More from Meynes

Everything is hunkey-dory—except for mosquitoes and spiders. I hope it’s not bed bugs that bite me in the night. I’ve bought insecticide sprays & citronella. I think it’s spiders; they cover the territory here; anything that doesn’t move is theirs.

I lasted three days without internet, five without radio. In moments of madness I sang the praises of utter silence, & the hum of my refrigerator, but now that I’ve got a radio I’m in heaven. Gotta face it: media is what I love. Mostly I listen to talk radio: intelligent interviews and discussions with artists, writers, specialists and intellectuals, and great music – rock, jazz, classic—all we listen to, plus French and other European. It’s an education.

I’m thinking now about how life will change when Michel, my host, shows up on July 1^st. with his new girlfriend and the musicians with whom he’s performing in the Festival of Avignon.

When I arrived, my next door neighbor warned me—with a twinkle in her eye—about Michel’s gang of rowdy artists who stay up all night drinking, laughing, making music and god knows what else. Michel, who’s known me since the sixties, has assured me I’ll have a good time. How can I doubt it?

It’s a big house; seven huge bedrooms, but only one on the main level adjacent to the salon, kitchen and bathroom--- and it’s mine. It’s centrally located, maybe too public, but great if no one’s around. Michel prefers one of the upstairs bedrooms, at the end of the hall, more private, and he’s got a new girlfriend.

Meanwhile, my kitchen’s going strong; cauliflower, radishes, crevettes, goat’s cheese, melons, cherries… On Monday morning I boiled the leftover prawn shells and heads with bay leaves, garlic, fennel tops, & onion, & strained it for a broth to start a vegetable soup.

On Monday, I picked up the boom-box at Nicole & Lucien’s, where I was forced to eat a fried banana split with two flavors of ice cream and hot chocolate sauce. When I came home I found a note on my table from the neighbor: something unforeseen came up and she has helped herself to three beers from my refrigerator, which she will replace. (She has the key because she cleans & looks after the place for Michel. And, they’re Michel’s beers.) This could be a good story.

Life in the French countryside is a soap opera, like ours in the big American city: Stephan, the school-teacher, has taken up acting & on his first appearance on stage tore a leg muscle. He & Marie are growing their own vegetables. Pierre has gotten full custody of his daughter, whose alcoholic mother has moved away. Nicole & Lucien believe their daughter has joined a cult, Michelle’s daughter is leaving her husband, Kim &Marie France have sold their house & moved to Morocco, ane my neighbor has put her house up for sale. The government has ordered each town in the provinces to put on music festivals this summer, and the bull fighting season starts this weekend, with displays & celebrations all over the region. There’s no end of entertainment around here.