not so long

Yeah, I know, my blog entries are long. Thanks, ma peops for commenting. I feel loved!
Had some thoughts tonight while making dinner here at the chateau, about the benefits of being unable to participate fully in conversation. Currently, it is practically impossible to have my own thoughts and comprehend what is being said in a group of French people. So I end up living more in the moment. If I want to keep up with the conversation and participate in life as it goes on around me, I sacrifice the wandering mind. I've noticed more where my mind wants to go and it's rarely somewhere useful. Talk about a boon. Attention: gift from the universe!
It's like when I've been meditating a lot and I get in touch with the reality of how unimportant it is to express every little thing that occurs to me. I love this feeling. I started to fight against it here for awhile, and to feel stifled, but today I embraced it. Feeling pretty darn grateful right now.
Yesterday I was invited to have lunch with the gay couple across the lane (Jean-Claude was away working), so I reluctantly left my painting and walked over. It turned out to be a full-on afternoon luncheon. Thierry, one of the guys, cooked some fabulous food. Homemade bread with frommage blanc, plums, pistachios and onions on it, BBQ pork, 4 different types of vegetable purées (like hummous, but with artichoke, carrot, avocado and something undetermined), fruit salad in rum and of course, more bread and cheese... And about 15 of their friends. All people who've done theater together. I could tell as they arrived. Those of you who've done theater know what I mean. There's a generosity in the faces of seasoned actors. Life in their eyes and a propensity to dominate the conversation. It was great. Especially since my French conversation skills are limited.
Afterwards, a friend of J-C's showed up here, Veronique with her two kids - Aurore, 19 and Julian, 12. They are simpatico. After settling in, we made dinner together and got ready for the nights event. J-C informed us that a group of 50 people would be showing up around midnight for drinks and dancing. It ended up being more like 40 people, who drank but didn't dance, and they arrived at 1:30 and left at 4:#0 - but it was fun. The evening was cloudy but warm and you can't beat sitting in a castle courtyard garden in the wee hours of the morning, drinking Chenin and exchanging colloquialisms with francophones. I slept in until noon.
Today, while Veronique and the fam went to sightsee, J-C and I ended up droving to a town 30 minutes away (which isn't far in these parts) to see some friends and pick vegies for dinner. It all started because I wanted to have some vegetables with the lamb he had defrosting in the sink, and snce today is a holiday - some saint's day, I think - none of the stores are open. So he put in a call to his friend and in the pouring rain, we picked cucumbers, tomatoes, beets... we were also given onions and shallots, and a few glasses of champagne. They can't help it here. It's required to be hospitable apparently. His friends (whose names I will get in here soon) live in one of a string of absolutely adorable villages. Tcked away down a little dirt road. These people have character. The kind of people who mean it when they look at you. Know what I mean? I hope I get to see them again when I can say more.
Tomorrow, I paint the downstairs bathroom. I think I know what color I'll choose already.