She sat alone in the restaurant hunched over the table. Her lover wasn’t coming, again, and she pulled her jacket from the chair she’d reserved opposite and stuffed it down beside her with her bag.
The Mozelle’s swollen body surged passed the restaurant window un-noticed as she picked away at her cold steak.
No stranger to hardship and loneliness this one, having lost her son at twenty two in a car accident and her husband only a year later, but at sixty two, she didn’t have time for this, and it really pissed her off. “Puts his hands together for his wife in church, but where is he now, bloody Leo’s there all the same.”, (but in French, so it sounds so much more melodramatic). Her hands mime something like wringing a towel dry but she says it with a smile and a little twinkle in her eye, so we’re not too sure what it means – ‘die you bastard’ or ‘it’s complicated’.
Di comments on her purple sequined jumper, ‘it’s for Christmas’ she replies, and, to be sure, against her silver white hair, it does have a rather festive appeal.
We’re Australian’s we say, but she knew this as she’s a medium and she acts out doing “the cards”. ‘When were you born?’, ‘October, September’, ‘Ah, le “balance” (Libran), tres bonne’, and she tells us we will have good luck. We hope this applies to the transport strike finishing before we need to catch the metro to Charles de Gaulle, but only time will tell.
She’s a sprightly soul, and as she stands to leave she does a little dance remembering a trip she took to Australia many years ago. She loves Di’s hair and wants to know where she got it cut, rubs her hands through my hair with a laugh and a, ‘your hair looks great too’. With a 500ml pitcher of red, a steak in butter and herb sauce and basket full of hot fries I didn’t think Iooked that needy, but there you go – must’ve been my aura.
It was a lovely day to day, the sun peeping out through the high cloud warming our backs and drying the roads. We spent the day exploring and taking happy snaps (and taking lunch at Assiette au boeuf).
We took some time to check out the cathedral too. It’s impressive, forty one metre high knave, one of the highest in europe, and, as told previously 800 years old.
We’re traveling tomorrow, to trier, so decide to take it easy and have an early night. We munch on left overs at home and watch ‘6 Underground’ with Ryan Reynolds. Good fun.
An interesting encounter! Loved the photo with berries or was it seed pods (like rose hips)?
Yes. Di’s been pumping out some ripper photos on her samsung – pretty much all the good shots are Di’s. Not sure what the Berry’s were but they were a nice contrast to the grey stone wall of the church. The medium lady was a hoot.
Special to enjoy an encounter with a local lady and glad to hear you are lucky. Cathedral looks amazing. Good luck for the travels….she said you are lucky
She was really lovely and full of life, despite her misfortunes and we’re glad we bumped into – a bit what travels all about really. Lucky just to be over here i think – so she got that right.