I did my final farm chores and milking of the goats this morning. I’m sad to leave the farm, I’ve really enjoyed my time here and felt I was getting into a good rhythm. I would definitely love to come back, especially when the new baby goats come in February or March, maybe I can come out and help for a couple of weeks? It was hard to say goodbye to everybody. It helped that just before I was leaving they had started weekend chores, so there was upbeat music on and people were dancing around.
Max‘s mom gave me a ride to Sherbrooke. I’m staying at an Airbnb in the garden studio of a beautiful old house in a neighborhood filled with huge gorgeous houses surrounded by old trees on large lots. I dropped my bags off and went to a nearby café to journal and do some thinking about my time on the farm. Last night Noé asked me for one orange and one lemon about my time at the farm – an orange being a sweet thing and a lemon being a sour thing. I could think of so many orange moments on the farm – the beauty of the place, being outdoors and working outdoors much of the day, the wonderful people who were so welcoming, the fresh homemade food, spending time with the sweet goats, learning to milk, make cheese, and understand how those processes worked, getting to explore the countryside, challenging myself in so many ways, rain on the rooftop of the Fromagerie, swimming in the river, wearing casual clothing all day, time off in the middle of the day, not having other extraneous pressures, lack of TV or reliable Internet, space to think during and in between work, seeing a different way of living, seeing how people can create so much from what is normally thrown away, the creativity, caring, flexibility and ingenuity of this community. The lemons for me were the difficulty in understanding others French, my feelings of inadequacy in my own French so that I often froze, unsure if I was saying things right, occasionally feeling left out of conversations because I couldn’t understand, feeling out of my depth in making meals from scratch, my swollen and sore hands at the beginning. Overall, my time at the farm showed me there are so many opportunities and ways of living that are possible for me. Who knows where this might lead…
After the café I went for a long walk to see the rest of the murals around the city. They are very impressive works of trompe l’oeil – I think they’re the best murals I have seen in any cities. While many of them are historical, they are not boring and often combine history with current times, very impressive.
On my wanders I also stopped at the Saint-Michel Basilica-Cathedral, which has absolutely gorgeous stained glass windows. I found several free little libraries, one had several books by Barbara Cartland in French. I also found the Judy Blume book Blubber, but in French it is called Un Exposé Fatale – Fatal Outcome. Interesting.
I stopped at the local marché and picked up food for dinner then settled in for an early night. I watched the movie Promising Young Woman which I have been wanting to see for awhile. It is an excellent movie, but very intense and I spent a long time reviewing it in my head afterwards. I can’t wait to see what else Emerald Fennell writes and directs.