On to Brioude....

And so on August 17th, Pascale left for the Pyrenees, and Jean Francois kindly took me to Clermont Ferrand to pick up my Auto Europe arranged rental car. While my Garmin GPS kept telling me my maps are outdated (2 years old), I was counting on it to guide me through my limited driving time. Alas, in the flight, the adapter had broken, so first stop was to see IF I could even find an adapter to buy. (I did have visions that I might need to buy whole new GPS!) First, however, I had to DRIVE it. Standard transmissions are much cheaper to rent than automatic, so I had a diesel Renault Clio to get used to. I am so pleased when I realize that I can drive a standard car! However, I was not so pleased to realize that this car had no CD or cassette player, so for the next week, it was the radio or nothing! (Once the car was loaded with my stuff, I had no interest in changing cars! Plus the diesel meant my fuel costs would be less.)
The Geant Casino store was not a mile away, and happily I was able to find an adapter for 20 euros!
I also had to stop at the mobile provider for more time. NOW I have not been sending pictures or going on-line much at all, but I am told that I am using all this data....THIS is getting to be a drag. Hopefully when I am in Burgundy, I will have time to resolve this with a better plan!!
And I was headed an hour south to Brioude where the Brachets, who will be in my house until at least the end of May, had invited me to visit her mother's home for overnight, so we could finally meet!! They weren't going to be home until 4, so I had time to kill, as it were....So I found a McDonald's (love that internet access) where I could also have lunch...Big Mac, small Heineken, chunky fries for 6.90 euro. Now, that was a win-win for the not usually a Mickey D's customer!! AND I got all caught up on the computer, etc.

Interesting to see the sunflowers in varying states-water shortage, but these looked wonderful!

Avril, Paolo, Aline

Aline's parents live just outside of town in a somewhat hidden location-at least for this first time visitor! So several phone calls later, I was up the hill at this very interesting home. She told me that the original builder/owner wanted to have the first swimming pool

in Brioude, so he built the pool before he built the house, so the house is very close to the pool!

4 yo Avril's darling new hat

6 yo Paolo's new hat

They had gone to the market that morning and found these cute hats!

Soline and Andy

I had a very nice visit with both Aline and Olivier before dinner! It was a good chance for me to remember a few more things I thought they might find helpful. For example, the Appalachian Mountain Club might be good place for them to meet fellow outdoor lovers! They could clarify things I had mentioned in emails as well!

Aline's sister prepared delicious dinner

When I offered to help Soline, Aline's mother, in the kitchen,she said, "Come speak English with me!" She had started learning English when she was 11 years old. Early in her marriage, her husband Jean Jacques (now the mayor of Brioud-for the third time) had taught economics at the University of Michigan for a short time, so she had had the opportunity to live in the States and speak even more English!! She invited me to come for a week so she could teach me French cooking, and we could speak English!! She and Jean Jacques have a Boston trip planned for late October; she will also probably visit later in September, as Olivier will be back in France for his work, and Soline will be able to help with the children, while Aline is in school at Brandeis. I had a wonderful time with everyone! Then next morning before I left, Soline took me into town to visit the wonderful old cathedral in Brioude. We were all happy that we had had the opportunity to meet and spend more than just an hour together!
And then I was on my way to Plazac (pop. 1900) in Perigord Noir, where couch surfer Ginger had invited me to stay for five nights.
Thanks for coming along with me....