Yesterday was momentous for more than one reason - for the tennis fanatics among us, it was the day that Roger Federer won his rightful place in the pantheon of greats. We watched the match in a tiny little Tabac in Belleme, sipping a glass of vin rouge, rain drizzling down, everyone pounding on the bar at match point... and then the lovely sight of a beaming, benevolent Andre Agassi passing Fed the cup.
For the wider world, yesterday was the 65th anniversary of D Day and the Normandy landings; our elegant President was here to commemorate the occasion. There were signs everywhere for the celebration of "Hommage a les Liberateurs", which is heartwarming. It's nice to think that in some parts of the world, Americans are still thought of as heroes. The Obama family is certainly beloved in France - you can't pick up a magazine without finding an Obama photo spread.
Earlier in the week, we spent an idyllic day at the Chateau de Carrouges - just a few miles from here, northwest of Alencon. First we had a "picque-nicque" of fresh bread, charcuterie, cheese, cherries and madeleines... then a lazy walk through the gardens in the sun... then a tour of the Chateau in English with a very bright and perky French guide.
The story is that the Chateau was built for a "confidant" of the King back in the 14th Century. By the size and grandeur of the place, I'm guessing that "confidant" meant "knows where all the bodies are buried". The grand old place stayed in the confidant's family until they ran out of male heirs, and it was on to another family through an arranged marriage to the only surviving female heir. A portrait of the happy couple hangs in the banquet room - he's handsome in a devilish kind of way, and she looks like she bites the heads off chickens... a real estate deal, not a love match. Nice house, though.
Tennis in Gue de la Chaine has become a bit more dangerous than in the past - the collie dog belonging to Madame Souchet, from whom you have to pick up the tennis court key, has gotten older and crankier since our last visit. You get a definite adrenalin rush sprinting from Madame Souchet's from door to the garden gate with collie snapping at your bum - good warmup!
Expected to rain tomorrow, so we'll take advantage of that to make an outing to the snail farm - great weather for it... 'til then, au revoir.
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