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.