I came across a photo today. One I took over two years ago while Alan and I were out walking with Kiara one evening. The weather had been so especially nice that day. As we headed toward the dog-friendly park on our side of the Aude River, we noticed a keystone with a date on the building across the street from us.

Our landlord at the time, Jason Carr, — an expat from Great Britain — told us that he isn’t sure exactly when the building we lived in was built due to lack of record keeping and from different armies burning the area to the ground a couple of times in the ancient past. He found a few interesting things while renovating, but the exact date is lost in history. The neighborhood dates to the late 17th century, which is interesting enough.

We found the date fascinating. I remember we talked about it while we watched Kiara running joyfully (and leash-less) through the clover at the park, one of her all-time favorite things.

I find that I am continually amazed at the age of things here in France and usually end up mulling over dates like 1776 to put things into perspective. And to think there was a time that I thought a five-year-old car was old!