November 6th Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee

Before Julia and Jose left, Julia told us that people come along and ring random bells to their building trying to get in when they shouldn’t be there and to not answer them.  So a few times our bell has rung and we have ignored it.  Tonight our bell rang and as usual we ignored it, then it rang a second and third time and we ignored it.   A few minutes later there was a knocking on our door and that got our attention!  So I went to the door and there was our neighbor Amelia, she had been outside the door for several minutes ringing our bell to give us a package from Julia and Jose in France.  It had been sent to them to give to us.  She had just about reached the point where she was going to use the spare key that they have for when Julia and Jose are in France.   So we talked with her for a few minutes about us not answering our door (basically dueling monologues).  Then with much gesturing and smiling we got our package, I guess we’ll need to figure out the difference between the bell at street door and the bell at the apartment door.   You can only hope to have ‘landlords’ as sweet ours, they sent us: a book given to G.I.s while they were in France during the world war, two CDs of Spanish music, and a jar of Fois Gras.  We are quite moved by their kindness and generosity.    Mille Merci  a Julia et Jose!!!