French Sabbatical

Day 326 (22 May 2011) – Empty Attic

Well, technically the expression “Vide-Greniers” means “Garage Sale,” but if you take the words individually, “vide” and “greniers,” they translate as empty attic. And I like the imagery of it. You see, there was an all-day attic emptying that took place today in the parking lot of our neighborhood shopping center (you know, the one with our favorite bakery and the U Express). People paid 10 € to have a table and put out all the things that have been cluttering up their attics.

Of course Melinda and I were curious to see what people wanted out of their attics. Nothing initially caught our eyes so Melinda went to buy a croissant. That’s when I spotted a table unlike the others. This one had vintage French postcards. I ended up buying a handful, some of Nantes but the best were these 60’s era pin-up bathing beauties. We bought 4 of them and are thinking a couple, framed, will look pretty slick in our upstairs bathroom back in Seattle.

Last night’s dinner was exceptional. Sandrine and Laurent picked a terrific restaurant. We sat outside under an awning as the sun went down, sipping French wine, speaking French (and some English), and enjoying a multi-course meal. Some favorite expressions from the evening include “Line Renaud” (sure to make Frédérique laugh) and “Clint Eastwood.” I’m not even going to try to explain.

May 22, 2011 - Posted by Andy Smallman | Uncategorized | French Sabbatical