It also had great fountains and a tiny park.
We spent a full afternoon wandering through
We spent the next day visiting the
We also had to stop for delicious sandwiches. They were so good that we ate here twice!
A great 24 hours!
Love to all!!
Since we had not yet taken everyone to a real farmer’s market, we decided to do the Sete market. Sete is only about 20 minutes away, and they have a large market Wed and Fri mornings. Sete is also the 4th largest port in
Just look at the great window display. Max loved, loved, loved it! So did I. :) The view of the street is spectacular, too.
It was great! We got to show everyone the exciting French butcher counters. One vendor even grabbed a duck with its head still attached and quacked it at us! Too bad I missed that photo opportunity. Here are some sheep and veal parts for you instead.
We all made fun purchases of local goodies, such as dried fruits, baked goodies, etc. We even bought paella and Tielles Setoise, which are a local specialty of Sete – small pastries filled with calamari. This was lunch for the adults.
Alex loved the shopping! She bought a stylish new jacket and a cute purple and black dress that was her New Year’s Eve outfit.
New Year’s Eve at Sandra’s was amazing! Sandra’s whole family was there, including her mother Michelle, her cousin Philipe, his wife Sandrine, and their children Teo and Lali.
The evening started with wine and Alaskan King Crab legs. Isn’t that great? Next was homemade Fois Gras. Sandrine made it with red wine, and it was served with shallots that had been cooked with red wine as well. Deeeelicious!
Sandra roasted a delicious stuffed chicken as the main course. She also served two types of scrumptious potatoes and saut̩ed figs, apples and cinnamon Рto die for! We had two yummy dessert options Рla buche made of mango, coconut, and pineapple ice cream and a strawberry ice cream cake.
Philipe surprised us all with a new technique for opening champagne bottles. He literally removed the cork and the top of the bottle with a knife. It was really cool!
We all had a terrific evening. It was another wonderful holiday spent with family and our new friends – enjoying festive French traditions, delicious food, excellent company, and good times. Thank you Sandra & Jean-Louis!! Bonne Annee et bonne sante!!
Love to all!
We visited St. Guilhem in September, when Cathie and Dan were visiting from
Unfortunately, we all forgot our cameras! These pictures are from our previous visit to St. Guilhem and Dado’s iPhone.
Our original goal was to take the hike to the ruins above St. Guilhem. However, when we arrived, it was raining. So, we started with a quick look at the church and a warm lunch.
After lunch, it was still sprinkling a bit, but we were determined. We set out for the hike above St. Guilhem. Cold but beautiful!
The truly thrill-packed part of Day 3 was the drive home to Bouzigues. I drove Julie’s rental car during their stay (a cute little Ford Fiesta) with Alex riding shotgun, and Dado drove the rest of the gang in our Kangoo.
Well, when we left St. Guilhem, I had to put Julie and Dado in charge of the GPS. The lighter in the rental car was dead, so it wouldn’t charge the GPS.
Oh my goodness! The GPS (or Dado and Julie) had us turn the wrong way leaving St. Guilhem. Since this tiny village is in the mountains, on a tiny road in the middle of nowhere, this was not a good thing. After about 10 kilometers, Dado stopped to do a sanity check with me on our direction. Unfortunately, I said, “Well, if the GPS is leading us this way, it must be okay.”
We ended up high in the mountains, in the snow!! Max and Josey were thrilled. I, on the other hand, was driving completely white-knuckled. I have never driven in slippery snow before, and doing it the first time in a tiny compact car was not my idea of fun.
We stopped to let the kids play in the snow for a few minutes at the top of the mountain and did some re-grouping. Yes, we finally did make it home that day, but it was a very, very long drive.
Dinner was uneventful until Dado poured Absinthe for Grom and Julie to try. Woohoo! I don’t think either of them will be in a big hurry to try that again.
Here are some pictures of St. Guilhem from our September visit.
And I almost forgot . . . Alex and I bought adorable matching rings! Sterling silver with a square garnet in the center. Isn't that cute? :)
As Alex said, “Now I know why they say, ‘Who cut the cheese?’” French cheese is delicious, but it’s definitely stinky.
Visiting Roquefort to see how Roquefort cheese is made was Julie’s special request.
We discovered that Roquefort is a beautiful village, complete with tiny clam fossils and ruins.
Some history for you . . . the area where Roquefort cheese is made is 2 kilometers long by 300 meters wide, which is very small. This area has natural underground faults where air circulation keeps the temperature and humidity constant all year, which is necessary for the cheese to age properly.
Did you know that the “penicillin” that is added to the cheese is made in rye bread? They bake that in the summer and let it mold naturally in the caves for several weeks. When the mold is ready, they harvest it for “seeding” the cheese. All the milk for Roquefort cheese comes from sheep in the surrounding areas, too. I had no idea that Roquefort was made from ewe’s milk before this tour!
Love to all!
Here are some great photos from our day!
We spent the afternoon at Mas du Novi, which is a great winery nearby our house. We’ve been to Mas du Novi twice before, and the woman who works there, Claudette, is terrific! She gave us a guided tour of the winery and the chapel that is part of the winery. This is where the novitiates used to train before being promoted to the nearby Abbey de Valmagne.
Here are some great pictures of the tour and wine tasting!
Julie with the French oak barrels - all full of wine! Grom and Josey sniffing wine aging in French oak barrels.
This is the chapel, which was built in the 1300s and refurbished by the current owners of the winery.
This is the creche in the chapel. It is similar to a nativity scene, and it is traditional to display the creche during Christmas time.
That evening, the Brun family came over for dinner. Sandra made her delectable homemade Quiche Lorraine. Mmmm! Please ignore Mike's butcher knife. :)
After lots of yummy food and wine, Alex gave Sandra a trial tattoo. Sandra will be vacationing in the
We were all up too late, but we had a ton of fun! And we know that everyone liked each other because Sandra and Jean-Louis invited us all over for New Year’s Eve dinner!
Love to all!
Finally! When we started planning the Christmas visit from Alex and my mom, it felt like it would never arrive. Then, when Julie joined the party in November, it still felt far away. Next thing we knew, the holidays were here, and voila! Alex and Julie . . . and eventually my mom . . . were here! Let me start with introductions, for those of you who haven't met:
They were all scheduled to depart from the
I breathlessly followed their exciting plane trips in the
They had about 3 hours in
Well, here’s where things got really interesting! About 45 minutes before the train was scheduled to depart, I received a text from my mom saying that she had left a suitcase at the airport and was going back for it. In a quick flurry of text messages, she assured me that she would get back in time for the train.
Next, I got a phone call from Alex. She and Julie were on the train, but mom was not!! I was seriously hoping that this was a bad joke. Nope. Mom really missed the train. Fortunately, Alex had the presence of mind to overcome the language barrier and call me with a status! Apparently, she spoke slowly and used lots of teenage hand-signals to get the point across that she needed to call her mom. The nice French woman even dialed for her.
Now there was a serious flurry of phone calls, text messages, etc. My dad even called from the
When we asked mom her favorite part of vacation a few days later, she said, “Seeing Gayle at the train station in Sete!”
Here is a picture of Julie & Alex arriving in Montpellier! Alex is being a typical 14-year old.
We got her safely to Bouzigues, where Max and Alex were lounging together watching movies.
After a little food and wine, we were all opening gifts! These were the gifts in the bag that was left in the airport, so they were especially precious.
This was just the beginning of a terrific vacation. Stay tuned for more.
Love to all!
