzanine window. More books are unpacked and arranged on the shelves. The computers are back in full force, and even better than before because the printer can now be seen by both printers!

Thursday Kaye made her regular weekly visit to the CPAM office in La Rochefoucauld. The paperwork for her name correction is in the mill now. But we still have to mail the papers for Ed's name correction. Or take them in next Thursday. In another few weeks we should have the papers we need, with our correct names, to return with photos, so we can wait another few weeks for our cards. Fingers crossed.

We're having a few days of beautiful weather, with clear skies. Temperatures in the mid-80sF (30C) are forecast for tomorrow. Ed is happy. Monday the rain starts again. We think there is no problem with the reservoirs going dry this summer.