Day 5- Bordeaux

France, Day 5, Sunday, February 24

We went to church, and tried to listen to messages in French. I got some of it, with the help of Dad interpreting a little bit. In Sunday school the teacher wrote the scriptures on the board so we could look them up, and follow along with the lesson. But we couldn’t figure out what book was “Jacque”, we tried John, and Jacob… then first John and second John. No luck. When we got home Dad told us that it was James. Peter is Pierre, John is Jean, and James is Jacque. So Peter, James & John, are Pierre, Jacque et Jean.

Even if we didn’t get the lesson, we still felt the spirit, and understood what the topic was. The sacrament topic was prophets, the Sunday school lesson was about prayer, and Relief society talked about service.

We also met the DeFranchis. Each little girl (daughter) came up to us and kissed us on the cheek on each side. Mom told us about it, but we had forgotten until this first DeFranchi girl walked right up to Susan and kissed her and said “bon jour”. One other woman in church kissed us. We figure she was a ward missionary, and wanted to be sure we could find Relief Society. She wanted us to follow her there.

It was a great experience, and so humbling to realize how much we have in the way of fellowship of the church in such large wards and stakes that we live in. There were 22 sisters in Relief Society, and Mom said it was packed. There are normally only 6. Then the lady giving the lesson said something about not getting to see general conference, and having to wait until it comes out in the magazine to read in French. And I get it sit in my living room in my pajamas with cookies and milk and watch the prophet and apostles speak. The things we take for granted are sometimes our greatest blessings.

France, Day 4, Saturday, February 23

Yeah!! We get to go to Sarlat. A lot of the things we wanted to see were in Sarlat. A 2+ hour drive away. We started the adventure at McDonalds…. the only really safe, decent place to go to the bathroom. We visited it 5 times today. I guess the adventure actually began with the drive. We saw houses and businesses, hotels, etc. built right into the mountain around it. Like part of the house must be a cave in the mountain. It was really strange, but cool. When we finally got to Sarlat, we went to the outdoor market place. The very first vendor was a man with 3 gigantic cooking pans that looked like a wok, but they were easily 3-4 feet in diameter. In one he was frying potatoes, the other two had Paella, with whole muscles and shrimp, with the head and antennae still attached. Dad said that because we are so close to the Spanish border, the food has a Spanish influence. We walked up a few more vendors and went straight back. We decided that we were eating Paella for lunch. There were shrimp, muscles, calamari, chorizo, and chicken in the Paella. It was so fresh and so good, but we couldn’t eat it all, so we put it in the lunch cooler in Mom’s car. So yes, for the second day in a row, I ate squid or octopus or whatever.

After lunch we walked the market which went winding down into the little old town on the side of a mountain. It had to have been soooo very old, but it was like a shopping mall, with stores like the United Colors of Benneton. It’s so cool how they value the heritage of the old buildings and make them into new dwellings or stores etc. We bought some great gifts for the kids, and a thing or two for ourselves. But mostly we just enjoyed our surroundings. It was just too cool for words. We took pictures, but pictures just don’t do it justice.

We wanted to go see the gardens and castles next. After we drove for an hour we found that the castle we chose to visit was closed for the season, we picked another and Dad called to see if they were open and they were not either. Sooo we went with the third choice. Marqueyssac. It had a big castle with gardens that went on and on and on. The gardens took the whole top of the mountain that the castle was on. We think that castles were on mountains to protect the family, and to show their aristocracy to the village below. And maybe to watch over their vineyards. There were also peacocks and a pigeon coupe with some rare exotic breeds of pigeons. I think it’s mating season from their behavior and aren’t most baby animals born in the spring. It was interesting anyway. The castle itself was closed for the season. Again!! Of all the castles we saw we have yet to go inside a single one. That’s what you get as an off season tourist. But from the gardens you could see for miles, and there were other castles in the distance. (on the other mountain tops)

We found out later that the area was called the place of 5 castles. We drove into the distance to search out the castle we saw. Dad knew the name of the castle, Beynac, and there are signs for EVERYTHING. If you know where you want to go, and the names of neighboring bigger towns, you only need to follow the signs when you drive.

We found parking for the castle at the base of the mountain where the castle was on the top. We said “if that’s it, and we have to hike to the top, we’re not seeing this one.” However we found an alley way sized road that said castle parking, and we drove, and drove. Passing parking for the castle, but continued onward and upward. We eventually got to the very top and it was so worth it. The view of the river was spectacular, and we were only 15 minutes from sunset. We walked down a little street, just wide enough for a small car to drive on. And it was very steep. Part of the way there were stairs. We knew it would be a workout, but Susan and I went down and left Mom and Dad at the top. It was so intriguing. It was like a little village wound down from the castle all the way to the bottom of the mountain. And there were people who actually live in these little dwellings. We saw a car in front of one, and garages in the back of a few. I don’t know how to describe how unusual and interesting the whole experience is. We didn’t walk all the way to the bottom, but we went pretty far. If we’d had cell phones we would have had Mom meet us at the bottom and kept going. Oh well the exercise of climbing back to the top, was part of the grand experience.

We went back down, found a boulangerie open, bought a big round of bread, had the lady at the shop cut it in fourths, and added mexican tuna fish salad from a can to the center of each quarter of the bread, and had dinner. Then we drove home exhausted.

France, Day 3, Friday, February 22

We decided to spend the day at the beach. It was a long drive, but pretty.

They said that this is where the people in Paris come to visit on vacation. That’s probably why the buildings all look so much better. It’s cleaned up and freshly painted. I guess it needs to look good for the Parisian tourists. When we got to the beach it was still early in the morning, and being February it is still quite cold. We walked the boardwalk (a wooden pathway between the beach and the hotels) There was two sides, one for walkers, one for bicyclers. As we walked a group of young girls about 4th grade age, came towards us jogging on the bicycle side. One little girl waved at me, so I waved back. Then they all let out with “Bon Jour” individually. They were so polite, they each had to respond. That’s where we learned that if you say “Bon Jour” people will smile and be so nice. Other wise most people keep a pretty straight face most of the time. More kids came running by. We think they were in School, yes they go to school on Saturdays, and they were running for a P.E. exercise. We also saw groups of school kids at the Chateau de Cadillac. Since they go to school so much, the teachers get to take them on little outings. They go to school from 8-12:00 and 2-6:00. They take 2 hour lunch like everyone in the little shops. Most shops are closed from 12-2, and most restaurant are open for lunch only 12-2.

We just walked up and down the boardwalk and streets. Looked in a few shops. Then we decided to eat in a restaurant for lunch, thinking it would be cheaper to eat out for lunch than dinner. Many shops weren’t open until the season started, tomorrow it happens to be. So we were hungry at 11:00 and had to settle on a sliced bagette from the boulangerie while we waited on the restaurant to open. By 11:30 we sat and waited on the brick wall bordering the beach and the businesses, and watch the people walking, roller blading, bicycling. I took Susan’s camera to take a picture of Mom & Dad, when a roller blader rolled by. He did some trick where he stooped down while going forward. Then I turned toward him with the camera and said “I almost got you”. He smiled. Then as we were sitting there he continued to pass us by back and forth at least 5 times. We decided that we wanted his picture taken, and just before we went into the restaurant, I took his picture, and made his day. We have found that most people here like to have their picture taken. One guy getting into a car thought that Susan was aiming her camera at him and asked if she wanted his picture.

Back to the restaurant. It was called Chez Diego. We decided that it must have been a version of a Spanish restaurant. We saw all types of fresh seafood in a box out front, and on the menu we thought we saw something that was only $10 euro, and was white fish. It turns out that was the children’s plate, for 10 and under. I only gave myself $100 euro for the whole trip. (not enough, it’s nearly gone already) so I was being cheap and looked on the menu for the things I felt were most affordable. The first dish I asked about was raw fish. I said “no”. The next I couldn’t really tell what it was, but it said crème, so I thought it was some fish in cream sauce. I asked if it was cooked and he said “yes”, so I ordered it. Everyone else seemed to know just what they were getting. I was the only one who was surprised. Susan took a picture. It looked to be pressed squid tentacles, in neatly sliced little circles, with a tall goblet of “crème fresh” with a little teaspoon of black caviar on top, and red caviar sprinkled around the dish. I was scared, but hungry. I ate the whole thing with the help of a bagette. It was actually pretty good, and I was filled afterwards. These types of foods just need to be very fresh, and cooked by very good chefs, who work in expensive restaurants. The meal for the four of us was $81 euro about $120 american money. It was a lunch we will never forget.

After the beach we drove to a place with a great big (mountainous sized) sand dune. It was also a big tourist attraction. The mountain of sand dune separates the ocean from a very dense, vast forest. Susan had to go to the top. I was feeling worn out, and stayed at the bottom for a while, then hiked part of the way up. There were all kinds of people, young, old, people with dogs, a couple on a date and the girls was wearing fancy tight fitting leather boots with high heels. Some little kids were in bathing suits. I had on my heavy winter jacket, and I bought a scarf to keep even warmer. There was a giant black dog waiting at the bottom with Mom and me. He was St. Bernard sized, but very well behaved. He licked the girl that you could tell was his. Then I went up to see if I could find Susan because she was gone a very long time and we couldn’t see her, and we thought what if she fell or twisted her ankle and couldn’t even ask for help because we don’t speak the language. I walked a third of the way up, and wished I had gone with her in the first place, and I met her coming down. She said it was awesome—read her blog for more on that adventure. As we met up, a college aged young man came flying down the mountain sand dune, yelling and doing front diving somersaults, and back up on his feet again to do more. Almost all the way down the mountain. Susan tried to get her camera out quick to get a picture, but by the time it was ready, he was done. However he could tell we wanted a picture and shortly thereafter posed with a soccer ball at the bottom. That was not what we wanted a picture of!!! So eventually he walked up to the top and did it again. It was hilarious. I wish we’d had a video camera, but we had to settle for several still pictures.

When we got in the car, the missionaries called Dad’s cell phone and asked if they could come over and make us Raclette for dinner. Yeah, beats the tuna fish sandwiches we were going to eat. They had to bring a special Raclette machine, that they borrowed from the DeFranchis. They boiled potatoes, and we put them on our plates, mashed them with our forks, then picked a choice of meat, (ham, salami salmon, or shrimp) and cooked it on top of the machine. You could also cook an egg to go on the potatoes. Then there were little trays that went under the top hot plate for a special raclette cheese to be melted to go on top. It was pretty good. However cleaning the machine was a little tough. Cooked cheese is hard to clean.

France, Day 2, Thursday, February 21

This is the actual key to the Chateau de Cadillac

Today, we woke up late… really, really late. So we ate lunch, and decided what to do for the day. Go to the Chateau de Cadillac, and the vineyards. The Chateau de Cadillac, was built in the 1500’s to be a Chateau for the governor of several provinces. After the French revolution the family fled, and the chateau was plundered and it became a women’s prison in 1818. What’s cool is that someone in my family ancestry lived in the castle at some point. In the picture, my mom is pointing to the name of the ancestor. We saw more the cool castles… or “Chateau’s”, and old villages, and a really old Medieval Fortress. That was really neat, but totally falling apart. When we got there, we walked up to the door that had 2 signs. One said “private property”, and other “historical landmark”. We were perplexed, but took a few pictures, then a car drove up. It was the man who lives there. He told us (I think) that he lived there while it was in the process of renovation. He was very nice and told us we could walk around the building to get closer looks. There was also a great view of the vineyards in the back of the fortress. They were not the only vineyards, there were vineyards everywhere you looked. Most of the chateaus were associated with a vineyard, and had modern apartments built into the walled fortress near by. It seemed so strange to see so many small apartments, and a gi-normous (by comparison) chateau right near by. We took, lots of pictures, but they just don’t do justice to the real thing.

France, Day 1, Wednesday, February 20

We took a walking tour of the city blocks around my parents apartment. The city is called Eysines. The building are all covered with a blackness mostly near the bottoms of the buildings. Because we are so near the ocean, it is very humid, and I think the black coating is mold. We saw the same thing when Allen and I went to St. Louis. The buildings are all made of stone, and the mold and other things like moss and lichens grow on everything. In several places someone had scratched the word “Eysines” on buildings. There were cute stores and a big church. Everywhere you go there is ornate architecture, or rather embellishments to the architecture. Each front door is different and unique, the windows often have shutters, and the churches are all extremely ornate. There are beautiful stained glass windows, but the lady in the church gave me such a look. She came out and said something about the patrons. I guess we shouldn’t take pictures where people are praying. We saw floral shops, bakeries, and hair salon’s everywhere you look. We went to a large grocery store, and saw isles of fish and seafood. There was a dead eel, at least 5 feet long, maybe 10 inches in diameter, face, eye balls and all. There were also snails. Live snails!! What was unusual is that the fish was open access for anyone to pick up and serve yourself, just like the produce department. Weird. We also saw the cutest candy shop. I bought candy just to get the cute bag they package them into. My mom is now a real French chef. She cooked us the yummiest French onion soup I’ve ever had. And the next meals were equally as delicious. We don’t need to eat in an expensive French restaurant, we have mom.

Jet Lag

We left Las Vegas Tuesday, the 19th 8:00 am, and arrived in France the 20th at noon. We had 2 layovers in Washington/Dulles, and Frankfort Germany. People told us about the jet lag problem and how to get over it. We got advice from Susan’s brother in law, who travels internationally regularly. He told us to take a sleeping pill on the plane, and you’ll be rested when you get there. Then you can stay awake until local bedtime. We thought we were so smart, we were going to beat the jet lag. It was not going to be a problem for us…. The sleeping pill didn’t work. We didn’t fall asleep, no matter how long we tried. We don’t use sleeping pills often at all, but the timing was all wrong. To make a long story short… We stayed awake until 9:00 pm, then slept off and on, and woke up at 3:30-5:30 am ish… then we were woken suddenly by voices speaking French very loudly, then the phone ringing continually. We wanted to beat up someone because we were finally sleeping well, when Mom came to tell us that it was 11:00. Can you believe we slept that late!! Weird… so the moral of the story, don’t think your too smart for a problem you’ve never encountered before, and for those of you who have to see me when we get back, ignore me for 2 days, because now I really do understand jet lag.

3 days left

There are only 3 days left of prep-time before I leave for France. Susan and I are going to visit our parents for 9 days in France. I leave Tuesday, and today Saturday, the new cupboards are being delivered and the guy we bought them from is taking our old cupboards with him. Apparently there is a family near him (St. George, Utah) that is quite poor, and they have the same cupboards we currently have, only they only have 2 functional cupboards, and can't afford new ones. So Les is taking our old ones to this family today when he drops off the new cabinets.

Can you picture what this means for our kitchen, household, entire family!! Brady is at school today, there is a Church "snow day" activity planned from 10 am -? on the mountain that my kids really want us to take them to, and Zachary has a swimming birthday party to go to from 3-6:00, that of course I have to attend with him, to make sure the brave little kid doesn't drowned, (no matter how good he can swim, he gets a little overconfident). So, when does this leave us time to take out the old cupboards, and when in the world will we put in the new ones.

Oh and did I mention that I haven't packed for my trip yet. Heck, I just finished the laundry last night.

So yes, Allen did mention that I only have to put up with the mess for 3 more days, but what will it look like when I get home? Allen said he won't pick out the Granite slab for the countertop without me. (There will be 7-10 days from picking it out, to final installation) What do you think? If he picks it out, my kitchen could be finished when I get home from France, but it might not be the piece I would have wanted. Does that really matter? I really hate a non-funtioning kitchen. To me, the kitchen is the most important room of the house!! Is it worth the frustration to get the exact piece of Granite that I want?

Brady has decided that he is an emotional problem fixer. He just tells me to "live for today, tomorrow will take care of itself." How do you argue with an 18 year old's logic? I just smile and think, "talk to me again in a few years when you have been through a little more."

Part 2 of Valentines Day

Zachary's Valentines: I made Zach sign and assemble the store bought valentines for his class. They were cute and had a pencil for each one, and besides he picked them out at the store, I bought them for him, he was going to use them!! He kept telling me that he already had valentines, and he didn't want to give out two valentines, but I kept telling him, "take them anyways, I don't think you made enough of the other ones, and we don't want anyone to be left out."

So when I picked him up from school, the store bought valentines, pencils and all were still in his backpack. I talked to the teacher, (which mortified Zach) she said that she let him hand out the "big" valentines, and she assured me that all of the kids got one. Which means that he really did remember the names of every kid in the class. I wish my memory was that good.

Valentines Day!

The kids are off with their paper valentines in their backpacks. (The kindergarten teacher is most excited about today, because this is the last "party" day she has to host for the school year) Valentines has become much different from when I was little. Each of the kids was told to bring paper valentines, with only their name signed at the bottom. They don't want the kids to write any names in the "To: " spot. Anonymous greetings... So, last week I was busy helping Ethan, and Zach called to me from the table asking how to spell various words, that led me to believe that he was writing on the Valentines I had bought him. He asked how to spell names of kids in his class. I told him that the teacher said not to write the names of the kids, just sign his own name. 20 minutes later, I went to where he was and found he had taken printer paper, folded each piece in half, drew heart and other shapes on the inside of each "card" with the words "I love you". Then on the front he wrote an initial for each kid in his class. I found him saying the alphabet and considering each letter and what kids in the class started with each letter so that he wouldn't forget anyone. (of course the teacher didn't give him a list of the kids, he had to do it all from memory) I reminded him that the teacher didn't want the names on each card, so he shouldn't use the initials. He said "then how do I know which one to give it to?" He just didn't really understand the concept. But he does seem to "love" each of his friends individually.

I did it!

Last Autumn, Calvin broke one of the fan blades off of the ceiling fan in the living room. We tried to replace it or repair it, but it turned out to be impossible. So, we decided that we needed to buy a new ceiling fan. When we saw this one at Home Depot yesterday (see above) we liked it, and wanted to get it, but we also wanted it to match the lighting over the kitchen table, as the rooms flow together with only a railing separating them. We found a light that seemed to be a great match. Not perfect, but fairly similar. We got home and took them out of the box to compare side by side. There were a few differences. The metal part of the kitchen light was a dark steel color, and the lamp cover glass area was solid, not veined like the ceiling fan light. I decided to fix that. I went to Michael's and bought 3 shade of paint to mix together to most closely match the color of the base/metal of the ceiling fan. Then Allen, Zachary, Ethan and I painted every metal surface on the kitchen light, including each link of the chain, (which will eventually be used to bring the light over the top of our soon to be island/table.) Then I took white paint, and painted a veining into the inside of the glass cover. It's certainly not a perfect match, but it looks pretty good, from the distances they are from each other. And most importantly I did it without freaking out. I normally would not want to attempt something that seems so important. It would make me so nervous, and worried that I would ruin something brand-new!! But I DID IT!! It's not perfect and it's okay. I think it looks great.




We've ordered the new cabinets for the kitchen, and next week we'll go pick out the granite for the countertops. We'll also get a new dishwasher, and some flooring repair from "child damage" and filling in the spaces left empty from the change in the kitchen design. I'm so excited!! We are going to rearrange the kitchen so that the island will be shaped like... three sides of a stop sign. Can you picture that? With the countertop extending out 15 inches to accomadate 6 chairs for eating up to, etc. Then we will get rid of the kitchen table and chairs, and use the formal dining room if there is more than 6 people eating. Homework time will be soooooo much easier with this new design!! Each of 3 kids can have essenially his own counter space to work at, and spread out all his stuff, and I can be working in the kitchen, and able to simply lean over to which ever kid needs my help. Which means I no longer will be wasting time sitting next to a child watching them do their homework, and have the other child wander off. I can help all of them at the same time, and maybe clean the kitchen at the same time!!

Darian finally received his First Class Rank advancement in Boy Scouts. He actually achieved the award last year when he turned 12, but he kept missing the Board of Review's, so they couldn't give it to him. All the boys have done great in scouts until they hit High School. They warned us of that when we started with scouts when Brady turned 11. They say if the boys can get their Eagle award by 14 years old, then they're good. After 14 they get involved in other things and are not as likely to put the effort into finishing their Eagle requirements. Brady almost made it. He got everything finished accept the eagle project. He actually complete his eagle project summary to be approved from the scout office, but it wasn't approved. They expect alot from the boys, as it is meant to show leadership ability. He began re-writing the paperwork, but the importance of the eagle project gave way to senior projects, AP classes, driving and having a real adult job. Calvin is also real close to getting his eagle. Keep your fingers crossed. Sometime soon he may find out how fun it is to have an Eagle Court of Honor.