hello from berthegon, france! after over a month of traveling around every few days, we've been in one little part of france now for the last week and a half. we are in mid/south-western france, just south of the loire valley, on a little piece of property near a small, 300 person town called berthegon. in the backyard of our house is a green-line (la ligne verte) that used to be the railroad...it's now a 30 something kilometer long stretch of trail that is great for walking, biking etc. we go on walks and bikerides every day after we do our work (so far, combined, we've laid wood floors, sanded them, done plasterboarding over a cieling, nailed in walls, cleaned out rooms, moved beds, cooked dinners, cleaned dishes and kitchens, hung long curtains, pulled brambles and blackberries and ivy , fed goats and geese and chickens, taken the baby for a walk in the stroller...all sorts of things! it's been interesting to be so stationary and local after traveling such vast distances so frequently....vermont/montreal/new york/nashville/ny/ireland/france...
the countryside here is beautiful....i've never lived so rural before. the nearest supermarket is in a town called loincloitre which is a 10km bikeride away. another town is 5 km away, mont sur guesnes, and so far every time we've gone the bakery has been closed, either because it's a wednesday, or because of a holiday, or all saint's day, or halloween, etc. though today, the little white bread van pulled up, it honks loudly outside the gate and leah and i sprinted up to it with our euros....i got carson and i a pain au chocolate, so delicious! the other day while we were out at the youngs' other property in coussay, the meat van came up....it's a huge white van that drives around to all the houses, the side draws up and inside are all fresh cuts of meat and sausages, pates, etc. there's also supposedly a goat cheese van, but i have not seen it yet. quite nice to have fresh foods delivered to your door though!
there are some dead sunflower fields, corn fields, much tilled dirt, wide arching fields, little towns scattered between; saires with it's tall pointed church steeple, and the town we found yesterday where the cemetary is full of fresh potted chrysanthemums (all saints/all souls day honoring) and a startling barking dog outside a little frech restaurant run out of someone's house, the special of the night le langue boeuf (beef tongue, no thanks!). there are hunters in the woods and barking hounds, which is a little unsettling. most of the towns near us are residential, old stone, with narrow sidewalks and churches that have a service maybe once a month, maybe once every four months. we sleep up on the third floor in our own room, are both reading epic novels that are each over 1000 pages (me, shogun, and carson, jonathan strange and mr norrell, two of kira's favorites!). we are learning much about the scottish language and all the different words that english evolved in scotland and america, different pronounciations, etc (always interesting dinner conversation).... mhairie (the 17 month old we live with) has just started saying carson and i's names...she is shy to say them, but repeats her brother adam's name about every third word. it's amazing to live so closely with someone so little (and so cute!) she loves my necklaces and rings and says "nec lacs" and "ring!" so cutely and so i have to hold my head close to her so she can touch the little bird necklace and the orange necklace with her little hands.
we are arranging our plans for after this...we leave in less than two weeks. we are going to have a few days travel to italy, and then we're going to do another helpexchange in the tuscany region of italy, near the coast, by a town called cecina, working on a large property with an italian family pruning olive trees and working with horses and golden retrievers! after that we will explore italy a bit, hopefully be able to see carson's uncle bill in slovenia, and then head to thailand! we've been looking at plane tickets online....the warm weather sounds very nice. we'll actually be able to afford to buy clothes and stay in nicer lodging than hostels for much cheaper! i think helpxing is one of the only affordable ways to be in europe now for a frugal american, with the exchange rate and all, as long as you don't mind working a bit!
i think we're going to head to town now to pick up a few things....i miss you all! today i was dreaming of stumptown coffee and giving morgan a hug, he's been in my dreams two nights in a row!
love!
melissa
