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  • October 26, 2022

    Today is the day I am visiting Mont-Saint Michel with my tour group. When I am researching and choosing a tour, there is always something on the itinerary that I have never heard of, wouldn’t necessarily go to on my own, and/or am indifferent to. Today is that day for that.

    It’s a big church/ monastery/commune/tourist site.

    Recounting Monday, Oct 24 – a day in transit.

    I didn’t write about Monday because it was busy and didn’t end till late. Also I’ve forgotten what we did. Give me a moment to check my photo storage…

    First Stop: we left Paris first thing in the morning. It was still dark at 8am: France’s time change is this weekend. The first stop for the day was Monet’s House Giverny that’s not too far away from Paris. I was wondering if there’d still be gardens to see at the end of October, but there was. The rain held off, too, until we were leaving.

    Many many dahlias, of which I took many photos because they remind me of my mum, who grows them. Actually my dad grows them and Mum makes bouquets.

    Stop 2: We stopped in Honfleur next where I took exactly one photo. It’s a pretty, seaside village and the group wandered around for a few minutes

    The wooden, separated bell tower for the Church of Saint Catharine in Honfleur. Not shown: the largest wooden church in Europe that is just adjacent that contains oak trees as pillars on the inside.

    Stop 3 and 4: the Canadian D-Day cemetery and Juno beach – added to our itinerary as there are three Canadians on the tour. I signed the guest book at the cemetery.

    Canadian D-Day cemetery. Not sure why I needed to shoot at this angle to include my shadow…
    Juno – big sandy beach.

    Stop 5: We are based in Bayeux for four nights, and we had a quick stop to settle into our hotel before group dinner. Oh! Note: due to logistics of my tour, I get my own room instead of getting a roomie like I usually do. I am always happy with my roomies, but I’m also happy to have my own room!

    Stop 6: Traditional Norman dinner of crepes and cider. Fun fact: Galettes (like a crepe but made with buckwheat) contain no dairy. Fun fact 2: I like cider, and the amount consumed may have contributed to my forgetfulness.

  • October 25, 2022

    Bonjour.

    I’m in Arromanches-les-Bains.

    (You didn’t notice me opening google maps to find out where I am.)

    Our tour guide gave us 1.5 hours of free time to buy souvenirs, look at a museum and have lunch. I didn’t want to do any of those things! So have had a stroll along the water front and climbed a hill to go look at a tank. I would be looking over the English Channel as I write, but that would mean dangling my legs over a stone wall with some dozens drop down to the beach. Instead I am sitting on the safe side of the wall and listening to the waves behind me. There are also seagulls with French accents and tourists eating ice cream and fish and chips. Also it’s fun running into other members of my group and finding out what they got up to (mostly all of them had fish and chips for lunch.)

    (View from the tank)

    Today is D-Day day on the tour. We had a briefing about details of the landings at D-Day Academy first thing this morning. This is a real place, and reminds me of the BC Forest Discovery Centre, only with guns and WWII objects instead of old forestry equipment. I am not usually interested in military manoeuvres, but our academy instructor gave a good overview.

    Next was a visit and memorial service at the small British cemetery. (We made a detour yesterday to visit the Canadian cemetery and check out Juno beach – additions made to the tour because there are three Canadians.)

    I’m off to Omaha beach there. Depending on the tide, we’ll see the memorial there. It seems to be going out so fingers crossed.

    Update: Like 2 hours later. Not Omaha Beach. First the American D-Day cemetery, which is sickeningly vast. I walked a loop looking at crosses in the ground and paid respects at their missing soldier monument.

  • Catch Up

    Hi.

    I’m in Paris.

    Some initial reflections:

    • There are lots of spiral staircases. Like there might be an ordinance when constructing buildings? I haven’t fallen down any.
    • I should know more French. Though I just now remembered I have a translate app I could use to prep for retail interactions. I could have used “change room” today. But also pointing worked in this situation
    • The metro is just like any other public transport anywhere and I like it.
    • No one here cares, maybe even less than they do in London. But two people one two separate occasions apologized to me after running into me – or kindof just brushing by me- on the street.

    The airplane ride here was long and agonizing and I’ll say no more on the matter in hopes that the memory is repressed before I have to fly home again. (Note: by “agonizing” I mean I was bored and impatient. I was in no way in pain, or anxious. I wasn’t hungry either! Vegan airplane food!)

    Louvre Day

    Today I went on a tour of the Louvre. I’m not typically keen on tours of art galleries because I have my own system of navigating these (I.e. “Weee!”). But the Louvre is ginormous and I thought some assistance would be helpful. Mostly I wanted to be sure to see the popular stuff right away. It turns out the tour was a good intro for be because there are so many people at the Louvre and had I attempted it the first time on my own I would have been frightened off.

    It was cool to see the big arts there (Armless Venus, Mona Lisa) but i found that how I usually look at art was a little awkward? Like, me standing at the barrier and inspecting the details, looking for evidence of craftsmanship was in the way of a whole crowd of people trying to take selfies. I even almost forgot: after clicking a bunch of photos of Armless Venus I realized I hadn’t actually looked at here. Lucky that our guide gave us a while in that part of the gallery so I could get a good look at her folds and such.

    Armless Venus (“Venus de Milo”) and friends.
    Our guide has us look at this Venus With Arms, which I appreciated.
    Mona Lisa (“La Jaconde”). I got closer than this, but not close enough to see brush strokes, so what’s the point.
    My favourite Rafael. That red.

    In conclusion, too many people and just massive. I’ll go back because there’s more to see – but at my own pace. (I have a couple spare days this trip, but more likely during a future trip. Paris is pretty close to London.)

  • COVID-19 Journal Entry 47

    My mental health coping mechanism throughout the winter months has been to write something every day. Almost every evening since November 1 I’ve written 700 or 1000 or 1300 words of a continuous narrative. The content of this is less important* than the fine sense of accomplishment I had every day having completed a little chunk of story. It’s been nice to have something to focus on, think about, construct. I did it if I was in a good mood, or a bad mood, or too tired.

    It’s been mostly a free-writing, get to the next plot point, just get in those words kind of writing. I like doing this at night because I’m less likely to think about what I’m doing too much. I’ve been cozied up on my chair with my big light on, listening to CBC Music (although at first I tried having Corronation St. on at the same time. This was pure folly).

    At the beginning of March I decided to keep writing until March 19, which is a Friday. On March 20 I will try reading what I’ve written because I haven’t done that yet and I’ve forgotten what I did in November. Spring time might be a time for editing, but it might be a time for putting it away to pull out later because it suuuuuuuuuuucks and writing is hard and I don’t know why I bother**.

    I’m looking forward to reading it. I enjoy reading my own work. I can be quite clever sometimes.

    * “content isn’t important” means it’s not fit for human consumption

    **This is a stage of the writing process. I don’t mind admitting that I’m really good, and well practiced at this part.

    Things I Want to Remember about the Pandemic

    (A mostly truthful numbered list of memories)

    Number Three: A contant stash of Daiya Cheese Shreds.

    A year ago, at the beginning of the pandemic, I bought Daiya Cheese Shreds as “a treat”. I don’t usually buy cheese shreds because I can grate my own cheese. But it’s weird times! Let’s live it up a little. I decided this weekend on the way home from getting another couple of packages during my grocery run that a year of getting a thing doesn’t really constitute a treat anymore and that I don’t really need to buy them anymore. Probably.

    Sublist: things I’ve learned about Daiya Cheese Shreds:

    • They have a higher melting point than the cheese I usually use, but do melt eventually
    • They are coated in an oily film. This is extremely apparent when you get near the end of the bag
    • Taste good
    • Taste good on pizza
    • Taste good in macca-chee (though I combine with my usual cheese)
    • Resealable bag it’s packaged in doesn’t stand up in the fridge and flop all over the place.
    • Go on sale a lot
    • Dry out into wee sticks if dropped on the floor and forgotten.
    • Good on a “melt” style sandwich.

  • COVID-19 Journal Entry 21

    I drove to work today for the first time ever in Victoria. The reason is that I have an appointment to have my hair cut after work and I need someplace to leave my stuff. The COVID-19 policy sent from the hair place specifically says to leave all extra stuff in your car. “But what if I don’t have a car?!” I asked to no one in particular. But I do have a car, I just have to move it somewhere closer to the hair place for the day (i.e. downtown) for it to be useful in this instance.

    I left early because I didn’t know what the parking situation is downtown these days. It turns out that there is lots of parking and is not something I need to worry about if I choose to drive again. I have kept meaning to, on rainy days or whatever but I keep forgetting. I like my walk in.

  • COVID-19 Journal Entry 19

    Some phots from my days.

    This was the state of my dining room table one day whilst I was in the midst of crafting. Rubber stamps, tape, paper and gluing.
    Shadows of the hearts on my bedroom window that appear on the wall only at a very specific time of the day. I can’t remember what that time is.
    The masks Kimberly mailed me.
    Maca-Chee glamour shot
    Take out hamburger and fries. The two round containers contain my desserts. The brown container says “plant” because I got a vegan burger.
    Mum and Dad brought me a garden. This is the view from my comfy chair while I work. Not shown: a tomato plant and two pots of basil.

  • COVID-19 Journal… Entry 14

    These are the flowers I walk past on my way to work! They line the walkway leading to the main doors of the Empress Hotel. I love the colours! They look good as I approach, and then they look good close up too! Some of the tulips are starting to fall apart, but that adds to the chaos of colour that’s going on. Part of me wants to do a painting of it, but it is already beautiful and perfect in real life. A painting, even this photo, can’t recreate my delight of seeing these flowers every morning, in the context of the world right now.

    Or maybe it can. Is that flower bed six feet across? To be considered later. Is that doorway always roped off? I think it is, but what if it wasn’t?…

    Work has been happening, as regularly scheduled. I spend the first part of the week working at home, and then Thursdays and Fridays I’m in the office. This is my rotation so far – we only get a couple weeks’ worth of schedule at a time, because these are strange and unpredictable times.

    Friday nights I’ve been getting take-out hamburgers for dinner on my way home. Earl’s has been good to me, but today I found that Bin 4 has a vegan dessert, so they win for now. They also have an app, so I don’t need to make a phone call* – though I did have some human interaction at the door of the establishment when I picked up my order. I think maybe I won’t be so interested in getting take-out if it’s raining, as both places I’ve gone to so far have us waiting outside.

    *I don’t like making phone calls, even for burgers. However, making phone calls for burgers isn’t too bad. “I’d like to order a burger for take-out,” is how I started usually. And it went well from there.

    Other things I’m thinking about:

    I’m tired on the days I go into the office. My job can get physical on some days: I work with files- ordering them in to send to various requestors. These might be single files, but they might be boxes full, and moving them around for the day, or part of the day, can make for tired times. And then because I’m working at home for half the week, by the time I’m in the office there’s lots of files to organize. So it might be that I’m doing that for the whole two days. And then on top of this. I’ve been walking to and from work to avoid public transit (I totally meant to drive today but I completely forgot. It wasn’t raining, I guess? But parking has gone cheap downtown.) That’s about a 40 minute walk one-way. So I’ve been tired after work when I get home.

    I keep meaning to watch Sense and Sensibility again. This BBC one. I will soon. It’s a good, meaty version. I keep finding other things to do instead of watching TV, like reading, writing, listening to podcasts, sitting and thinking, playing with my phone. New goal of trying to read book instead of playing with phone so much. Should maybe re-read Sense and Sensibility. I’m making my way through Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie. It is rich like black forest cake, so I only consume a little at a time.

    Socks of the Day

    I needed socks to wear for doing ballet barre exercises in my living room. These work very well- not to mention the colour coordination I’ve got going on there.

  • COVID-19 Journal >Entry 13

    My stash of podcasts has dipped below 20 for the first time ever. See the proof above with the number hooked onto the orange icon there. The reason for this is theee-fold:

    1. I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts lately.
    2. I’ve had to delete a lot of podcasts because they were all about COVID-19 and I only need so much information. I subscribe to several daily podcasts and they’ve been almost exclusively COVID-19 related for the past month. Also, some of those are American, and I don’t need in-depth details/stats about how things are going there when I am already overwhelmed with the details/stats I my own jurisdiction.
    3. I’ve had to pause my subscriptions to most of the true crime podcasts I usually listen to. The graphic details included in these have been upsetting me lately, whereas before they were interesting and extreme stories.

    Podcasts I’m Enjoying Lately

    (these can be googled or searched for in your own podcast app):

    This American Life – they’re talking about COVID-19, but in the style This American Life, that is, with cheery stories, or how everyday individuals are coping

    Levar Burton Reads – Levar Burton reading short stories. At the end of each reading he reflects a bit on how the story affected him personally, which gives us permission to react to things personally, too.

    Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History – because let’s escape into a deep dive of history. I caught up on his latest episodes about the Pacific front of WW2 while making masks.

    Masks

    I made myself a couple of cotton masks last week just to have some and I finally tried one out today – it was the first time I’d been for groceries for a while. I do not like wearing a mask. It makes my face hot and my glasses steam up, even though I have some wire along the nose to prevent this. I got used to it, sort of, and I may just need to wear them more, but I don’t want to. But I’m having trouble remembering to cough into my sleeve, so it takes care of that. Also, I got a compliment, so that always helps.

  • COVID-19 Journal (Entry 12)

    Geese

    I went for a walk yesterday morning just before sunrise. The only creatures I had to physically distance myself from were these geese. Confession: I try to physically distance myself from all geese, at all times, as geese are bastards. Beautiful and majestic, yes. Also bastards. I spotted these ones from a ways away, and considered crossing the street to avoid them. Instead, I got real close and took a photo. Correction – I was six feet away, at least. Additional information: this was next to the legislature.

    As I walked (yesterday morning) the sun came up and the landscape turned pinkish. Delightful. I didn’t walk today because I woke up late and got up and did chores! such as cleaning the bathroom and washing the dishes.

    I did overly good with food this week. I pre-made a bunch of food last weekend: fish-rice-beans dinner; quinoa salad for lunches at work; oatmeal for breakfasts at work; soup. And then there was leftover quinoa and rice to finish up. Upon calculation I realized that I would have to eat some of those thing at meals all week, and not have to make anything extra like macaroni and cheese. I think I managed to have some macaroni and cheese anyway??

    On Wednesday night after work I meant to order and take out a burger from Earl’s- because it’s on my way home from the office and it’s a regular spot I’d like to support. This idea was quashed because I forgot my wallet at home (and I’d need the credit card in there to pay.. it took me a while to connect this fact to my plan to purchase food…) I got it on Thursday instead. Earl’s in downtown Vic has a table set up at it’s side door for take out orders.

  • COVID-19 Journal #Entry11

    My chest/ribs area hurt today so I thought I had a lung infection or something dire. As the hours went on, however, the pain developed and now I’m pretty sure I’ve strained my muscles doing a new Pilates exercise.

    #thisiswhyishouldstayinbed

    I texted with chums today. Susan and Amber, and also Mum. We are all dealing. Back in the regular times if I wanted to text someone I’d be all worried that my chosen recipient might be busy and I wouldn’t want to disturb them. And oh and fret. Not so lately. And we all commiserate.

    List of things to do tomorrow:

    • Go to work
    • Do not go shopping at breaks or lunch
    • Come home, without stopping for groceries on the way
    • Phone Mum at 7pm because it will be Wednesday
    “No One Is More Careful”
    Ballpoint pen and clear cello-tape on paper
    By Lindsie circa 2007