BONJOUR!

I am here, and have been so busy the last 2 days, that I haven't had a time to write.  My French "family" has been so incredible: meeting me at the airport, spending 2 days showing me around, introducing me to their friends who speak English, feeding me, taking me shopping and wine tasting!  They have now gone on to my house and left me alone in this beautiful locale. 
I am waiting for the boys to get here so I can post photos. 
There is an ancient wine press in the "garage" below, and a cow shed that dates back to the 1600s.  It's hard to keep my jaw shut when we drive around the district and see the beautiful old buildings that are still used today.  For instance the lavoir.  This is a big cement basin, sometimes fed by a spring, where people of the commune (or village) did their laundry. The one right outside the living room window is used these days as a place for a few of the kids to kick a ball around.  There is one in every hamlet.  I have seen many still full of water.  Then there are the ancient communal ovens.  Many are falling down, but the one about 100 yards from here has been refurbished and is fired up 2 - 3 times a year for village fetes.
EVERYTHING is so green and bucolic: corn fields, grapes, lazy buff-colored cows, and winding roads.  The only "traffic" is on the road at 12:00 and 2:00pm, when people are going home for their 2 hour lunch (including school children) and returning to work for the afternoon.
Ah...