Approved!

I found this message from the U.S. State Department in my Gmail inbox a few minutes ago.

Application Status: Approved

The U.S. Department of State approved your application for your passport book. We're now printing your passport book and preparing to give it to you.

You requested routine service when you applied. Routine service can take 6-8 weeks. Our processing times begin the day we receive your application at a passport agency or center, not the day you mail your application or apply at a local acceptance facility.

You should receive your passport book on or around 05/23/2024.

Whew. I gave you the good news first. Today's bad news is that I've noticed a new leak from all rain we've been having for the last six months. Now we're going to have to find a roofer. The last one we contracted with has gone into retirement, as far as I know. I'll have to call him and see if some other roofer has taken over his client list.

Saint-Aignan : the old and the new

I got busy this morning and forgot to publish my blog post before now. The pictures here show the oldest part of the Saint-Aignan château complex. The white stone donjon (keep or tower) is about a thousand years old. The building with its roof burned off was an 18th century (I think) convent. The roof has now been replaced (as at Notre-Dame de Paris).The weather is beautiful right now and our neighbors who live in Blois are having a party tomorrow. It's a cousinade (a kind of family reunion) and somewhere between 70 and 80 people will be in attendance.

Saint-Aignan miscellany

I'm posting miscellaneous pictures today. They are still photos I took in May 2017. A lot of things have changed since then, but as they say in France: plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose (the more things change, the more they stay the same). For example, the bridge in Saint-Aignan (above) is being refurbished. I'll be interested to see what it will look like when the work is finished in a month or two. The shop below used to be a charcuterie, and then it became this shop,  and now it's changing again. Because of the Beauval zoo the the crowds of tourists it atracts, businesses are constantly changing.

Saint-Aignan shops and restaurants

Above: Le Mange-Grenouille (un restaurant) — Au Bigouden (une crêperie) — une boucherie/charcuterie

Below: La Pâtisserie du Château — Sur le Pont (un restaurant/pizzéria) and its menu