A rainy day in Segonzac

Segonzac is a beautiful little village in the Charente area, right in Cognac country. Yes!!!! One of my favorites drinks!!!

It is said that the Cognac was invented in Segonzac in the early XVII century by Chevalier de la Croix Maron.

The  Chambres d’Hôtes = B&B where  I am house sitting is beautiful and the two cats I am taking care of are gorgeous, one of them is really cuddly, she seats on my lap in the evenings while I watch TV and sleeps with me every night. The other one only meows at me when he wants to go out or wants to be fed, or wants something. There are also 5 chickens that keep on laying eggs; I don’t know what else to do with all these eggs!!!

Today when I got up I saw the daffodils blooming underneath the blooming cherry blossoms making me feel glad that spring is in the air!

As I went out to let the chickens out, I realized how cold and windy it was, so the good feeling about spring dissipated. 

To celebrate the beautiful day that now I would be watching through the windows , I had a typical French breakfast: croissant, baguette with butter and jam and a latte.

For lunch I had one of my favorites: veal cutlets and a lettuce and tomato salad with another piece of baguette. As long as I was not going out due to the weather, as might as well cook, so I also made vanilla pudding and chocolate mousse.

Then a nice walk in place (because now it is raining too) to lose some of the weight I am gaining by all the delicious French foods I am eating.

Now, in my mind, because I walk and exercise I feel that I can eat more because I walk and exercise. This is such a vicious circle, I will never lose the weigh.  But it doesn’t matter, I am happy.

The Crapper

Before I left Jamie’s Italian Restaurant in Nottingham, England, I went to use the Lady’s room or the Loo as it is call here.

And there it was: The Crapper.

Thomas Crapper did not invent the toilet, he just made them, however they came to be known for his name due to the American soldiers stationed in England during WWI that use to say “I am going to the crapper” instead of the toilet because they  found the idea of crapping in a Crapper very funny. The English people did not understand the joke as they did not use the word crap.

The flushing toilet was invented by John Harrington 1596; however Crapper improved on the flushing part by improving on the floating device for the water in the tank.

Thomas Crapper had the first showroom in the world when he opened his store in England showcasing toilets, sinks, and baths in a store window, creating an outrage for displaying such vulgar items for everybody to see.

At that time these items where called sanitaryware and they were ignored by the people for many years as this was not a subject that anybody wanted to talk about.

He also made the manhole covers at Westminster Abbey.

As for me, I just enjoyed seating in a Crapper.

The Book of Mormon

On my way to France I stopped overnight in London and as long as I was there I decided to go see “The Book of Mormon”.

At the theater I asked the lady at the sales window if they were any tickets left for that night show, and with an apologetic face she told me that she was sorry but they only had one left. 

That was all I needed.

What a great play. I started laughing on the first scene and I did not stop laughing until the play ended.

Of course it was ridiculous, outrageous and very irreverent. There were many dirty jokes and innuendos, but you could not expect any less from Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

If you don’t know anything about the Church of Latter Day Saints, you might don’t get some of the jokes, nevertheless, you don’t need to know much about it to enjoy it.

I am glad I went; it was an excellent play and a very enjoyable night.

A Useful Life = La Vida Útil

Another rainy day in England, so after breakfast I just sat on the couch to watch TV all day and enjoy another hibernating day, I have been having many of them lately. 

As I was flicking through the channels I came across a movie that was showing a CUTSA bus, so of course I stopped to see it as I knew it was from Uruguay. 

I only saw the last 30 minutes of the movie, so I am not really qualified to review the movie, but I will anyway.

The name of the movie was “A Useful Life” and the only reason I kept on watching was because it was from my country. And the only reason I did not fall sleep was because as I stated before, this was right after breakfast, so obviously I just got up.

The movie was so slow; hardly any dialogue and I still don’t know what it was about. I guess if I saw it from the beginning I would know the plot, however, if the last part was so slow, I guess the beginning was too, so I have no desire to see the whole movie, but if I ever see that they are showing it again, I know I will see it anyway just to see what it is about and maybe I’ll understand it.

I enjoyed seeing parts of downtown and the University, but that was it.