The First Day of September at 6:20 am...France

It's staying darker longer in the morning. I love to go out early and see what the sky is looking like on each day. 

Imagine, some of these lines are contrails. People coming and going so early. The view must be incredible and so colorful.

Kate Recuperates.

KT had her surgery this morning to remove a tumor on her elbow. I felt so bad leaving her at the vet. She looked at me like 'WHAT??? You're leaving me????  I don't even speak French!"

Think about it...The poor dog is happy, healthy, content. All of a sudden her Mother takes her somewhere without her brother and then she is handed off to a stranger...in a scary place with bad smells. 

Then she probably went into a cage until they were ready. Her other arm was shaved and an IV is put in. She gets sleepy and the next thing you know, she wakes up in pain with a bandage on her elbow in a cage.

Then she can hear her Mother out in the other room speaking bad French. She loudly cries until she is released and she heads home all drugged up.

She doesn't know that she had to have the tumor removed...all she knows is that her Mother took her somewhere where the people hurt her.

I was thinking about how I had to trust the doctor as I could only understand about half of what he said...and Kate had to trust me that I was doing the best for her.

She has to be watched like a hawk as she will have that bandage off in no time. She has stitches and they come out in 2 weeks. No swimming for 2 weeks.

Additionally, I left with the tumor as I am supposed to go to La Poste and mail in the sample. The post office was closed, so we have to keep the tumor over the weekend...no refrigeration necessary....doesn't that seems strange?

French Early Morning

The Sky Tonight.

from my front yard. 8pm

The Sea is over the hill into the Orange. 

More Best of Munich

Another Swim?

Kate has her operation tomorrow so I needed to give them a good swim today. She won't be able to swim for awhile. We went down to the steep embankment spot.

I love this shot. Here is Emile doing what he loves best.

Kate doesn't know what to make of me in the water. 

The Zen Rock. I like to sit on this rock, in the middle of the river and let the river run by me. 

Me in the water, regrettably, washing all of the bug repellant off .

Best From Munich

Jeudi á Antibes

Market, Indian Food and a French English Chat...and then a drive a long the sea.
Met with a nice man to speak French. He wants to improve his English...so we go back and forth.
I am a little tired with the French speaking at the moment. I am in a slump. I know I will be up and learning again. It's not easy. I wish it would come easier to me but I'm not one of those people that language comes easy to.

Prawns in a Spicy Curry Sauce and Nan.

Nice in the distance. Look at that sky.

Another swim

It rained really hard 2 days ago and the river is very high. We slid down the steep embankment to get down to the river. I stepped on a big rock with some bright green moss on it. I flew up into the air and came down on my lower back. It could have been worse, but I think I'm going to be stiff tomorrow morning.
Look at how beautiful it is here.

The Big Stick is the ultimate prize. 

11 am

Various

The weather is starting to change, which is great. We just got back from a small hike. It was great to get back into the woods. Perhaps I can start taking photographs in the woods again. There is a lot of Queen Anne's Lace, thistle, tiny purple Monards, and some sweet peas.
Kate had hurt her back somehow so we had been lying low for a few days...but she is now on the mend.

Why do I object so to broccoli that's head is shrink wrapped in plastic? I refuse to buy it. I love and need to eat broccoli.  I did a big shop at Carrefour yesterday. I promised myself that I would be in and out in one hour, but it took 2.
I have adopted the custom of bringing a soft cooler, purchased from Picard, the frozen goods ( only) store. The idea is to put anything perishable in there and zip it shut. You should probably also use one of those frozen blue things that you keep in the freezer. You put stuff in and zip it up. They also have freezer bags that you can purchase in the freezer area.
When you get to the checkout, you unzip and let the cashier root through the cooler, scanning whatever you have bought. Meat and Fish is so perishable here. Things only last a day.

I stopped at the sporting goods store to look for a bicycle. I think the cheapest bike was about 500 euro. They had bikes that were 12,000 euros. The French take their bike riding and all sports, very seriously.
Me, I want an old used bike just to fee wheel up and down the bord sur mer. I better hurry up.

After being in Munich, I see how much more courteous The French are. So much nicer to each other...and when you think about it...there is all the kissing hello and goodbye and all the greetings and felicitations. None of that goes on in Germany that I saw. Driving, people are always letting other people get in front of them. I rarely see road rage.

Some people I have met;

I met a fireman ( pompier) named Yann who has been a fireman for 22 years. His speciality is diving in the sea, off the beach for missing people. He is a very big guy with a head that appears completely round. He has 2 children, boys, 15 and 22. He rides a scooter and puts out fires in Nice in high rise apartments. He is very impatient, has a huge smile and has an orangish colored tan. He really loves his job, you can tell. His phone made an appearance, of course...3 x. He does not like Picasso and he speaks no English.

I met a liquor salesman ( boisson distributeur) named Noel. He lives with his 2 teenage sons. One he seems sad about as he has no interest in sports. He drives a big black Acura and works in Monaco everyday. He seems the workaholic type and is known to wear summer scarves around his neck. Although he is 50 or so, he dresses like a boy and is small in stature, but he is handsome. He knows how to use the wink. I think he is all about work and therefore a little gray with not all that much to offer. I also think he has a bit of a temper perhaps due to his acrimonious divorce. He uses a Blackberry and loves Bruce Springsteen.

People are so different...there are endless combinations.

Emile on Vaca in the South of France

Hey Everybody! What are you waiting for?

Aren't there laws about easy egress for 4 leggers?

The Flight Home Over The Hill

The flight from Munich to Nice is about 90 minutes. We go up over the Alps and back down to the sea.

Would it surprise anyone that I missed my flight due to taking the S Bahn in the wrong direction. Luckily, there was a flight 2 hours later.

This shot is beautiful...you can see the Alps surrounded by clouds.

and then the sea...

South of France