It's Farm weekend! There's a small pedagogical farm in town that is open to the public the third weekend of every month, so we took Mr. yesterday, We got there at two, right when it opened, in deference to afternoon naptime (the French are not a very up-and-at-'em people, so the hours are 2-6, daylight be damned).

The pigs were not there; when we asked we were told that "they left," and when we asked where to the answer was "to be eaten." The French are more forthright than Americans about the fact that we kill to eat. I find that admirable. So no pigs, but we saw rabbits, chickens, geese, turkeys, cows, sheep, and goats. Tristram's verdict, after getting over his initial caution about all of them:

Rabbits: Possibly the most interesting, but too hard to reach inside those hutches
Poultry: Okay
Cows: A little scary, but he liked the calf that licked his arm
Sheep: More interesting than the chickens, but not interactive enough
Goats: Winner! He petted one friendly goat for a long time; they seemed to be making good friends, although he did not want to let the goat actually sniff his nose. He even managed to be gentle in petting with very little interference from us. His face gradually changed from fascinated consternation to nascent joy, and then he just started laughing softly and that built into a shout of joy. He tried really hard to talk about, or maybe to, the goats, but he was so excited he got stuck at "B-b-b-b-" and then just blew a lot of raspberries.

Next month we'll go later so we can get the cider they start at 4 pm.

On our way back, our bus got cut off twice by a little car, and the drivers stopped to have a shouting match. There was a lot of "je t'enmerde" going back and forth. That's the first time I've seen a person angry here.

I want to stay because of the farm.

I want to leave because I miss my own animals. I miss my cats, and my horse, and I want to get settled so we can get a dog. And some goats?