So off we went this morning, to 'Floralys'. (In France these spring plant fairs are generally called 'Floralies', but in our town we get a bit of a pun on our town name, so ours is FloraLYS.)
We had a shopping list and a general idea of what we wanted - it's wise to stock up because the prices at Floralys are staggeringly low, with 60 plant nurseries selling at close to trade prices.
Here is St Julien, benignly overseeing events. He's the saint of our local church, and has both a well and an annual fair named after him.
We live close enough to the town centre to walk up, but sometimes we need to bring the car up in the afternon to pick up everything we've bought!
The old school, now used for various community events, overlooks the square.
Various specialist nurseries have stands outside in the square, and I liked this set-up for a bamboo and tropical plants vendor:
Inside are more plant stands, and, this year, a stall of fossils and minerals which was of particular interest to our boys...
We give them 5 euros each to spend at the Floralys, and they can add their pocket money to that too, if they want to.
The boys and I got home by lunchtime, and had a quick look at the loot so far. I'm going to wait until tomorrow to show you everything we bought, partly because Ben only got home with a car-load at around 5pm, and partly because both of us adults want to head back tomorrow after church! One vendor is going to have a look round his nursery tonight to see if he can find a better variety of the climbing rose Ben and I wanted - that's very good service, we think!
So in the afternoon, Son 2 and I were off to a local town for a rugby match.
It's a fairly small town, well outside Toulouse, and has a thriving rugby club with a very artistic element:
I tried to get photos of all the rugby badges represented amongst those I know read this blog!
Hello, American friends!
And South Africans!
If I missed out a nationality, please let me know!
But where on earth was Scotland? I think I'll have to ask some pointed questions, next time.
Instead, here are both the first two and the latest two of France's International Rugby Captains. Each one is portrayed, along the back of the stands.
The whistle blows, and he's off!
He's at the bottom of this heap (note my impressive grasp of rugby vocabulary).
Halftime knees...
He scored a try! I was far too excited to take a photo...
So instead, here he is at the end (in the black head protection), having filled in for a visiting team who needed an extra player. There's a lovely atmosphere - many of our players were happy to take a turn playing for these guys, and each one was welcomed and thanked enthusiastically. I liked this team, too - the top players were called Naseem and Ahmed, which makes a real change from Theo and Bastian.
I think we pretty much won, but interestingly, everyone seemed more interested in the cameraderie than in the final score. It's not always like that, but today was a very good day...
.jpg)
... the homes are made to keep us cool in summer, not light and bright in springtime! 
But things are brightening up thanks to all the flowers in our garden, indoors and out. 
This weekend it was the floral fair for which our town is quite famous.
We variously waked and cycled up past the church to the festival, and the boys were entranced by a display of pansies (pensées in French, meaning 'thoughts') near the entrance. Ben and I were similarly impressed by the variety and also the price: 
10€ for a box of our choice - that meant 20 plants! 
Everybody chose three favourites, and then we collectively chose a few more to make up some good sets. 
The boys rolled off home when they got bored (Son 1 clutching a succulent for his bedroom), but Ben and I held out for a really thorough look round. 
We came back with plenty of other plants too, but it's the pansies which are the star of the show for the moment!
Thanks for your lovely, kind comments on my last post. Do you want to know what I did on Sunday? Ben took the boys out and I visited a Vide Greniers and then settled down in the garden with a novel (I often read something 'serious' for a while in the garden, but seldom a novel) and a beverage of my choice. SEE! Your advice has fallen on receptive ears! Thank you very much, friends.
A quick look inside will show you Son 2's collection of minerals:
