“Augstu laim’ un prieku, no sirds vēlējam! Lai zied rozes, lai zied neļķes, tavā dzīves celiņā!”
“We wish you the best of luck and happiness! May the roses and carnations bloom in your walk of life!”
Mūsu mīļam tētim un vectētiņam novēlam daudz laimes dzimšanas dienā!!!
(We wish my father, Lauris’s grandfather a very happy birthday!!!)
We’ve been celebrating all week, the birthday as well as the beautiful spring weather, with long walks around town, repeated visits to the Jardin Lecoq and time spent eating and relaxing on our little balcony. On a recent walk we found another of Clermont’s fountains, this one a little more famous than the previous two. The Amboise
“In spite of five centuries of existence and successive moves, the beauty of its Gothic structure and the delicacy of its Renaissance decoration have not been dimmed. An inscription in Latin recalls that the fountain was made in 1511, for the Bishop of the diocese of Clermont. It was installed in front of the Cathedral’s southern entrance... This magnificent fountain enabled the people of Clermont to fetch water which had come directly from Royat, in 1573. In 1808 the fountain was moved to the Place Delille, and then to the junction of Cours Sablon and the Rue des Capucins, in 1855. In 1962, finally, it arrived in Place de la Poterne at the top of the Clermont knoll.”
The location is perfect, there is a beautiful view north of the town and the mountains, including Parc Montjuzet and Puy de Dome. We enjoyed the small park and ate our lunch sitting on one of the benches listening to the water of the fountain, before reluctantly packing up and heading home.
I am always amazed how good American Latvians have preserved their culture and language in the US :)
ReplyDeleteNow curios - have you been to Latvia yourself, how many times and how do you feel when being there?
Back in the uni my last English teacher was American-Latvian, but she didn't speak any word in Latvian (which explains my American accent every now and then), so congrats to your family!
Let me know if you pass by Amsterdam at some point as I would love to hear more about the life of American-Latvians :)
Thank you Anita! I have been to Latvija four times, the most recent being last Christmas. I feel at home there; we have family and friends in Rīga which makes traveling there easy and fun. As for preserving the language and culture, this is a joint effort between parents, grandparents, churches, schools, summer camps, choir, girl scouts, folk dancing groups and a bunch of other organisations and people. I was lucky to grow up in a city with a very active Latvian community as well as parents that cared about continuing the traditions they grew up with. I would love to tell you more about my experiences as well as hear about yours, feel free to email me; llucane@yahoo.com!
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