Sue and I went for a walk yesterday afternoon. We ended up walking for 12 kilometers — seven miles! — on paths and roads through fields and woods, from our house and down to the village center by a round-about route. It took us about four hours, with frequent stops to take photos.
Villandry and its gardens in rainy-day photo
Down in the village, we went to the cemetery to have a look at the graves of two friends who have passed away since Walt and I moved to the Saint-Aignan area 15 years ago. Then we stopped in at the village hair salon, where we get our haircuts, so the owner-operator, Amélie, could meet Sue as well as Natasha. Yes, Natasha went on the seven-mile hike with us.
At Langeais, the château towers over the town (pop. 4,600).
We also stopped in front of the village hall (la mairie) to take a few photos. As we stood there and chatted, the mayor (le maire, or in this case, la maire) came out to talk to us for a few minutes. She and her husband recently spent a week out on the Atlantic Coast, where one of their daughters and several grandchildren live. She told me too, that she's getting a new car next week. It'll be a red Peugeot.
At Amboise, the château (or what remains of it) dominates the river and riverfront.
I'm posting photos of four châteaux that we saw day before yesterday on our afternoon excursion to Villandry. After strolling through the gardens there, we went to Langeais and took a walk through the streets of the town. Then we took "drive-by" photos at Amboise and Chaumont-sur-Loire on the west-to-east drive along the river, back toward Saint-Aignan.
The château at Chaumont-sur-Loire dwarfs the houses along the riverbank below.
Today I have an appointment (un rendez-vous) with a dermatologist (un or, in this case, une dermatologue) to have "a thing" removed from my chest. It's a basal-cell carcinoma, and they say such skin cancers are minor and do not metastasize. I hope "they" are right. All I know is that it is a minor operation under local anesthetic, and I'll have a couple of stitches that I'll have to go back and have pulled out in a couple of weeks. I spent too much time in the sun in my youth.
That was quite a trek you're talking about. I'm sure Tasha enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteWe got lost and ended up walking farther than we thought we would! We climbed and climbed up a train and ended up at the ferme-auberge, which is farther out than our house in by a mile or two.
DeleteIn those days, the 70s and 80s, we thought it was good to be tanned by the sun. Hope all goes well.
ReplyDeleteAgain, the gardens at Villandry are remarkable.
For me it was more the '50s and 60s, in my pre-adolescent and 'teen years. We lived in a coastal resort with beautiful beaches and hot summers.
DeleteIn the gardens at Villandry there are a lot of lettuces and cabbages growing right now.
Good luck with the op. I am sure it will be fine. These sorts of things are totally routine these days. They'll take an extra few millimetres around the spot and test it in the lab for cancerous cells, just to make sure they've got it all. You'll get a letter in a couple of weeks with the results.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Susan says. I had several removed from my face or my back and all went fine. On my face, it was Mohs procedure and it never came back.
DeleteThanks for the info, Susan. I'm not too worried, but I'm sorry the surgery was scheduled for today because our friend Sue is here. It was scheduled before she planned her trip, and I didn't want to change the appointment for reasons that you described in your post about getting an appointment with an ophthalmo. The lead time between my diagnosis and this excision was six months.
Deleteright there with u re sunning in younger days.......it comes back to get us now...good luck
ReplyDeleteQuite a treck you three took -- very impressive! It's that the longest that Tasha has gone walking at one time?
ReplyDeleteBy now (since it's early evening there), you will have had your procedure done to remove the basal-cell carcinoma -- good that you got that checked into, I'm sure. I hope it heals up quickly.
It turned out to be easy. Not painful. Now just wait for the biopsy and keep the bandage clean. The dermato said I can apply a waterproof bandage tomorrow and start taking showers.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the beautiful Villandry garden photo. I hope you will show us more.
ReplyDeleteHope you're all perfect soon.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the photos.