Summer in Lannion

It’s been a while since we posted to the blog, and we apologize for that – life has been a bit hectic. A little more than a month ago, Bob’s mom, Gloria, became gravely ill and on June 22 she died from complications of advanced lung disease. This was more than unexpected; there had been no clue that she was in ill health. We were all in shock, and now, nearly a month later, it’s still hard to believe.

Bob had to leave quite abruptly for the U.S., and I followed him a few days afterward. At the time, my sister Ellen was visiting us in Lannion, and she wound up staying in our apartment for several days after both Bob and I had left. Luckily she is independent and resourceful, and she managed to have fun without us, though I know that’s hard to imagine!

We spent a couple of weeks in St. Louis, where Gloria had lived, arranging a memorial reception, dealing with her will, and emptying out her apartment. Bob’s sister Sharon and his brother Steve were there as well. It was pretty grueling for us, both physically and emotionally, but we got everything accomplished so that none of us will need to return to St. Louis.

Now we’re back and we’re picking up the threads of our life here. We’re starting to get to know our way around better, and we’re starting to meet people and participate in some of the activities.
















We’ve been to hear some live music: the other night we went to hear a group called “Heat Wave” that does covers of Motown hits. They were pretty good, especially the bass and organ players, but we could have done without the singer, who calls himself “Sweet Screaming Jones”. The “screaming” part was accurate, anyway. Somehow, I don’t think his rendition of “Tighten Up” will ever replace the original…

We’ve also had our first taste of kayaking on the Léguer River: on Monday we rented two kayaks and paddled from the kayak club (just a 5-minute walk from our apartment) down to where the river















empties into the ocean. It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed the trip immensely. We’d hiked along the river before, but seeing it from the water was a different experience. Today we’ve reserved kayaks again and this time we’ll paddle up the river.

Last week we met a very nice older lady in front of the grocery store that’s within walking distance. She was interested in Teebie and we started to talk. In the end, we wangled an invitation to go visit her, and we went to see her this Wednesday.

It was great fun to talk to her and to her daughter Annie, who was a gold mine of information about the many things to see in the region where we live. Annie
















has a friend who’s an art historian and who gives tours of various historic sites. We’re thinking about meeting up with her this Saturday for a tour of a Neolithic site where literally millions of stone axe-heads were made as long ago as 7,000 years! The peculiar characteristics of the stone have allowed archeologists to trace axe heads found all over Europe to this one site.

Bob has resumed his project of cataloging the library at the chateau, and I’m continuing to work on my French. I’m finding that I’m making steady progress, even though I’m not improving as fast as I’d like!

The changes in my proficiency are subtle;every so
















often I suddenly become aware that I’m understanding more and speaking more comfortably than before. When I listen to someone talk, in person, on the phone, or on the radio, I find that the gaps (parts where I don’t register what’s being said) are getting smaller and fewer. The effort required to follow a conversation is diminishing as well.

The other night I decided to test myself by going to a talky French chick flick about a group of women in Paris. It was humbling – I followed the outlines of the plot OK, but a lot of the repartee escaped me. Still, I enjoyed it.

And I know that when it comes out on DVD, I can rent it and play it with the French
subtitles turned on. These days most French movies on DVD are captioned for the hearing-impaired. This has been a great help. I miss a lot less and I still improve my French!

One thing that’s been very helpful to me, both in terms of improving my French and fostering my mental health, is that I’ve found a branch here of a self-help group I belong to in the U.S. They meet once a week and have been very welcoming and encouraging to me.

As much fun as it is to be here, sometimes it’s daunting to be starting from scratch getting to know people, and it feels lonely sometimes. But at least I know that one night a week I’ll be in a place where I know I belong and where I’ll be welcome.

Because it’s now officially summer here (i.e. school is out), the population of Lannion has swelled with tourists from other parts of France and from other
















countries as well. We hear English and German on the streets, and we see cars with license plates from all over France. The weekly market is much more of a mob scene now than it was a couple of months ago.

There are a lot more cultural and leisure activities available now, too. The weekly paper includes a thick insert in each issue that deals exclusively with things to do for fun – festivals, concerts, exhibitions, sports, tours, hikes, etc. We’re trying to make the most of these.

Last week was Bastille Day, and we went to see the fireworks, which were shot off over the river. People were jostling for places to sit and stand where you could see the reflections in the water. The fireworks were quite impressive, especially considering that this is a relatively small town.

Some of the people in the crowd had their own fireworks, which they were setting off pretty much willy-nilly. This was alarming to me, but no one else seemed to take any notice. As far as I could tell, no one got hurt, but it could easily have been otherwise.

We’re told that August is even more of a vacation month than July, so things will apparently get even more busy next month. Our landlord told us that it’s better to avoid getting seriously ill in August, since all the really skilled doctors and surgeons are on vacation!

A lot of businesses and services shut down or slow down in July and August as well. The life of the country is timed to the rhythm of the school year to a
















much greater extent than is the case in the U.S.

We continue to be awed by the natural beauty of the area we’re living in. There seems to be no end of beautiful views, rocky shoreline, secluded beaches, blue-green water, wooded hillsides with ocean views, etc., etc.

There are lots of well-maintained hiking trails all over this part of Brittany, and we’re enjoying exploring them. We’ll probably join a hiking club here (there are at least two in Lannion alone, and many of the surrounding communities have clubs, too).
















One thing that’s high on our to-do list right now is buying a car. It’s clear that in order to make the most of our time here, we need to have wheels. We’ve been fortunate in that our friend Christy has kindly lent us her car on a couple of occasions when she was out of town, but we really need our own. Shopping for and buying a car, and then getting it registered and insured, will be another adventure!

Bye for now…