Like most of Europe, we experienced the solar eclipse this month and sporadic heat waves, swinging our temperatures from the high 70’s to the high 90’s. The colander eclipse shots are from Caren and Bret, here in Lille that we found fascinating. The wildfires that plagued the southern parts – from the UK through Portugal, Spain, France and Italy, did not affect us in the north. On the temperature peaks we have a portable A/C unit that covers our square footage and a couple of small fans that add to the air movement. We also have the good fortune to have enough front and back windows to create a cross breeze throughout the apartment that is sufficient to handle anything under 80°. Unfortunately none of this works in the studio apartment next to us, which is turned into a visitor pied-a-terre when the need arises.

Our July visitors, Anya and Kiran extended their time with us until the fourth of August and had the bad timing to live through a heat wave. A bit of a nightmare for their stay but they were still clearly enjoying themselves eating our local fare and Kiran was startled to see the swordfish at our Sunday market. They also added a bit of stuff to our Cat with the Knife kitchen ornament.

In the studio, they had two fans, no A/C and the two windows into the inner courtyard were absolutely of no help. As we’ve explained previously, we refer to the small inner courtyard this building wraps around, as the Pigeon Palace. It is a nasty view of pipes and errant trash that gets caught without an escape, as well as the perfect shelter for mating (pooping) pigeons. Add to that delightful odor is the fact that in warm weather, it’s a virtual hot box with the radiating heat elevating the smell. Short story = no desired cross breeze and therefore no fresh air. It’s perfect for a painting studio because I only need a decent amount of light, which it gets. But a long term stay for visitors – um, no. Especially when the bathroom experienced a clogged toilet and sewage leakage in the shower. After they left, we dumped a product down the plumbing recommended by our landlord, which seems to have worked and G replaced a non functioning toilet mechanism.

Anya’s French was much better than ours and being the savy Tech Queen, she ironed out a bunch of computer + WiFi nuisance issues we were struggling with. We have added a few more pictures of their time with us and were so pleased that they were able to use our Brompton folding bikes for a few outings, one was to Calais.

To celebrate my 72nd birthday, G & I went to a place for lunch that we’d been meaning to try, Les Bouchers Bien Élevés. It was a wonderful experience, we were treated very well by staff, shared some escargots, a fabulous steak and sampled their excellent house made Lemoncello. And yes, that IS a candle you see in the picture, that they stuck in the steak. But the perfect finishing touch was the best creme brulee I’ve had in Lille. Went home with leftovers – very satiated and happy to say the least.

OH – AND SO EXCITED – on the way home from an errand, I passed the very first community-erected ‘Free Library’ that we’ve ever seen in Lille. We’ll have to drop off the few French books we have that we are done with. Maybe even sneak in a book or two in English, in case someone is interested.

Whether it was the heat or just coincidence, the building elevator door on the fourth floor became disabled (parts are on order) and everyone living above us became forced to exit on our floor and march up to the last two floors. The paint job from a year ago, on the balcony railing blistered and cracked, to be fixed sometime next month. Then in sympathy, our freezer compartment in our refrigerator, kicked into over-frost mode and gave our ice cubes freezer burn. Despite several internet sources, we were unable to fix it ourselves – which is now an ongoing story to complete after we get the time to have a repair guy come out to have a look. No matter where you live, you’re going to deal with hiccups. Very small problems in a very big world.

We’re leaving next month for the first ever French-Spanish wedding that we’ve been invited to by friends we mentioned in June, Florimond and Gabriella. We spent a bit of time finishing up clothes requirements, as it is a formal affair (bright colors required) and we are not equipped for such an occasion. By the third week, I had the fancy dress, shoes and handbag – G had the shoes, sports coat, shirt, pants and tie. Last step was of course the tailor, as we are not tall people – both dress and slacks needed shortening. It’s a far cry from our own wedding in a state picnic park, handmade outfits and potluck lunch. I’ll tuck these clothes in the back of our closet in case anyone else we know here decides to get married, receive a formal honor or get crowned by royalty for that matter. Oh – of course in the happenstance that we are also invited. Having one nice outfit in your arsenal is like having a passport; one should always keep it on hand should the need arise.

The month moved along, the temperatures dropped and rains came. We went to Paris for a day for a specialist Dr.’s appointment (while having ‘un café’, we were watching a film crew), we said goodbye to Lylou at a favorite bar – Café Society – she’s moving to Marseille to study architecture, and Adison got a birthday ‘gift’ from Caren and Bret at CaféSociety.

Coming toward month-end, we experienced several leaks in our bedroom closet, clearly from the heavy rain we were getting. As our landlord said, This isn’t a good water year for you – referring to the hall water damage from the upstairs tenants we had in March and repaired just last month. We spent a good day relocating our clothes to our studio apartment next door because we already know that the handy guy is going to need total access to locate and repair the leaks. Never a dull moment here.

But, not to end on a bad note, G went out for his 9:00am haircut and as he was walking back, he took this shot, with the towering spire of Saint-Maurice église catholique in the background, as a reminder to us of this wonderful place we live in !