Melting into the French summer

Long warm days

Honeysuckle permeating balmy nights

Mouth-watering temptations at every turn

Artisan delights

Tarte du framboise

Pain au chocolat

Crusty baguettes

Fresh every day.

Long supermarket aisles of

Fromage, fromage, fromage

Mental battery drain

Reading foreign labels

Piece-meal French we have to laugh at.

Rouen city

Breath-taking beauty

Half-timbered houses

From the Middle Ages

Wrought-iron balconies

Hanging baskets

Bursting with colour

Scarlet geraniums

Petunias pink and white

Cafes over-flowing onto

Narrow-cobbled streets

Blue painted shutters on windows

Gothic cathedrals

Intricate masonry

Sky-scraping steeples

Gargoyles jut out

Piercing the aqua blue sky

Stone steps worn down

By a million praying souls

Shops closed for 2-hour lunch.

Red admirals on buddleia

Unhurried

Like us.

This is life

The French way.

(c) Karen Lighthouse, 2023