Honfleur

{07.14.10}

We have been in Honfleur since Saturday afternoon and we are finally having a quiet moment to catch up. Kind of. Most of the students are out of the house, some are napping, and few are just quietly hanging around. Maggie and I both scored two comfy chairs in the living room which never happens. Our feet are up, wine is poured, windows are open. It is great to be back in Honfleur...we know the stores, the kitchen and love the atmosphere.

Today is Bastille Day in France. It will be a fun night in Honfleur...dancing, fireworks, lots of people milling about and the good news is that we just have to walk down the hill to entertainment. Hopefully the walk back up after the festivities will be fairly early and we will be able to corral most of the students in good time as well.

Now, more about the amazing food that we have prepared and the amazing people that have chosen to help us out. There are now about 6 consistent kitchen crew members that ALWAYS are willing to help us out. Today we made quiche for lunch and making chicken and rice for dinner. The quiche was a big hit. Last night after a trip to Bayeux to see the tapestry, we finished making African Peanut soup which was tasty as well.

The next few days we have a few excursions planned. Tomorrow we are heading to Rouen and Giverny. Friday we are going to the D Day Beaches. The days with field trips can sometimes be tricky with food since we are gone all day, but we are managing and attempting to prepare meals in advance. It's about that time to get back in the kitchen. I need to find Richard...he has been the grill master and needs to get going on that chicken!

Mont Saint Michelle

A few photos for your enjoyment from our excursion today...

{07.08.10}

Today we drove to Mont Saint Michelle. It was about an hour and a half drive. I drove another manual transmission car and let's just say I am getting better, but always happy to park! The past few days have been busy. Because of the excursion today we had to do some major planning of car rentals and food prep. I think we got it taken care of though.

And...we are getting really good at the caravan thing. After being lost and missing each other on the way to Brittany from Paris, we are sticking together much better. No one wants to relive that nightmare. Today I drove a van with a GPS which was super helpful and we now know which cars need walkie talkies, maps and phones.

The sun is warm. The food is great. The company is fabulous!

Paris

{07.02.10}
We are back in Paris! We left Brittany this morning and this time it only took us 5 hours! Only 5 hours! Thank goodness for the GPS and Maggie's great driving skills. We arrived about 15 before meeting Richard at the hotel! He walked up in a long shirt, jeans and sweaty hot. Instead of taking a cab, he took the subway which is brave after a LONG trip to France and not ever being here. What a guy.

Trying to cool down in the hotel as I type. Reed is looking for a few of the students that are arriving today. Richard is napping. Sabrina is complaining about her sweaty shirt. Maggie is crashed on the bed attempting to cool down. Tomorrow we will be gathering ALL of the students at the airport and transporting them back to Brittany (oh, boy, a 5 hour drive) in 5 vans. My bet is that we don't get 5 vans and there will be some changes in the plan. This is all part of the fun being in France.

Until next time.

Guemene

{7.01.10}

Happy people. Very happy people. We are at McDonald's with WiFi. Something you begin to adore in France!

We made it to Paris on Tuesday morning and waited several hours at the airport waiting to find Sabrina who was "waiting in the hall" like Dr. Davis said. Too bad we weren't looking for her in THAT hall. It was a long wait mostly because we were exhausted from the flight from Seattle to Amsterdam. Finally we met up and hopped in the rental car which was supposed to be a van. Whatever at that point. After aquainting oursleves with the Garmin GPS, we made our way from the airport to Brittany. This was supposed to be a 4 hour drive which really took almost 7 hours. We were exhausted!

The highlights of the 7 hour road trip were: 1. Getting the GPS switched from Maple Valley, WA to France (Shout out to me for that!) 2. Maggie teaching me the beginning part to the song Mockingbird (Finally, they broke it down for me and told me the parts after TWO years) 3. Finding a McDonald's off the route to get some road food (And WiFi) 4. Sabrina, Maggie and I hanging out outside a gas station in plastic yard chairs and realizing, "Wow, we are in France!" while Reed woke up slowly from a power nap. (The car was blazing hot inside and he kept the windows rolled up) 5. Making it to the Carrefour 10 minutes before they closed. 6. Arriving to our destination shortly after 8 PM and meeting Ron (the owner of the place).

After a decent night sleep (try 11 hours) we woke up and headed to Guemene, a small town about 15 minutes from the house. The photo is the outside of the Creperie where we had breakfast. I had a crepe with ham, cheese and mushrooms along with a tasty cup of coffee.

We poked around the rest of the day. Took a nap. I took a dip in the pool (quite refreshing after a nap). Then, we drove around the area and ended up in Guemene for dinner at a pizza/pub joint. Last night we realized we had a lot of planning to do for the grocery store and the realization that we have small/dorm-like fridges to work with became daunting. Never fear though, with all of us we figured out a plan.

Today, we are in Loriant looking for the rental car place then heading back to the house. We NEED to do all the shopping for Saturday, Sunday and Monday today since the stores are closed on Monday AND we will be gone tomorrow to Paris and picking the students up on Saturday.

I am looking forward to getting the road trip out of the way (the one that took us 7 hours!) and getting settled for a few days.