Monday in Solesmes

May 25

It dawned grey and cool with threatening rain.  But this was our first weekday morning and the town was quiet, which leant it a lovely quality.  And our morning ritual became established: shower, coffee, bread/pastries, reading and watching the time for the daily 10 Mass, at which Michael would preside all week.  And the, "I'll see you at 11:30" from Michael, became as established as our morning routine. 

This day,  Dad and I met Michael at the Monastery so that Dad could check his email.  As he did so, Michael and I wandered towards the outside garden where guests are allowed to visit.  On the way, we passed down the long hall past the Bookstore and Michael pointed out a large room ( I noticed and liked the old red upholstered chairs) and announced, "This is where I meet with my women".  I knew, of course, that he was referring to women he counsels, but to hear the way he said it?  I'm so glad Michael is still Michael.  He joked further, "They don't know about each other.  Oh Lucy, of course you're the only one!"

The sun peaked out when Dad joined us in the garden.  I told Michael I needed some flowers for our house and he laughed, saying that Lita always had to have flowers when she visited. "Pop could have cared less but he did like them."   And so, as we took our leave, Michael backed up to a rose bush near a wall, reached back behind his robes, and clipped a large pink rose while murmuring, "I really shouldn't be doing this".  And then laughed.

Dad and I hadn't talked about plans for the week because we had decided ahead of time that we wanted to take one day at a time, deciding every day what we might want to do outside of Solesmes.  We were still recuperating from the trip (and the wine) and this being our first real day there, we opted for just hanging out and getting used to the place.  

After a time of reading, we went for a long walk.  We walked across the bridge,

heading for the spot where Michael had taken Clare and Brent last summer.

We weren't quite sure where it was and ended up veering off in wrong directions but finally found it.  It was such a nice walk.  The weather continued cool.  I had brought my umbrella but by the time we arrivedf back in  Solesemes, I had ditched the sweater.   

The bar is a short walk past the Pastry shop at the end of the sidewalk.  

We stopped  in for a beer, which tasted sooo good, 

view of courtyard from Dad's window

and then back to our house and more reading.  

Just before 5 o'clock Vespers, Dad and I headed to Sable for more groceries, specifically some bourbon.  We found Jack Daniels, which Dad went on to tell me was the "generic" whiskey sold everywhere in Europe and beyond.    Now we could have a real "cocktail hour".

After Vespers and cocktail hour with Michael, we opted for dinner out.  We had wanted to dine in the little restaurant in Solesmes but found it closed so headed for Sable.

Well, turns out LOTS of places are closed on Mondays.  The only place we had found was a Chinese restauran, but who wants to eat Chinese in Frane?   After driving and walking for what seemed forever, we went back to Chinese and at that point were hit with a deluge of rain.  No matter.  We were hungry and it was late.  As it turned out, we were more than pleasantly surprised by our meals.