Tumbleweeds

August in Lyon is quiet, real quiet. With the entire country on vacation en masse, shops and restaurants take their monthlong fermeture annuelle, and the only people left in town are those too poor to take vacations or slip away to their country houses in the mountains... and those who have already taken their vacation, like me.

When I get to work in the morning, I have to turn on the lights on my floor. I'm the only one here, and my footsteps echo in the halls. At least I'm getting a lot of work done.

It's quiet in my little cottage, too. Without Boog and Tater around and the gleeful chaos they create, the silence is disorienting. I find myself leaving the TV on to fill the space, France2 chattering away to itself while I attempt to organize my tiny kitchen to make it livable. I hold extended conversations with the cat, who feels that my opinions are beneath contempt and unworthy of a response.

My phone hasn't rung in the week since I've been back.
Hmmm.

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How to entertain yourself during a blowout Olympic basketball game on French TV:
Count the ways the French announcers pronounce "Krzyzewski".

The French Olympic coverage is almost as jingoistic as the American, in that each country focuses heavily on those events at which it excels. Unfortunately for France, there's no Olympic rugby and the Olympic soccer tournament is distinctly third-rate. So, tonight on prime time: fencing and judo! We'll take a break for some swimming, then it's back to fencing! After an exciting look-in at the equestrian arena, La France's judo heroes take the mat once again!

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How to kill a couple hours in the Munich airport when you don't have enough time to take the S-bahn into town:
There's a Hofbrauhaus on the top level; bier unt dirndls [photo], sehr gut!

Sausage salad sounds disgusting but was actually really tasty, while the roast suckling pig sounds yummy but was disappointing. Still, I don't suppose one goes there for the food.

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I gave V. our digital camera to hang into in North Carolina so she can take pictures of the kids and so forth; my Dad was kind enough to give me his old digital camera, which functions just fine except that at times it simply and for no discernible reason refuses to work (sort of like the SNCF). So I'll be posting pictures when I get the thing figured out, which hopefully will be shortly after I locate the user's manual somewhere in my luggage.