We walked to the Arceaux market this morning, but took a couple of detours first. Roger packed our shopping cart with glass and we went first to the computer repair shop where we collected our hard drive. We then walked down a street called Gambetta, and about half way down it, we found a glass recycle facility where we deposited the contents of the shopping cart. From there we walked along Gambetta, which seems to cater to the north African market a good deal. We entered one store, narrow and deep, with shelves filled with spices, exotic clothing, and open bins of semolina (three grades), wheat flour, powdered sugar, several types of lentils, and three or four types of dried beans. The narrow aisles were crowded with all sorts of kitchen utensils, pots, pans, electric kitchen appliances, and thousands of other products. The variety was amazing, given the size of the store.
We entered the shop because robe hanging outside caught my eye. There was no price on the robe, so I went back to see if I could spot another one with a price on it. I want a full-length robe which zips down the front, not one which ties or buttons. The ones in the shop were rather thin, and I couldn’t find a price on them, so I moved on. A couple of doors away, I entered another shop, this one larger and filled with women’s and children’s clothing on racks. I spotted exactly the robe I wanted, but was confounded by the sizing. I haven’t bothered to discover my size in French terms, so I didn’t know what size I needed. The shirt I bought back in Paris came in small, medium and large, so there was no problem deciding to buy a medium. We left the shop with the intention of returning once I Google a U.S.-French or U.S.-Europe size chart.
We went on to the Arceaux market under the aqueduct and bought a whole cartful of food, about twice what we normally buy; but our stock of fresh food has been getting low, particularly in the fruit area, so we stocked up on apples and oranges and clementines and cheese and honey and broccoli.
This afternoon I returned to the Arceaux area where Anne picked me up and we headed to a small suburb of Montpellier for the AWG New Members Tea. The tea was held at the beautiful French home of Orla Blundell, a charming Irish woman. There were about 30 AWG members in attendance, including four new members. We newbies introduced ourselves around the room, then everybody else in turn introduced themselves to us briefly. The president then introduced each of the activity chairpersons and invited them to speak briefly about their groups, including the book club the children’s activity group, life issues and the Bible, cultural outings, garden club, membership, FAWCO, and the walking group. After all the business was conducted, we went downstairs for wonderful goodies provided by the members, and for tea and coffee. We new members had a chance to chat with established members, and to renew acquaintances with those we already knew. There were books for sale for one Euro each (such a bargain!) and used items left over from the weekend’s Vide Grenier. I bought a brass teapot. Anne and I left the tea and journeyed back to the Arceaux, from which I walked home. Roger was already there, having played chess all afternoon.
Along with my daughters, I spent a good deal of time Sunday, yesterday and today helping Eric get a paper presentable for his English class. Eric seems to take after his father in that English composition does not come easily to him. I do hope that his committee did not help him too much.
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