Blogs from Aquitaine, France, Europe - page 69

After the ceremony we headed back to Gensac to have pizza and watch the rugby match Chateau Carbonneau (Wilfred and Jackie’s home and winery). France lost the match 47-3. Then after the game, we got into an interesting conversation about youth baseball in France, in particular the 13-15 Year old French championship that took place in Paris a few weeks ago while I was back in the US. The Pineuilh team (us) finished third place in France, but because of a disqualification of the first place team, Montigny, they ended up finishing second. And they only lost to the first place team because of a balk with the bases loaded in extra innings!! The Montigny team was disqualified because they had a few players that were ineligible to play. If I understand the scenario correctly, there ... read more

I learned today that here in France, the government gives welfare to families who have children. They pay people to have kids!! As Laurent explained it to me today, the government begins giving you weekly checks once you are four months into pregnancy, around 160 euros per child (about 200 dollars), then the week you give birth you receive 700 Euros, and then your weekly checks increase as the child gets older. You receive an extra 200 Euros for beginning-of-schoolyear expenses, and then you receive various amounts for other particulars. On top of that, there is universal healthcare in France, which means all of your health expenses are covered by the government. There is a woman down the street from us in Gensac who has 12 kids!! I think the amount of money you receive diminishes ... read more

I am learning more and more about La Girade as we go. Again, La Girade is the house where I am working, and the eventual home of the Tylers. Mark Tyler bought the property from the Carrive family; it had been on the market for twelve years, and eventually the family decided to sell it to the Tylers (about a year ago). The house was home to Jean Carrive and his wife for most of the last century. Jean Carrive was an artist, a painter among other things, and he was part of the Surrealist Movement in France during the earlier part of the twentieth century. He is one of the original signers of Andre Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto. Pretty cool!! During the second world war, a painter named Balthus (also known as Count Balthazar Klossowski de ... read more

Well, here I am again. In Europe. I arrived back in Gensac, southern France, two days ago. I have been house-sitting for the Tyler family, as they are still on their vacation in Scotland (or England? I can’t remember where they are). I think they get back today. I arrived Tuesday night and crashed almost immediately. Slept for sixteen hours. That is the longest I have ever slept in one night. It makes me think of the first time John (my brother) got back from studying in China and he slept for 24 hours straight (!) and the only reason he woke up is because we brought him breakfast in bed. I woke up remembering that I was supposed to give the cats breakfast. When I came upstairs I found that one of the neighbors had ... read more

Well, we had a little accident with our car back in the fall, and it was totaled. Does that stop us from travelling? No way! We hitchhiked to Bordeaux to visit the infamous Chateau Chauvin!... read more