A usual work day, I continued cleaning piles of leaves out of the many extensive plant beds in the huge garden. No scratches on my arms today, I learned my lesson and tucked my sleeves into my gloves. As the day got hotter and hotter, so did I, but I left my sweatshirt on with the sleeves tucked in. No blood, just the usual aching back, aching arms, aching legs (only mild aches), but a feeling of satisfaction because the beds I cleaned up look so good. I’ve added just a couple of garden photos to this blog, none with people. I hesitate to take photos everyday, since we are really working very seriously – although we do seem to laugh a lot. Nicky and Mick are good to work for and fun and interesting to talk to during coffee break, and we very much enjoy S and T. No complaints. All in all, it’s a good gig.   We left work at 11 and walked home. We cleaned up and changed our clothes and walked to the top of our hill where S & T picked us up in their convertible – I just love that!! Off we drove to Le Lavandou to go to the huge Thursday Outdoor Market. This one is even bigger than the one in Lyon. We walked and looked and shopped. Once we had gone through the whole market, S & T drove off to the grocery store, then home. Cathy and I stayed to tour around Le Lavandou. We walked to the beach and checked out several restaurants along the “boardwalk.” We chose one and were told that they were completely full for lunch! Just like in Lyon, my eye for a good restaurant is still working (of course, Cathy deserves half the credit for this choice). Our second restaurant turned out to be an excellent choice. I had some kind of white fish cooked in something similar to parchment with tomatoes, garlic, butter…yum!…with cooked zucchini, tomatoes, and onions on the side along with a tiny quiche with leeks, and I washed it all down with a white wine – all the waiter would tell me is that it was a Provencal white, but it was very tasty. Cathy had a salad with zucchini, tomatoes, feta cheese – I don’t know what else, but she said it was excellent, and she chose to have a beer with it this time. Service was slow, but we didn’t care since we had the Mediterranean to look at while we waited. The weather was gorgeous today, clear blue sky, hot, but no humidity and a slight breeze. I’ve included photos of the market,the beach and the restaurant. After lunch, Cathy and I walked to the boat docks and made a reservation for Sunday to go to the island of Porquerolles, then we walked around Le Lavandou, checking out the shops and boulangeries and watching people play boules. Oh yes, and we found a papeterie/librarie – a combination of book store, stationary store, and art supply store (with a limited choice), and we bought a couple of things. I got colored pencils, a 2B drawing pencil, a permanent black drawing marker, and a sketch book. I was inspired by that drawing show that we saw here in Bormes les Mimosas yesterday at the Art Museum and just might do some sketching, something I haven’t done in a very long time. We took the bus home at around 5 p.m. It’s 6:15 now and I’m doing this blog while Cathy sits out on our patio, maybe drawing, maybe just sitting, maybe a little of both. In an hour or two we will have dinner: fresh baguette that we bought on our way home, fresh figs from MicK & Nicky’s garden, goat cheese and fresh peaches and strawberries from yesterday’s market, and some good chocolate that we bought today. We have about half a bottle of wine that may or may not be consumed, we shall see how we feel. Then, a good night’s sleep and another stint of gardening in the morning. No feet today. And no art as yet. But here is my blog post.