Down Memory Lane

Friday
It was rather a wet day today, though with a few dry intervals, but the showers didnt dampen our spirits as we enjoyed the company of family. We got off to rather a slow start, enjoying a leisurely breakfast of French breakfast pastries from the local boulanger/patisserie. Then we went on a trip down memory lane, visiting a few places we knew Bernard and Edna would remember from when we lived here before, from 1986-1996. We drove to the neighboring village of Hericy, where we got out to look at the river, then continued on along the river to Fontaine le Port, where we had lived for the last four of those ten years. We drove past our old house and down to the old wash house by a stream. When we were living there you would often see coypus there, but there were none to be seen today, though one of the local residents said they are still there. From there we went on to Samois sur Seine on the other side of the river and went for a stroll along L'Ile du berceau - during one of the dry spells! It was here that I took today's blip, creating a new happy memory. Then it was back to the house for a late lunch. In the afternoon we drove over to the other side of Fontainebleau to drive by the other house we had lived in during our previous residence over here - in the small village of Macherin near Barbizon. We loved our time in that house - it was a beautiful house and overlooked fields at the back where there would be different crops growing from one year to the next - wheat, potatoes, a legume crop and the prettiest - a huge expanse of sunflowers - and we would love watching the farmer at work in the fields - whether it be sowing or harvesting. We were renting the house, but after we left the house the owner sold it and the new owners have spent a lot of money on it and the garden. The garden is almost twice the length now, and we can see from Google maps that they now have a swimming pool - you cant see it from driving past as it is surrounded by tall hedges in typical French style. We also drove through the village of Barbizon to the forest at the far end where you can go for some wonderful walks in the forest, but since it was wet we just admired it from the car today.