The Unspeakable Scene (Loire)

Birds of Tokyo, nice little number, but Cait wanted the title to be ‘Mean to me’ by Crowded House.  We weren’t really being mean to her anyway.

Loire Valley

We were intending to visit Chambord today to see the chateau and its wonderful parks.  The weather had different ideas and it was low cloud and drizzle with no sign of letting up.  After a quick (direct) trip to the Boulangerie at Gizeux, breakfast was served.  Over our croissant and baguette we discussed the itinerary and decided to head for Chenonceau, another chateau that would see us inside for most of the day.

About 20 minutes into the trip Cait began complaining of a burning sensation in her throat.  This steadily became worse until I stopped the car so she could throw up.  We were in the middle of nowhere and opted to head for Langeais to see if food would help.  We were almost there she was sick again – the unspeakable scene.  Things were not looking good.  We found the Carrefour but the food didn’t help, so we located the pharmacy and sought advice there.  From there to the doctor who prescribed gaviscon.  I had suggested that earlier but the pharmacist disagreed – fancy arguing with a doctor J.  We left Langeais with the name of an English speaking doctor in Giseux, just in case.

Cait was beginning to feel a little better so it was time pay out on her.  Jayne commenced with, “You were brought on this trip to spend time with your father in case I get sick”.  She then proceeded to offer a number of titles for the blog: Doctor, Doctor and Burn baby burn.  Cait, in a royal moment, was not amused.

The bitter-sweet moment for me was driving toward Langeais to see a sign notifying of road closures later in the month due to Le Tour.  I never thought these next words would be together in a sentence of mine, but, sadly I will be in Paris.

So we decided to spend the day close to home to allow her time to recover. The weather forecast is for sun for the rest of the week.

Cait had recovered sufficiently by the afternoon for a trip into Bourgueil to buy some wine from one of the shops that stocked a number of local vignerons’ products.  Only after a quick stop at the artesan biscuit maker in Gizeaux.

It was a recurring theme in my blog last time I was in France, but I really believe that they have life-work balance right.  The day starts slowly and goes a little longer, partially due to the sun.  It is still light at 10pm at the moment and the sun doesn’t really warm up till late morning.  Every little village (well most) have their own church, boulangerie and butcher.  Some of the larger ones also have a bar, post office and pharmacy.  The capitalist ideals of rampant consumerism that appear so prevalent in Australian society seem less important here.  They are not earning enough to waste money on ‘stuff’.

Giseaux is a tiny village and the boulanger, who is one of the cheeriest souls I have ever met, could not be making a fortune because his market is too small.  Every morning he greets us with a smile as we buy our crosisant, pan-au-chocolat and baguette tradition – for less than €4.  Every day he closes for a 2 and a half hour lunch and then re-opens to sell what is left in the afternoon.  In the evening he doubles as a pizza maker, although this is never guaranteed.  When we asked if we could order pizza the other night the shop assistant had to go and check with him first.  His store closes at 7 and then next day he gets up and does it all again  - except for Tuesday and Sunday when the shop doesn’t open and Saturday when they close at lunchtime.  Quality of life.  Time to be still.  Time to spend with family and friends.  Sounds better than the rat-race to me.