A quizzical time

In September, we saw news of the birth of a baby giraffe at the La Palmyre Zoo, so we decided to take ourselves there for a visit. A small discount on the entry was included in our "winnings" at one of the rallyes touristiques that we participated in. You can see a few photos and a small video of the baby giraffe at Facebook. Unfortunately for us, we arrived just after noon, expecting to have some yummy zoo junk food for lunch, only to find that all the food places were closed. No notice on the site, no notice at the gate. The shop reopened after the lunch hour and we bought ourselves a package of madeleines for sustenance. We enjoyed our visit, but wish we'd stopped for lunch before we entered.

At the end of that week, we went to a local quiz/dinner with some of our boules-playing friends. We wiped out the competition. It was a fun evening, but the quiz was too just easy. The following Monday we went to our "regular" quiz with a group. We formed a team with another couple who were there without their usual partners. Our team came in second, and we were quite pleased, since it was a hard quiz.

Kaye has been to try a gymastique class in a neighboring town. In January, this weekly class will alternate between Massignac, where it started, and Mazerolles, our commune. Kind of a calisthenics class, in French, informal and fun. This will be part of the routine after the first of the year.

When you travel through France, you find that every commune has a memorial listing its dead from the Great War and then from WWII. Every year on 11-November, each commune has a ceremony at its monument. In Mazerolles, we've never seen this publicized, so this year we asked about the time and place so we could attend. We assembled at the mairie (city hall) with about 30 people, old and young, and marched to the monument in front of the church, lead by a flag of honor from Mazerolles. At the church, the mayor read Sarkozy's proclamation for the day and the vice-mayor read the list of Mazerolleans who died. It was moving to hear three or four names in the same family, and also family names of some of the people standing there.

Rafts of cranes have been flying over, so it seems winter must really be approaching. Hard to tell from our weather, which continues being warmer than normal.