I have no class today!!!
I start the morning at the local covered market - it is only held on Tuesday (I think) and Friday mornings. Vendors come to the market with some farm fresh goods. I find the fish vendor outside working out of a truck. He does have some fileted fish, but of course they are marked with the French names and my small dictionary doesn't include them. I eventually decide to try on of the filets. HE doesn't have much english but calls another vendor over for help, but I still don't recognize the type of fish, but am clear that is it fileted. He is also offering shrimp, to I get 4 for an appetizer.
I run some other errands and get to school by 11:30. I have received my temprary sign on for online banking and want to look at my french account to see if the transfer I made last weekend has arrived. If not, we will need to call our bank at home and have the transfer researched. Fortunately I get signed on, change my passcode, and see that the transfer has been credited. The site is all in French, so I am feeling pretty good that I got this far.
I go home for lunch and heat up leftovers from the night before, then pack up and go out for more shopping. We have a list of items I have not been able to find - utensils to use in our non-stick pans, listerene, oven thermometer, etc. I have decided to go to the suburbs to a hypermarche that we have seen before. It is sort of like a Walmart with electronics, tires, appliances as well as a huge food store.
To get there, I get out my bus schedule and map and figure the quickest way, but I am not sure where the bus stop I need is located. I eventually find it about 10 minutes from the apartment. I find almost everything I need except the oven thermometer. The landlord says the oven is old, but may cook hot, so not to turn it as high as indicated. By the way, French ovens have numbers from 1 - 10 and no degrees on the dial, so we think the thermometer idea is best. I also check out the seafood department, so I know what they have. Not to worry, it is a huge department and they have lots of fresh fish.
When I finish shopping it is about an hour before I need to be home, so I take a different bus home, one that will take me through several small towns on the outskirts of Clermont-Ferrand before returning me to Place Delille, between home and school. It is a great ride up in the hills surrounding town and it is a beautiful afternoon, so I relax and enjoy the 40 minute ride. Fred texts me and we agree to meet at Place De Lille and walk home together.
We arrive home about 5:30. He has made an 8:00 pm dinner reservation at Fiesta Grande, a Tex Mex restaurant that we love in the center of town. Our neighbor has invited us to an art exposition at a not for profit gallery she works with, so at 6 pm we leave the house to walk to the gallery. It is a nice event with wine and snacks. We meet our neighbor and a colleague from school. It is really nice to be away from home but to run into folks we know.
From there we walk to the restaurant, meeting another American family we have recently been introduced to on the street in front of the restaurant. We get our usual margaritas and enchiladas and finish with a hot apple tart. Everything is superb as usual and the proprietor is happy to see us. He also remembers what we order.
We have had a great evening and are feeling quite at home.
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