Here is my first video. It is on the farm.
(right click to download and save to your own hard drive to play the video better)
April 20, 2007
April 19, 2007
A Day in Carcassonne
Today we took a long hour and a half drive to the city of Carcassonne. The pictures can tell most of the story but it was a great day. The weather started off foggy and cool but it soon burned off and it was really sunny and warm by the time we got to the city. Liam and Emma were very excited to search for Knights and Princesses in the Giant Castle within the walled city. We did see some Knights and wenches about and a real Owl…very cool!
It was very busy with plenty of tourists and school tours as we first stopped for some lunch and ice cream before we went on to tour the castle. We were very happy to find no dog poop on the cobblestone roads as there were a few dogs around. Strange thing is that cars were even driving through this place…The roads are so narrow and full of people, I don’t know why they bother. Tonnes of shops, restaurants and even some haunted houses to go through.
I will gripe about one thing…public washrooms. Eeewwww! I have to say that France is not good with public washrooms. First of all, finding one in a city can be difficult. In the city of Carcasonne, a tourist attraction, there were a few to be found, however, they were horrible! No toilet paper, some of them with no seats and terribly dirty. They have washrooms that are supposedlly self sanitising (they spray themselves down in between customers)…but I wouldn’t touch anything in them. Really, really poorly maintained. I am shuddering as I reminisce for this blog.
Ah well, the day was great even still. After wandering around we stumbled across a small grassy courtyard where we rested and the kids ran around for awhile, burning off that extra energy just before the car ride home. All of us had a great day and topped it off with some pizza at home for dinner. Even the store bought, frozen pizza’s in France are way better than some restaurant pizzas I’ve had in Canada!
Tomorrow we stay at home and catch up on some work!
April 18, 2007
Kid’s Day!
Today we returned to Toulouse to visit our favourite “spider web” park. We wanted to make the day all about doing what they (our kids) wanted. While we burned lots of energy at the park, Diane went to have lunch with her sister Monique at the mall. The kids had lots of fun climbing, running and teeter-tottering. The weather was fantastic. It was cloudy/hazy but it was nice and warm. After lunch the kids and I ran some laps around the park on a gravel trail. It was fun and at least I got a bit of exercise.
After that we went to the mall to pick up Diane and pick ourselves up some ice cream and a few new clothes for the kids. Emma picked out her own summer dress to go with our “summer” weather we’re having.
When we got home we sat outside for awhile and then visited the chickens and pigeons in the back of our house. We asked Jacques if we could see the chicks and take some pictures this time! Still as cute as the first time.
Before dinner Francois went for a bike ride while Liam had his scheduled web-cam chat with his class mates back in Vernon. Liam really enjoyed seeing and chatting with his buddies and I think its so cool that this is possible so a big thank you to Liam’s teacher, Madame Lea for helping to make this possible.
Tomorrow we venture off to the city of Carcasonne!
April 17, 2007
Touring Albi
Today Francois and I headed off To Albi to do some more extensive touring…without the kids! Diane graciously offered to stay home with Liam and Emma in order for us to have the day off. Merci Diane! Once we arrived in Albi, around 11:30am, we decided to stop for lunch. Besides, all the stores, museums and churches were closed for lunch and we only had until 2:00pm to eat before all the restaurants closed.
We ate in this very tiny restaurant called Le Papillon (the Butterfly). As usual the waiter detected our anglosized french accent and started to speak in english to us. Francois ordered a Pork cutlet with rice and an Asian influenced salad and I ordered what turned out to be a greek wrap (with veggies, garlic/herbed boursin cheese in a pita or flat bread) with a greek salad. Both very tasty. The meal included dessert which was a piece of caramel cake with crème fraîche and real whip cream. Mmmmmm.
On the way out of the restaurant, I commented to the waiter/owner how well he spoke english. He looked at us and paused…”well i went to Berkley.” Turns out he lived there and moved to Albi, France area because he has family here and I guess wanted to run a restaurant. He explained to us the wonders of French tipping. It is not uncommon to leave absolutely nothing – they seem to be a non-tipping culture. This is because in earlier years ( I don’t know how early) the waiters weren’t paid anything and relied on the tips as their wages. Now it is the law for restaurant owners to pay their wait staff at least the minimum wage (8,27 EUR – around 12.67CAN) plus 6-7 weeks holidays plus medical – Nice! So, most of France believe that often “service” is included. However, most people tend to leave their change left from the bill. Très generous! Us North Americans tend to be a little uncomfortable with that so we tend to leave more. I say, let’s live as the French do! 🙂
After eating we toured the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, the St. Cecile Cathedral and the local shopping district. I love looking at all the window displays (especially the kids clothing – they are waaay tooo cute and waaay tooo expensive). Francois and I winded around most of the downtown of Albi looking at shops and pushing each other out of the path of dog poop – not liking that about France.
After a really relaxing day we went home for supper – bread, cheese and wine! Phew, I’m going to need some expandable pants.
Blog you tomorrow – and get a load of Francois’ sporty new look. Now, we just need to work on that green sweater he’s always wearing.
April 16, 2007
A day of Shopping
It was cloudy today so we decided to go shopping in Toulouse. The kids both needed some footwear as they can’t seem to stop outgrowing their existing shoes/sandles/etc. And me, I needed (ok wanted, not really needed) some new jeans and shoes. And speaking of shopping, one thing that we’ve really noticed here in France is that kids are dressed significantly better than in North America. The kids all look so cute in their adorable outfits I almost feel bad that our kids look like slobs by comparison.
And well, even I feel a little out of place in my gap jeans and nike runners. Runners and jeans are very common here but the jeans must be thin in material and the runners must look as if they have had their soles completely removed.
So in an attempt to conform I purchased a thin pair of jeans and set of runners that sort of look like sporty slippers. Hopefully the locals won’t notice that my new runners are not from a popular name brand as I purchased them at Carrefour (a Supertore-sized grocery store complete with cheap clothes) and not at the twice-as-expensive shoe store at the other end of the mall.
When it was time to shop for food at the Carrfour we had difficulty getting the job done because we couldn’t stop drooling in the cheese and meat sections. Marissa did manage to snap a few photos inside Carrfour before we were stopped by an employee and told that it was forbidden to take photos.
After getting back home I went out on a bike ride to a nearby town called Rabastens and of course it was an awesome town full of interesting old buildings. The south of France is truly a cyclist’s paradise. There are endless roads leading to an endless number of cool towns to explore with plenty of nice warm weather. And the cycling allows one to enjoy more cheese, wine, duck, etc without any associated guilt. I’m really falling in love with France!!
Tomorrow my very kind mom will take care of Emma and Liam while Marissa and I sneak off by ourselves. I think we’ll probably go to Albi and visit the Toulouse-Lautrec museum.
Good night
April 15, 2007
Train ride in Giroussens
Hi all, its been awhile since our last post. Emma is doing really well now just a very noisy cough, but her temperature was normal the entire day.
Today started off really well too, we all awoke from a fairly good sleep. The kids went down to our kitchen with Diane in the morning and had a great treat! Monique and her husband Jacques from from our vacation home visted them with a box full of newly hatched chickens and pigeons. Both Liam and Emma were really excited. I’m sad to say we don’t have any photos as both Francois and I were on the computer. I’ll try and get pics soon before they grow too big.
Later in the day Monique invited us to the local train in Giroussens. It was a tourist steam train that did a small 30 minute loop around the outskirts of the town. It was cute and we had a good time on our first outing since Emma got sick. Merci Monique!
Diane’s sister Monique came over in the afternoon and took Diane for a tour of the nearby town of Gaillac.
Diane’s other sister, Carole with her husband Jens and son Sean came by in the afternoon to drop off a tonne of DVDs. I guess they heard that we had a little cabin fever while being at home so long. That was super nice and really, really appreciated!
So, it was not a very eventful weekend due to Emma’s illness but the weather was rainy and overcast anyway. I’m sure the week will get better.
Bonne nuit tout le monde!
April 13, 2007
Visting the Doctor
Emma’s fever and cough worsened today so we took her to see a doctor in Lavaur. The visit cost us 24 Euros which seems quite reasonable. Interesting doctor’s office, there was no receptionist and each doctor had their own office which had an examining table, their computer/admin workspace and a bunch of instruments you’d commonly see in a doctor’s office. However, I didn’t see any sink to wash hands….hmmmm.
The doc recommended a few different medications to help her condition and we picked these up after the visit. As of this evening her fever is still above 103 F (39 C) even with Tylenol and/or Advil. But her general mood seems to have improved tonight so that likely means she feels a bit better.
So it was another day at home, which we really didn’t mind…after all we have a stock of good food in our fridge and plenty of wine. But by dinner time we had a mild emergency on our hands when we noticed that we were almost out of French bread. No problem, the local bakery was still open and we picked up another baguette.
Oh and I almost forgot to mention that I snuck out for a bike ride in the afternoon. It was raining a little bit but not enough to be a bother. The extra calories that I burned allowed me to have a larger dinner portion and to eat another slice of the Tarte aux pommes.
If you haven’t noticed yet, there are two links in the upper right hand corner of this page which you might find interesting. One of those links will take you to a page that lists some of the interesting differences that we have so far discovered between North American and France. The other link will take you to a page which shows some various stats regarding our voyage thus far.
Good night from France.
A few words from Liam
I saw DOG POOH ON THE GROUND!
GROUDON! PIKACHU! DEOXYS! TYPHLOSION! CHARIZARD! GARDEVOIR!
TYRANITAR! FERALIGATR! SALAMENCE! these are names of pokemon.
my sister is sick. I hope she feels better.
April 12, 2007
Emma’s first cold in Europe
Lets start with the good. Today I woke up refreshed and feeling completely human at 0730. I think I’ve finally rid my body of the effects of jet lag. Now the not so good. Emma started developing a cough last night and today she has a fever so we opted to stay home so that she could get as much rest as possible.
I have to say that we did use our time at home wisely. My mom caught up on the laundry while Marissa and I caught up on our work. Liam worked on some of his work books and Emma…well she caught on up on some of her movies while lying in bed.
Marissa and I did go out for a little bit today to Lavaur to do a little more shopping. We’re going through wine like water so we had to restock and while we were at it we stopped into a nice bakery and picked up a delicious tarte aux pommes.
We will probably spend another quiet day at home tomorrow so that Emma can continue to rest.
Good night from France.
April 11, 2007
Cordes-sur-Ciel
Today’s Photos
Google Map of Cordes-sur-Ciel
8:00 am today – getting better! The day started well, the kids got up and sat down to do their schoolwork on their own. Hurray for Pavlov’s conditioning theory! Then, another great thing happened. IBM called and came within the hour. We actually finished our morning tasks/duties and were out the door by 11:00am (1100 hours). Our destination… The fortified town of Cordes Sur Ciel.
It took approx 45 minutes to get there through a lot of open country and small, crumbling towns. The weather this morning was overcast with bouts of rain.
Hopefully the photos will give you an indication of how interesting this place is….our whole family really enjoyed it.