Out & About

 On a new walk we got a different view of the Cathédral Notre-Dame de l'Assomption.

We see two people on one bike quite often. It appears to mostly be young folk! One person sits and pedals and the other stands behind.

We occasionally see dog walkers. This one had two leashes and had one small dog in a backpack pet carrier on her back. 

In order to recycle glass items here you need to find a glass recycling bin in your neighborhood. We have bins for other recycled items in our parking garage. There is no online app to locate your closest bin so we had to locate one by walking around. We have now located a close one. It was behind some bushes in a driveway for a different apartment building. Our first trip to the glass recycling bin! 

I'm sharing this photo for two reasons. First, we get a bread or baguette here sometimes. Occasionally we get a sandwich here. The second reason is because of the number of signs and arrows on this place. They had a lot of signs before but they finally got a broken door repaired so they added even more signs. Our nickname for this place is "crusty pain"- half English/half French. It actually translates to crispy bread. For the French, this is more of a commercial establishment with mass production methods and isn't the preferred bread shop but it is close so... . There are quite a few of these shops around town.

During our lockdown-light, outdoor gatherings are limited to 10 people. So, I wonder how these large demonstrations are permitted. This is at least the second large demo we've witnessed during lockdown and mask wearing was not enforced despite a mask requirement on the streets. It just doesn't make any sense.

What a fabulous sign!!!

Translation: "Preserve the earth. It's the only planet where there is chocolate." B asks, are we really sure or is there a solid dark chocolate planet out there?? 

Plants and the Köppen-Geiger Climate Classification

In April we decided that we were going to adopt a shrub/bush of some type for our larger balcony. Some balconies we see are filled with plants so we had been thinking about it. We did have concerns about not having enough sun but we thought we would give it a try. We learned about a large garden center within our 10 km travel limit during the most recent lockdown so off we went. PLUS, it was allowed to be open during the lockdown. Woo Hoo!

We were very impressed by the number of lemons on this lemon tree for sale. 

After wandering around a bit, we found a faux cypress that we agreed had the right characteristics to do well in our situation and even survive the winter outside in its pot. We also purchased a large pot and a watering can. In this shot it hasn't been transplanted to its new home! 

The previous tenant left a large ceramic pot on the balcony and we thought that it would be perfect for a tomato. We also had a small self-watering pot. We had purchased the self-watering pot in Indonesia and brought it with us. We transplanted the plants and had them outside for a bit but then the weather reverted back to more wintery temps and we had to bring them inside until it was more consistently warm overnight. The faux cypress is doing fine outside despite the cool nights. 

We've been able to harvest basil to make a veggie basil dip and the tomato has grown quite a lot. At least it's not an heirloom Cherokee tomato. We had one once that grew to 10 feet. At purchase time we thought we were buying a patio cherry tomato. On looking it up, it probably isn't. We will get a longer stake for this baby soon. Mature height is supposed to be 5-6.6 feet. The info I found does say it's a fast grower and it is a cherry tomato! The overnight temps have moderated so we have now moved the basil and tomato outside. This photo was taken a while ago. 

Currently, the tomato is slightly taller than me!

And... we have at least 2 baby tomatoes!

The weather here is different from what I've experienced in the past. At one point I even asked my French tutor how the plants survive here with so little rain. In the 7 months we have been here we have seen very little precipitation. Even when it rains, it is usually not an actual rain but more of a mist or drizzle and it doesn't seem to last long. Someone B works with suggested this area was considered semi-arid. I wanted to know more so began some research. 

This area has the Köppen-Geiger classification Cfb which means "oceanic climate." There are two subcategories 1) marine west coast climate and 2) subtropical highland climate with uniform rainfall.

First, obviously we are not ocean adjacent by any means. We are in the middle of the country. However, we have the Cfb classification. I read that this usually occurs in higher middle latitudes on the western sides of continents. I suppose this fits. The definition goes on to say that these climates are dominated all year round by the "polar front" leading to changeable, often overcast weather. That part certainly fits.  We would typically have a warm summer as opposed to a hot summer or cold summer. Precipitation occurs throughout the year - but from what we've seen, not much of it. However, we have had some actual rain in the last few weeks. This was the first time we'd seen rain like this so we had to get a photo.

 

I'm not hoping for massive rains, but, hopefully, these few days of real rain won't be the only ones we see.

Construction Across the Street

It looks like this project across the street will be ongoing the entire time we are here. We have noise Monday-Friday during the day but at least they don't work overnight. On the plus side, it is something for us to watch. Previously there was a mobile real estate office just inside the gate. It was an oval shaped building. While we have lived here we only saw it open for business one day/week. This was probably due to the pandemic. Now all the units are sold/rented and so it isn't needed.

A crew emptied it out and one day some workers began to disassemble it. Next, one half of the unit was taken away. We couldn't actually see the truck that carried it away.

Nearly a month passed but finally the second half of the building was removed with different equipment. 

It took the guy (yes, only one man was working on this) a bit of fussing to get it on the truck the way he wanted it but he was eventually successful.

On the flat-bed, tied down, and on its way!

All gone!

During the last week or so they cut down quite a few large trees on the site. (I'm never happy to see mature trees cut down.) In addition, they are not protecting the tree roots of the remaining trees. Large, heavy equipment drives right next to, and between, the trees. This will most likely cause the loss of additional trees in the future. 

In this shot they have cleared a large area by cutting down at least 6 large trees- the open area on the right.  They seem to be making easier access for trucks and equipment.