Melange

So sorry. We've had no internet, so this blog will be a melange (mix) of photos and captions from the past 3 days.

Day One.

These are all pictures from the skate park we ran around in because we didn't have wheels. It was covered in french graffiti and was empty except for three children who looked very, very poor. I thought about them for a while after that.

After the skate park, we turned into racoons. You know racoons LOVE shiny things. To us, the "shiny things" were the the things we saw through gates, on walls, through holes, under houses and so on. Check it out.

Looks easy enough. But they couldn't get down without going into this person's private property ...and the German Shepherd welcomed them. Look at this video and see how brave my daddy is:

There was a river running under this house. We think they used the water to power a mill.

Another view of the river running through the house.

Chateau Berard. Not a medieval castle, but a very cool mansion. My mom runs by here everyday.

Over this wall and gate, we saw piles of geodesic dome panels. That's what my dad says. I say, they looked like parts of an airplane.

The vicious guard dog kept us away from this gate. Check out this scary video Frances took of him and his companion:

On our way back toward Uzes

Our town, Uzes, France, where one can learn about the healing powers of Tarragon and Basil. See us cracking up about Daddy pretending to have intestinal issues (and badly needing tarragon).

Notice the bowls of dried tarragon and basil on the teacher's desk. Along with curing intestinal issues, tarragon also cures the hiccups...just chew a fresh leaf of tarragon--very very slowly.

Day 2 of No Internet

We woke up lazily...counting money and reading...

Our clothes were stuck in the German washing machine for 56 hours, getting really, annoyingly clean. We couldn't get the washer to stop. So, on this day, Daddy and Frances and I huddled around the machine and drained the water out.

and we found this...the clogged filter...

That day, Daddy fixed the washing machine, the dishwasher, did three loads of laundry, hung them to dry, tightened the chairs and the table; fixed the wall heater, and washed the skylights.

...and we did puzzles.

...and we walked to music...where I nearly died of thirst. That's me trying to catch a raindrop on my tongue...I couldn't walk because thirst was crippling me. When I asked my music teacher Marc for a glass of water, he didn't bring a dixie cup; he brought a ceramic vase filled with cold water and three small glasses--the glass that is missing in the photo is up against my parched lips. The vase and the glasses is soooooo French.

After music, relays in the park...

Every late afternoon we go for a walk and get creme de glace (ice cream) -- Frances calls it "creme de la creme Sir Edgar" (we don't know why) or a Crepe. On this afternoon, sadly, we went hunting for wild asparagus instead. Actually it was really fun. To get to the asparagus, we walk by a big rock wall. Daddy and Frances and I decided to do some par cours.

And then to the asparagus. Daddy says, "Trying to be more like Mommy, I asked a woman 'qu'est-ce que tu fait?' She said she was looking for wild asperge. I helped her find a couple below the thorny bush that protects the new sprouts, then I ran home and got the family, a bag and a knife."

Francie's finger showing you the asperge. It's tiny!

Not long after this photo was taken, our camera broke. Today was Wednesday market and art class. We met two friends in art class: Eva and Solie. Saturday, we're going to their house in a nearby village to play. My parents aren't invited.

My mom says, "It took me exactly 40 minutes after art class to communicate to the mothers of these sweet kids that, what was that phrase that worked so well before?...hmmmm, oh yes, "My kids want friends." The women promptly pulled out their checkbook calendars (yes, they still carry checkbooks in France) and consulted them and me until we had two dates. Saturday at their house; next Wednesday at our house. If you can believe this, Saturday is BOOKED for us adults, too. We have a party to go to and a concert and market and something else; I forgot. Getting into the swing of things. Very fun."

After lobbing my coveted camera at Jeff I squeezed into a photo, too. :)

When we finished our nice run together, we each ate a crepe sucre avec chantilly and then came home to an excellent dinner by Daddy.

Eleanore