Fermetures et absences

No snails yesterday. The escargot man was not at the market in Saint-Aignan. Our region's schools are on winter vacation right now, so a lot of businesses are closed and some of the regular vendors aren't showing up at the market.

Sunrise over the vineyard in a 2008 photo

France is divided into three regions so that there's a staggered school vacation schedule. That way, not everybody in the country hits the roads or the ski slopes at exactly the same time. Yesterday we noticed at least one baker and one restaurant that were closed. Our bread delivery services has been suspended all week while the porteuse de pain takes a holiday.

Lucky for us, the wine co-op was open for business. So was one of the best Saint-Aignan boulangeries. And both the gardening center and the hardware store were open. At the latter, we found a sharpening machine (un touret à meuler). Now we can sharpen big knives, lawnmower blades, and axes. Watch out!