Carcassonne - Take Two

Carcassonne was just as magical with Grom & Dude as it was the last time we were here. It is the most authentic castle/fortress/walled city I have seen yet! This is the view before you enter the walled city. Amazing!
And here are some views of the towers while I was standing on the battlements.

Of course there is an amazing and ancient church, in this case, it is a mini Notre Dame. If you are curious, there are a lot more pictures of it in my last Carcassonne blog entry, but here are a few cool ones: the church view from the battlements, scary gargoyles & gigantic, intimidating front doors.

Max and Josey tried to relive the past . . .

And we re-discovered a terrific form of Time Outs! Oh, the things we can learn from history.

Besides our memories & photos, the boys got some cool souvenirs! For you loyal blog followers, you may remember the story about the knife Max tried to carry on the airplane. He got that knife in Carcassonne. Now he has two. Check out Dude's new hatchet. I know two young men in Elk Grove who are going to love that. I hope Dude gets pictures of their faces!



Here is the souvenir I wanted. Alas, I wasn't willing to spend the 350 Euros. Isn't it amazing?! What with my love of all things flamingo.













Fun was had by all . . . I think Grom & Dude even enjoyed the authentic cassoulet lunch. I know we all loved the salad with nuts, goat cheese, and honey. Deeelicious.


Love to all!!

A Quiet Day

Today we stayed close to home . . . somewhat of a requirement because Grom did not wake up 'til almost 10:00am! Jet lag.

We managed to get our shopping done, dragging Dude along to Gran Frais & Carrefour. Then, Dado made us a yummy BBQ lunch: Salmon for the grown ups & burgers for me and the kiddies. I must tell you, Dado makes this yummy lunch for us regularly. I am spoiled!

When we were finally ready to leave the house (somewhere around 2:00pm!), we headed out to Mas du Novi (Domain Saint-Jean du Noviciat), which is a spectacular winery about 20 minutes away. They provide a fabulous tour of the winery and the chapel (from the 13th century) along with the wine tasting. The woman who provides the tour recognizes us now, and it is really fun to chat with her.

Here are some great pics . . .


And Dude looking stylish among the fut de chene (oak barrels). This is where they let the red wine rest - 12 months in the oak barrels followed by 12 months in the bottles. There are 600 barrels, and each barrel provides 250 bottles of wine. Wow.

Here are some more cool pictures from the winery visit . . .

http://www.masdunovi.com/index.php?lang=en

Later, back at home, we were joined by our friends Sabrina & Cyrielle. It was very interesting to have all of us adults around the table - Sabrina & Cyrielle speaking only French, Dude speaking only English, Grom understanding and speaking a bit of French, and me and the Dado translating. Comical! However, I did feel like I've come a mightly long way with my French since this time last year. Yay!

Now, it's time for bed here in France. Tomorrow - Carcassonne!

Love to all!!

Montpellier & Le Pont du Diable

Day 2 with Grom & Dude was interesting. We had planned to spend the day in Carcassonne, but we were rained out of those plans. Plan B was to wander around the historical parts of Montpellier, including lunch out.

Plan B was not quite as interesting as we hoped it would be. Thus, I only have one great photo to impress you with. This is the inside of an artisan succette store (lollypops!). Aren't the colors beautiful?

Following our Montpellier visit, we managed to make it to a winery near St. Guilhem le Desert. The kids and I played outside while Dado, Dude & Grom had the tour & tasting. They were not impressed with the wine, but they discovered what they called the world's best balsamic vinegar. It is rather delicious!

Because we were so close to St. Guilhem le Desert, we decided that we simply had to show Dude Le Pont du Diable. We brough Grom, Julie & Alex there last year, but it was all new to Dude.

Isn't it amazing?And there is the Dado!

More to come soon!

Love to all!!

Grom & Dude Are Here!!

My parents arrived for their visit on the evening of Dec. 26th, and we are thrilled to have them here in Bouzigues!

We spent the first full day in Roquebrun. Of course, we had to have a bonfire on the beach, which kept Dado & Dude occupied.



We all took turns enjoying the heat.

Grom, the kids, and I built a great rock fort.

Next, we headed for Dado's favorite winery: Domain La Croix Sainte Eulalie. We discovered this winery in October 2008 while my dad was here for his first visit. We've been back several times since then, and we love the wine & the owners.

Merci a Agnes et ses parents pour les kiwis et les vins! While I type this blog, Dado, Dude, and Grom are joyfully drinking a bottle of Jade.

It was a perfect adventure day!

Love to all!!

Christmas Day Chez Nous

Joyeux Noel . . . Merry Christmas . . . Happy Holidays!

Christmas Day was delightfully quite and peaceful. Of course the children woke up early to open presents, and we frolicked in our pajamas until lunch.

Here are some great shots of Josey! In the first, she is opening the mouse I knit for her, and she is wearing a Christmas headband I knit for her. In the second, she's just being beautiful.









And here are some cute pictures of Max. In the first, he's opening the penguin I knit for him. In the second, he's just being adorable.


And here is the Dado! He is admiring Max's new science kit in the first shot, and he is opening the sweater I knit for him in the second.

Sorry, no pictures of me (since I was holding the camera) and no pictures of Alex (she has a new boyfriend, thus she did not want to journey to France for the holidays).

Here is a shot of Max and Josey on the terrace on Christmas evening.

I want to thank all of you who helped make our Christmas fantastic! And special shouts out for the great gifts we received from . . .

• Grandma Pat- yay! a new knitting book for me and a spectacular dinner in Paris!
• Mark, Susie & Sean - yay! new cool pants & tunics for me!
• Sophie - a gift certificate to a nature store in France!
• Sandra, Jean-Louis & Michelle - lovely Lush bath products!
• Everyone who emailed - thank you!!
  

And just to think that there will be even more presents to open when my parents arrive. Wahoo!

Love to all!

Christmas Eve Chez Brun

We had a wonderful time at Sandra & Jean-Louis on Christmas Eve. Sandra outdid herself with dinner!

First, she made my favorite salad in all the world: sauteed geziers and figs with foie gras.

She baked a stuffed turkey with delicious veggies and potatoes . . .

And fun & games were had by all!

Unfortunately, I did not get good pictures of all the fabulous gifts! We were very spoiled . . . Mike now has 3 bottles of the best wine from Bordeaux, I have many baths worth of super yummy smelling Lush bath goodies (I can't wait to use them!), and the kids each have some great new toys. Max really, really, really wanted to start his Sea Monkeys today, but it's too cold for them to survive. :) Thus, one of his presents will be enjoyed in the spring. How lucky is that?

Merci mille fois Sandra, Jean-Louis, Michelle, Victoria & Noah! We had a wonderful time, and we are very grateful to have you as family.

Love to all!

C'est Noel!

It's Christmas! We made Gingerbread cookies for Christmas gifts for the kids' teacher (including the Judo teacher) and neighbors.

Let me tell you, it's difficult to find molasses in France! And of course, molasses is required for Gingerbread cookies.

Then we made our traditional Sugar Cookies with Sophie! These, of course, will be for Santa. We will also bring some to Sandra's house tomorrow for the Christmas Eve party. Yay!

News Flash!
The kids just delivered cookies to our elderly next-door neighbors, and guess what?! They returned with a plate full of handpainted Christmas ornaments!! How cool is that? As Dado said, "Mommy will keep those for the rest of her life."

Here are two . . .

If only Alex was here, too. It's sad to make Christmas cookies without her.

Love to all!