Saturday in Meaux

Meaux is a quaint little town just outside of Paris on the SNCF line...I have no idea which line it was. The one with destination Chateau Thierry. I find I like to head in that direction and have done so quite a bit to visit little towns like Nogent L'artaud and Ferte Le Jouarre (or something like that). I really love this region and the landscape from the train is breath-taking. I just always exhale once the train leaves the high-rises and all I can see is open prairie and rolling scenes of grass.

I wouldn't live in Meaux, though. If I move to this region, I would go further out. The houses are unbelievably cheap. And most have a fireplace which is a must have as far as I am concerned. But I would have to be married to do it. I would be too afraid to live out there by myself. I mean, what if the electricity goes out in the middle of the night or something? Giggle.

My main objection to Meaux is that it is still too chargé. If I am going to do this life, I really want to do it. I want peace and quiet and I want a house that is not attached to anybody else's. But it was a very nice place to visit. The Marne River is lovely, and there is a marché on Saturdays that is quite interesting. There is also a cheese museum, and a very lovely museum in the converted Bishop's residence called the Musée Boussuet I believe. The Cathedrale was on lockdown when I visited but I am told it is really quite a feast for the eyes.  I didn't take a lot of pictures because my cellphone did not cooperate. I have no space left and it forced me to erase EVERYTHING to get some space and now I have lost vital data because I have no apps, messages or anything on the phone. Disaster.

But it was a nice weekend. This week is going to be very crazy and I expect a visitor as well so may god help me to get through it all with as much grace as possible. Oh, and I fell this weekend. On Friday. It was hilarious. I just took a spill near Rue Cherche Midi. No, I was not wearing heels thank god cause people would have thought I couldn't handle my shoes. I mean, I couldn't but not because the heels were too high. It was my ballet sling backs and the heel is flat as the road. But it has lost its grip as well and has become like ice skates and I was hurrying along and the next thing I knew I was splat on the ground and I looked up and people were looking at me like they thought I was on something because I had screamed as I was falling cause I was so shocked this was happening and then I said "fucking christ!" Then this guy came and asked "are you alright?" and I am thinking can you be a gentleman and offer me your hand, young man? But I said "yes, can you help me up?" and he pulled me to my feet. I said "thank you" and hurried off humiliated.

This is the first in my life I have fallen in public and I wondered to myself if it means I am getting old. Because, think about it. If I was stronger, and younger, even if the damn shoes were ice-skates, I would have had better balance. Right? OMG. Oh. My. God. I better start fixing my will, eh?