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Hello ! Renxkyoko Iglesias here !   I greet you all a Happy Christmas and peace and goodwill to all, no matter what your religions are.

And here’s my humble wish list…. oh, please change the ’54 Covertible to a brand new  Beemer, 2 door.

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. I’m not jumping for joy this Christmas. I’m  remembering  those 20 kids who were massacred in Connecticut, and what effect their deaths  are on their families. I wonder what the parents are feeling now. I wonder what the other 6 year old  twin is feeling now   that her sibling is gone.  I wonder what the parents are thinking as they go over their dead child’s stuff… their clothes, shoes, toys,  and the change of clothes before they went to school and never came home. . I’m not a parent, but I feel the pain so much. My tears have not dried up.

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.To be honest, Christmas always makes me feel nostalgic  and  long for all the happier  Christmases past.

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So, anyway, this post is about my trip to Avignon and Carcassone. Avignon and  Carcassone were mere side trips, although we did stay overnight in Carcassone.

Avignon is also called ” The city of Popes” because the Popes made Avignon their residence for over 100 years. This happened during the Papacy’s schism when there were 2 rival Popes who assumed the papacy, one residing in Rome, the other in Avignon.

The population of Avignon is 100,000, and about 12,000 live within the ancient town centre that is enclosed  by medieval ramparts or defensive walls

Below is the enclosed medieval town center, courtesy of Wikepedia.

.Photos below are the only ones I have of Avignon. It was raining very hard , and we stayed for  4 hours or so. We had lunch there and I also had “lavander” gelato ( ice cream). Growing lavander flowers ( for the essential oils) is one of Avignon’s main produce.

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Do you see that red hood at right hand corner? That’s yours truly, ha ha. This time , that’s the only thing you see of me, he he he… No Monaco – like stuff.

.The photo below is the panoramic view of the center, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Next is Carcassone..

Carcassone consists of 2 areas, the upper part which is heavily fortified, surrounded by 2 outer walls  ( double ramparts) of concentric design. The fortress  that time was considered impregnable. The lower part is the area outside  the fortress. There are 53 towers, one of which is called The Inquisition Tower. It was used  during the Catholic Inquisition. ( I don’t like to talk about the Catholic Inquistion. Suffice it to say that the Inquisitors did indeed use torture to break the will of those they considered heretics ) I saw one original torture equipment employed by the Catholic Church . It ain’t pretty.

Below  are photos  of the fortress , courtesy of Wikepedia.

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.Above is the view from my hotel room. Super, huh.

.Above photo is a medieval bridge going to the fort.

Another old bridge…..

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.So that’s it for Avignon and Carcassone.

I was supposed to post this before Christmas but I was so busy with holiday activities.  At      work, there were so many  late  holiday shoppers. The best one was on Christmas Eve when a Hongkong businessman came in, a regular client, who bought all the clothes I showed him, mostly Runway clothes. Runway meaning, clothes that have been designed for a runway show of the designer.  I wore each design and showed it to him. So happy that he bought the designs, all sizes. I got a free Runway blouse for a job well done. I’m sure I’m going to get another silver circle.

So, here’s my new blouse. That’s a Runway blouse, okay? * happy dance*

Of course we knew the businessman was coming, so I  had to wear a 4 inch heels, put on makeup, do my hair, etc.  I got 2 more free runway dresses this december.  Almost all our big time clients are Asians ( Japanese, Chinese, Singaporean, Indonesians, Koreans )…. I’m Asian, so I;m the one who gets to wear and show off  the clothes. I have the body build of  an Asian , petite, small boned, etc. They want to see how each dress looks on an Asian girl. So, yeah, that’s part of my job. And I always get something free, right off the bat. Like that red blouse. My manager told me not to take it off anymore. It’s mine.

This is all for now. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL ! !