Catching Up; Limoges Week 1

Our Apart'City accomodations were pretty conveniently located near the heart of one of Limoges most historic neighborhoods, and also on the road that goes along the Vienne River. So even though I've been busy busy busy with a myriad of tasks to accomplish with related to school, travel, finances, car, lodging, etc. I knew that it was hard for all of us to be more or less cooped up in the hotel. (Even though they are "appartment" like with kitchenette-ettes, the space was really small.) We took a few excursions to explore the city. 

Clara spotted this aquatic mammal under the boughs of a tree growing by the river. I think it's an otter?

Walking along the Vienne. The kids did a regular pose and then wanted to do a silly one.

Pont St. Etienne / The St. Etienne Bridge. One of the oldest and still part of the Via Compostella.

I think it dates to the 13th century.

A playground and park right near the St. Etienne Bridge

Simon on the St. Etienne bridge with Pont Neuf in the background. It's not "new" anymore, but it was constructed to help divert traffic from the St. Etienne bridge. 

Posing on Pont St. Etienne while on our evening promenade.

Lucy striking a pose at a little garden for children. 

Here the kids are drinking milk out of little wine glasses and cheersing: "A ta sante!"

Apart'City

On our first Sunday in Limoges, we went to Mass at the Oratoire de Saint Antoine. I just discreetly snapped this one shot of the altar boys praying after Mass because they were so cute, and I loved their garb. They had light blue cassocks with little copes over their surplices, and then a big white collar. I think these were very old fashioned altar server attire, but they looked as sweet as can be. Four young altar boys held huge pillar candles during the Eucharistic prayer that were about as tall as they were!

After Mass, we went an another walk, this time to the Jardin d'Eveche which is just below the Cathedral. The gardens were already past their seasonal prime, but still very lovely and the kids enjoyed exploring.

That is an old church that is now a library. I don't know its story, but it's a stone's throw from the Cathedral.

Being silly. That's the library church in the background again.

On the same grounds as the Jardin, there is this small museum. It had a lot of vocabulary words that are not in my lexicon, but I understood this to be an exhibit of journeymen's work, i.e. specialized tradesmen such as stone masons. I think these are their final projects that they had to complete to become an offical journeyman of their trade. They date back over several decades, and even into the 19th century, IIRC. 

Limoges Cathedral: St. Etienne

This is actually a motion sensored holy water font! (Not a dispenser of hand sanitizer!) Isn't that creative? 

Inside the Cathedral.

An altar dedicated St. Valerie of Limoges with a reliquary.

A little plaza/piazza/place a short distance from the Cathedral.. Note the characteristic architecture of this region. (Which I have yet to learn about.)

Other adventures of my first week or two in Limoges include getting a new SIM card from a different cell phone provider; figuring out where to buy and how to fill my car up with "AdBlue" which is an additive to help reduce diesel fuel emissions; grocery shopping every day or two and feeding the family out of our micro kitchen; going to the school for a visit and paperwork; waiting around outside of the apartment where we did not officially live yet to meet the UPS delivery man with a replacement credit card I was expecting (I did meet him and got my card!); moving into our apartment; going to the chiropractor; finding an orthodontist to attend to Joseph's broken wire; looking for a shoe repair shop only to find that they are on vacation until this Monday (the two different ones I tried); searching for nearby playgrounds to take the kids to so they don't go stir crazy; using lots of public toilets for children with pea-sized bladders; arbitrating battles over who-sleeps-with-whom and on which side of the bed; who started it; what to watch; interminable food struggles with picky eaters; lots of shopping trips for all sorts of different things - some with and some without children (without children is definitely better!); comparison shopping for school supplies; beginning to start to plan our Tousaint Break (All Saints) travels; figuring out the complicated Mass schedules of this diocese; discerning and deciphering more traffic rules and habits; and so on and so forth. 

I will introduce you to the apartment next! Stay tuned!