Life in the Cite

  I told you in my last Ark, how we are staying with our friends Cecile and Patrick to be at the marriage of their niece Camille. Their house is an interesting one, as it is constructed in a sort of enclave off the busy streets of Watignies.  A little street of shops and cafés has a covered tunnel, which looks as if it leads to a rear courtyard where the dustbins are kept. But no, you follow a narrow alley, turn a tight corner at the bottom, find a short street of houses, take another tight bend to find yourself in their large garden, facing an impressive modern house in the northern French style. This assortment of houses is known as the Cite Marceau, Cite with an acute accent on the E which I can't yet do on this keyboard. The word doesn't mean the same as city, but a small, enclosed district. The large garden is completely enclosed, a sort of island universe, which is very attractive, the countryside enclosed by the town
   We shall be leaving tomorrow to find our own wider country scene but will be sorry to leave our friends and this tranquill oasis!

 Bye for now, got to feed the dogs!