A good week in The Pearl. We chatted with our friends in Paris, Shirley is often a guest blogger for Tricia, she calls her The Paris Corespondent – be sure to read her post today: Paris is a ‘spatial’ place. It has me intrigued.

Sunday lunch was steak medallions. Tricia made Crazy Spuds, a crispy red potato delight that we have not had since we moved to France, hard to beat potatos with “crispy bits.”

We walked most every day this week, even in the rain. We watched a new, to us anyway, show called ‘Minuscule’. It is a French animation about insects. I am not a huge animation fan, but this is a delightful series of 15 minute segments.

With Spring creeping in I am getting anxious for some outdoor sketching and painting. This week, though, I contented myself with another sketch from Le Cave des Pas Sages in Avignon.

This week the Women’s and the Men’s hockey teams both won well played overtime matches. They both deserved to win and from the athletic perspective are due the honor.

The women’s team made us proud in their celebration – exuberance and dignity well blended. They turned down an invite to the White House which was only offered in a dismissive, misogynistic, wisecrack that Trump made while he was congratulating and inviting the men’s team, some of whom chuckled at his joke. About 20 members of the men’s team did go to the White House and the State of the Union, the rest did not go, for various reasons. Before taking a military airplane there was some raucous partying with the head of the FBI in attendance, who joined in by spraying beer, and otherwise acting like a frat boy.

The men were served McDonalds burgers at the White House, the women had earlier had lunch with Stanley Tucci – a multi-course meal with wine. You know where I would have wanted to be.

Thankfully the goalie, who did an amazing job of keeping the game even, and one of the defensemen, said that the President’s remark was regrettable and they expressed how proud they were of the women’s team. As we all should be.

Right now I have a loaf of bread with dried fruit in its final rise, always hoping it turns out well. I hope you have had a good week, some good food, and a bit of joy and peace in your journey. Thank you for following and as always I encourage you to capture the moment in some kind of a sketchpad.