Paulette's Adventures Abroad

The posting on the "Penny Pinchers in France" Facebook page said he had pots and pans to give away -- free.  I need cookware, and he was in same region I'm in (which is huge), in the village of La Croisille-sur-Briance, "only" 1+ hour from me.  Ray was available this afternoon for  me to see the goods, so since the rain had stopped, I headed out, first filling up on gas ($60). Ray had given me the name of the village he was in, but not an address.  Texted, "Just look for Chezkevin" (that's what he wrote).  When I texted him back, "What is that?" he answered, "I own it.  Facebook."  I had no idea what either he or that Russian (perhaps Baltic?) name meant, but figured once my GPS got me to the village, I'd text or call him (IF there were cell service), or just ask around. My GPS is the map/directions chip for France that I bought for my portable Garmin while still in the U.S.  After  previously having had installed French

I had picked up  -- somewhere -- a flyer publicizing "Galerie Vanderlick -- Artiste Peintre (artist painter) -- Visite de l'Atelier (workshop/studio visit) -- Univers des voyages, Chaleur des couleurs, Association des matières (universe of travels, warmth of colors, mixed media)".  I was intrigued.  Although I wasn't currently interested in enrolling in Sandra Vanderlick's half-day painting course, I thought a visit to the studio in the small village of Rancon sounded like a good idea -- especially since it was less than half an hour from where I was meeting this morning (March 2, 2018) with the car insurance agent in Bessines-sur-Gartempe. Note:  Here in rural France, half an hour is considered the least amount of time it takes to get anywhere! Someone told me, "We say you get the first half hour for free".  Of course, at $7 + per gallon of gas (appx. 1,50€ per liter), no car trip is "free!". I wound my way through the twisting rural