A Full Day

We hosted a barbeque for a dozen people today, a mix of family and friends.  Many of our guests didn’t know each other and only a few speak both English and French.  It’s always an adventure!

The day began with the annual Festival of Transhumance, where shepherds run their flocks through town before taking them to mountain pastures for the summer.  It is kind of like a river of sheep flowing through the streets of St.-Remy.  Very impressive, but watch your step after thousands of sheep have just gone by.

The calm before the storm

Follow the leader

And they’re off!

After the transhumance, everyone met back at our place.  Val had prepared vast quantities of delicious food including, yes, lamb chops.  I had a few bottles of tasty wine at the ready.

Philippe did some magic tricks, which amazed Jeremy but seem to have put me to sleep.

Philippe flew his drone for a while before turning the controls over to Jeremy.  I’m not sure this was such a good idea.  The next thing we knew, the drone was caught in a tree, dangling precariously over the fast-moving canal behind our house.  A daring rescue operation was mounted that happily saved the drone from a soggy demise.

We finished with a lively game of boules.  Jonathan and I were on the same team and were the only Americans in the game, so anytime we made a good shot we would chant "USA! USA!"  We didn't chant this very often.  Luckily, our French teammate Serge is really good and his brilliant shot-making won it for us in overtime.  Vive la France !

Be sure to wear sunglasses before looking at the shockingly white legs below.

After dessert, coffee and some more wine, everyone went on their way a little before sunset.  All in all, a very full day!

KVS