Au revoir encore!

Goodbye again!

I hate this. But going to France for a month is a nice way to transition from one home to the other. I don’t feel quite as sad to leave Spain because I get to visit my friends in the village of Rogny-les-Sept-Ecluses, France, on the way to the States.

This time I was in Rogny for the fireworks extravaganza, its 54th annual celebration. It doesn’t seem to be rooted in any religious or historical event, but just because. On the day of the fireworks, the town of 700 people swells by thousands of visitors. The city is closed off at noon, and no cars are allowed to enter. Those visitors who arrive after noon have to park on the outskirts of town and walk into the village, where there are chairs and temporary bleachers constructed for seating, as well as grassy areas for blankets.

Even though I’m not keen on fireworks (too loud), I’ve seen many fireworks presentations, and I must say, this small town puts on a spectacular show. Below, you can see (on the left) the locks in the canal (for which the city is named, but which have not been in use since 1887, when the new locks were constructed), where the fireworks are assembled for discharge. I’ve included some photos of the fireworks (disclaimer: photos of this year’s program are from the internet; my photos didn’t come out well), but they accurately depict the show.

Randomly, as there have been supply chain disruptions and product shortages world-wide, in France this summer, Dijon mustard (or, as they call it in France, “mustard”) is in short supply. A series of overlapping issues led to the mustard crisis, including bad weather.  Burgundy, where Dijon is located, experienced a wet winter, and some mustard producers harvested less than half of what they had expected to harvest. Then Canada, the second-largest mustard-seed producer in the world, had its exports cut in half, partially due to the the North American heatwave that occurred last year. This is serious!

OMG. News and rumors travel so fast in this small town!! Do you remember the game “Telephone”? We played it as kids. You sit in a circle and one person whispers “a secret” to the next person; that person whispers it to the person next to them; and so on, until the message has made its way around the circle. The last person says the message out loud and laughter ensues, because the message has changed so much since the first person uttered it. Well, that’s sort of what it’s like to live in Rogny. One villager remarked that you can’t fart in the town without everyone knowing! He called it a “blah, blah, blah town.”

A new development occurred when my friend arrived from the US to help me fly back with the dogs. We had planned to spend a relaxing week in Rogny, enjoying cookouts and time with friends and neighbors. But, my friend, who recently had COVID, and had two negative COVID tests prior to arrival, had a rebound case of COVID like President Biden recently experienced. Everyone in town knew my friend’s positive status within MINUTES!! Long story short, we left Rogny, and are unexpectedly spending a week in Paris prior to departure. I was sorry to have had to leave so abruptly, but this Paris visit has been a real lagniappe — no rush to see sights, just enjoying the food and culture for a bit. Walking the dogs by the Seine every day has been particularly pleasant.

I’m leaving in a few days for the US, and I will probably take a hiatus on the blog posts. But, fyi, apparently, I have 119 followers from 25 countries! Isn’t that insane? Of course, I’m very suspicious of the followers from China. Really? No bad motives? Hopefully, the others from non-communist countries are fellow travellers who are just interested in Spain…and not getting into my bank account.

See ya…