School Stuff and a Promenade (Friday, Sept 10)

I just wanted to note for the record that I am not the only one who thinks the pick-up situation at school is a little bit wacko. While I was at a meeting for parents of Lucy's Pre-K/K class, a few of the other parents voiced concerns about it. Apparently it wasn't always like that, and it's a product of COVID regulations, but from what they described or asked if they could go back to, it doesn't sound like there's any very good solution. 

Today, one of my children forgot their gym clothes. A-hem. So I kindly went to school to bring them. Since it was after rush hour, I was fortunate enough to get a parking spot on the same street as the school!

And since I was already out, and I had an errand in mind to go the Catholic bookstore so that I could buy myself a missalette in French with the daily readings (I already bought a couple with all the propers), I decided I'd just go do that after stopping at school. However, I considered the prospect of driving in the direction of the store and what it might be like to find a parking spot even closer to the center of the city...hmm...  since I already had a safe and free parking spot in the city, I decided I'd rather walk! (about 15 min.)

I ventured upon this little plaza which I hadn't been to before.

I happened across Les Halles of Limoges, which I had heard of, but didn't know exactly where it was and was on my "get around to" list.

Les Halles is an indoor space filled with vendors of food. Some of them were produce, some meat, some seafood, cheeses, breads, some prepared foods, some ethnic foods, etc.

I've been seeing lot of interesting things in the meat section of the grocery store. I think this is the first time I saw chickens with their heads on and rabits with their livers on display. I do see all sorts of organ meats in the regular grocery store such as kidneys, hearts, brains, livers, tongues, feet - of various animals - of course chicken, pork, and beef, but also rabbit, duck, sheep goat, veal, turkey and some other tiny birds.

Magnificently beautifully displayed produce!

It turned out to be a nice walk and I had a pleasant stroll through some neighborhoods I hadn't been to yet. It's been raining off and on today, and I have been blessed to miss all the rain bursts! So I did a little window shopping along pedestrian shopping streets; browsed at a porcelain shop, the Catholic book store. I stumbled upon the tiny chapel of St. Aurelien which is the historic butcher's neigborhood and he is the patron saint of the Limoges butchers. The little chapel has the Blessed Sacrament reserved and is open all during the day. 

La chapelle Saint Aurelien

Inside the chapel. A little bit gaudy, but still charming. Actually, the description picture below calls it a "flamboyant gothic" style.

St. Catherine

The altar at St. Aurelien

Explantion / History of La Chapelle Sain Aurelien.

The little plaza in front of the chapel. It is difficult to see, but that is a pieta statue on the pedestal in the middle of the frame. (I don't generally see a lot of that sort of thing.)

As I meandered on a bit more, I came across another church, Saint Michel des Lions. (Dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, but there are lion statues out front, and I guess that's why it has that name.) So I stepped inside there for a little visit. I had been to daily mass there once before. And I hadn't been thinking about their mass schedule, but I happened to step in about 15 minutes before Mass, so I went to Mass too! And that was a nice little blessing (in addition to the Mass itself) because I wasn't able to go the 8:30am Mass I've gone to the other days this week, and it started raining after I entered the church, but the sun was shining again by the time I left!

By this time, I was getting pretty hungy and thirsty. I walked by many little cafes and brasseries. I really wanted to just get some food, sit outside, enjoy the weather and the people watching. Alas, they all require La Passe Sanitaire. That was a bit of a discouraging realization... I might not get the chance to do that at all during my time in France... Oh well, it's not the reason why I came here. 

So I bought some prepared food at Les Halles, but had to carry it out since you can shop there with out La Passe Sanitaire, but you can't sit and eat without La Passe Sanitaire.

Another thought while I was strolling about wherever I wanted is that I felt a little bit guilty. "My kids aren't with me! They are missing this!" But at the same time, "I'm free to go and do WHATEVER I WANT!!" It's SO strange! I don't have to watch out for anyone, scold anyone, drag anyone! I can walk as fast or as slow as I want to! I can walk into a porcelain shop and not be afraid of anything breaking!!! Not only that, my schedule is so wide open! Don't get me wrong, I still have plenty of work to do, but most of it can be done on my own timetable, so if I end up walking around town for a few hours, it's ok.