. . . for a vacation with friends in south central France!  It’s a very long way from Texas, and it is well worth the trip.  We arrived at The West Mill on a rainy Sunday evening.  All five SeaGals (another story) are together again, and we brought 3 significant others.  Eight of us swarmed the rustic, unusual house after a 4-hour drive down very narrow and twisting roads into the French countryside.  The locals pass us with disdain because we tend to drive at or below the speed limit.  I was driving for the first leg and I didn’t want my 3 passengers to be nervous.  They complimented my driving, but I worry that they were just being polite.

It was great to see everyone again, so we stayed up until 1 a.m. chatting, laughing and drinking wine.  Everyone was so exhausted that 4 of the 8 slept until lunch time.  That would have been perfectly okay if we had food at the house to eat!  But we had to go to town for food & drinks.  In France, the locals lunch from noon until 2:00 and all the stores are closed during that time.  The cafes serve lunch until 2:00 or 3:00 and then you’re out of luck.  We made it to a nice little streetside cafe at 1:45.  Yikes!  Holy blood sugar, SeaGals!

The food was great and the people watching was even better.  It seems to me that most of the people in France are thin.  And fashionable.  I was surprised to find them very patient with our poor French, and many of them know a little English.  Listening to their accent is delightful!