I wanted to do some exploring so I went for a run around the Lac du Maine (Maine Lake). But before I talk about that I’ve forgotten tell you about my excursion to the Saint-Maurice Cathedral. A couple weekends ago I went to check out the cathedral. It’s a stone’s throw from the castle and it is one heck of a cathedral. It totally dominates the skyline and up-close it’s just terrifying. 
Walking in was scary because someone was playing the organ and the music was really eerie. You couldn’t hear anything from the outside, but as soon as you opened the door (which was tiny for such an enormous building) the music stormed into hearing. I took a video, but forgot that videos only work horizontally, not vertically, so the clip at the bottom is purely for your listening enjoyment. 
Like the Musée de Jean Lurçat, the cathedral was built in the 12th century (though there's been a church on this site since 470) and is another example of Gothic architecture. The organ, wood carved pulpit with its intricate carvings, main altar and baldequin, and stained-glass windows made this monument a real feast for the eyes.
And now for todays adventure. The lake is about 5 km, or 3 miles around and I had to run across the river and past the Parc du Balzac to get there so I probably jogged 7 km total. I didn’t run the whole time because I also brought my camera so sometimes I stopped to take photos or just walked for a bit so I didn’t pass by the scenery too quickly. It’s Sunday and only the museums, monuments and the occasional restaurant are open, but even still I was surprised by the number of people walking, jogging and biking. 
I just figured that since it was overcast, windy and chilly people would stay indoors with their families, but this wasn’t the case. There were people tossing a Frisbee around and little kids playing on the jungle gym and lots of couples taking a lap around the lake. Watching these people made me reflect on certain French habits. I’ve come to the conclusion that on the whole French people pause to enjoy life more often than Americans. I think this is clearly demonstrated by their work week and lunch breaks.
In socio-cultural studies, we learned that by law, the majority of France works a maximum of 35 hours and that they are required to take either Sunday or Monday off. If they must work on Sunday, employees get paid double what they would on any other day. They also take two hour lunch breaks which are really, really long compared to the half hour I’ve grown up with. To me, it seems they do a lot less working and a lot more living because they’re more concerned with their quality of life. And quality of life can’t be bought with money so they trade money for time.
Obviously, there are problems with this lifestyle (some very major problems actually) but it reminds me of the way America once was. I wasn’t around to remember when shops were closed on Sunday afternoons, but my dad remembers and I’ll bet a lot of other people remember it too. Today it seems Sunday is one of the busiest days of the week. I know that for my family volleyball and soccer tournaments dominated our Sundays. I’m not trying to go all nostalgic or political on you with my French socialist sympathies, but I do think it’s a little sad that Americans, in general, aren’t able to spend as much time with their families. Here, families actually sit down to eat dinner at home! 
At any rate, in a month or so this run will be even prettier because the trees will be flowering, not to mention it will also be a lot warmer. Once its warmer I hope to take advantage of the kayak-canoe club, and sand soccer and volleyball courts. (I didn’t realize sand soccer courts existed till today.) Or maybe I’ll just read on a park bench or lay out on the sandy beach. 
Pictures are worth a thousand words so here’s several thousand words worth of pictures. Heidi
P.S. The title alludes to George Seurat’s pointillist painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sunday_Afternoon_on_the_Island_of_La_Grande_Jatte
For the first picture at the top, the body of water to the right side is the Maine River and to the left is the Maine Lake. And just for perspective, in this first picture below this sentence, the small bumb in the center of the skyline is St. Maurice.
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