Arrival: May 15, 2012

What a wonderful feeling to have touched down on French soil once again!  A three-month adventure awaits...

We picked up our leased Peugeot 308 (silver grey) and soon were on our way to Thouars, the same destination as 2 years ago.  May 15th was inauguration day for François Hollande, the new President, so the traffic on the Périphérique (road around Paris) was very busy.  Or perhaps it's busy like that all the time!  We saw the Eiffel Tower from afar and recognized so many street names from the City of Lights. Once we got on the toll road, it was smooth going, at 130 kph.  Thouars was further than we expected, so we stopped at a pull-out and had a 2-hour nap.

Coquelicots

We reached our destination around dinner-time, picked up the house keys from friends we had met last time, and arrived at our "home away from home" on rue de la Tremoille.  It was just as we remembered, and we loved seeing familiar paintings, touching remembered "objets d'art", hearing the creaking of the stairs as we made our way upstairs.  The bathroom still had soap from Marseille, the bed still had its stack of fluffy pillows, and best of all - the pigeons were still cooing.

We walked to a restaurant in the Town Square where we ordered magret de canard à point and a rosé wine.  There was a group of business people having an appéro to mark the departure of a colleague, and everywhere French was spoken.  How delightful!

On our way back to the house, we noticed that there was no more scaffolding on St. Médard church and that the Town Square had had a major face lift.  It's no longer possible to park your car in the middle, this having become a pedestrian-only area.  We can already hear the music that will be sure to herald all the events and parties that are scheduled for the summer.

Tucked in our bed, with clean and crisp sheets smelling of sunshine, we said "bonsoir" and let ourselves dream of days to come.  Tomorrow morning there will be fresh "croissants" and "pain au chocolat", a grand café crème...

The aroma of fresh baking...