Wordless Wednesday

Dropping out...

I'm sorry tut-tut.

This month's NaBloPoMo was always a "maybe" kind of thing, and now I'm thinking "maybe not."

Rodez by (museum) night

Musée Denys-Puech

(All photos courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)

My husband and I went to quite the lovely event last night: La Nuit Européenne des Musées.

It's an annual do, but we hadn't attended it for a few years.

We ran into some old friends

We used to go to the Musée Denys-Puech often with the girls when they were little ones. It was a suitable outing for rainy Sundays, and at the time, was Rodez's only functioning museum. (Musée Fenaille was closed for remodeling for years.)

"Post rock" among the menhirs

The principle of La Nuit des Musées is not only to open for free on a Saturday night, but also to provide various types of entertainment inside the establishments. We got in on the tail end of a concert in the Musée Fenaille's stunning inner courtyard.

It was a great evening: we started it out with a light dinner at one of our favorite Rodez eateries, the wine and tapas bar La Gargouille.

We ran into some old friends.

And we finished up with a photo-taking stroll through centre ville.

Signs of Aveyron in Paris

Whenever I go to Paris for work, I go to at least one café or restaurant.

And not always, but often, I see a sign of Aveyron there.

People say that there are more Aveyronnais living in Paris than in Aveyron, and I suspect that this is true.

Many of them work in the catering industry now, and some are major players.

Poverty forced their ancestors to leave their homeland, al pais.

They started as bougnats and worked their way up through the ranks of deliverymen for drink companies, then café workers, then managers, then owners...

I always feel a little at home when I see posters like this on the wall of a restaurant in la capitale.

Wordless Wednesday, one day late due to technical difficulties

Internet, teaching and guilt

(A random image that I have projected for discussion in English class)

In my dream blogging world, I not only keep up this personal space, but also blog about education in general, and teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in particular.

Wait! That's not only a dream! I actually do have a teaching blog.

But as you can see, I haven't been there for a long, long time.

Early this year, in fact, I got somewhat involved in the Twitterverse of English Language Teachers.

The talents, creativity, devotion, and sheer online output of this community are astounding...and inspiring.

But as the school year moved on and intensified, the inspiration I was getting from these teaching gods (who must be online 24/7) started to weigh me down more than pump me up.

I've distanced myself from that scene for the time being, but I may get back into it...maybe...

A quick appearance

I've been hanging in here for NaBloPoMo.

But, after writing a corporate blog post this evening, I don't have the energy to say much more here.

Oh well. A post is a post is a post...

A rare "wonders of nature" shot

(Somewhere near Espalion, Aveyron, June 2006)

This is one of my rare "wonders of nature" shots.

Enjoy it while you can.I'm not one for taking lengthy promenades, soaking up outdoorsy solitude, or closely examining flora and fauna.

This is one reason I needed to get away from my former blog, La France Profonde.

I was feeling like a bit of a fake. Sure, I live and work in Aveyron -- and I love the place. But not for the reasons that many do.

When I tell people exactly where our house is, they often wax eloquently about how easy it must be to take great hikes right from my own front door...or to go mountain biking! Right, mountain biking!

Honestly, I just prefer to geek away while enjoying the view...

Windows in various states

I took this photo nearly four years ago in Millau.

It was a quick shot on the way to a choral concert that one of my daughters was participating in, and when I took it, I certainly wasn't analyzing the great variety in the windows of this one building.

I remember being disappointed by the light -- I had hoped to get some sunny shots, but the city was dominated by particular pale grey-white tones that we often get in Southwest France.

Shuttered, draped, open, closed, remodeled, in their original state...it's a fascinating display.

Somewhere in time...

A new blogging concept

(Photo courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)

A concept. To get through NaBloPoMo, and possibly even to continue this blog, I need a concept.

As I randomly posted one of the few photos floating around on my new laptop yesterday, a new blogging concept started to take form.

I have a huge backlog of photos, and a huge backlog of things to say. But where to begin?

I decided to start here.

Generating numbers randomly, I whittled my 60-odd photo folders down to this shot from Capital Playhouse's Kids at Play performance of...?

This is going to be fun. Very fun. And that's what blogging should be about.

Wordless Wednesday

Actually, not so wordless, because with this post, I think I have fallen upon a whole new blogging concept...

To be continued!

Before Wordless Wednesday...

...how about Tired Tuesday?

Back to Barcelona

View from inside the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

April was such a fun and exciting month for me that I thought I would be blogging constantly.

So many little trips! So many photos! So much to write about!

But also -- so much to do.

I'll have to spend May catching up.

My busy month of April all started with a one-night school trip to Barcelona with my second-year business school students.

Even though the trip was short, I (finally) actually got a feel for this city that so many of my friends love, as I mentioned in a previous post.

So many little trips...so many photos...so much to write about...it's a good thing I'm doing NaBloPoMo for May.

I may be blogging more this month

I haven't been too inspired to blog lately, and just a few days ago realized the end of the month was near, and that a new NaBloPoMo theme would be coming up soon.

What a better theme than "maybe" for a blogger who is sitting on a fence?

Maybe I'll be able to keep up, maybe I won't!

Maybe this was happening when I took this picture, but maybe not!

I'm in.