Saturday, December 31, 2005
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Furman Weekly, May 16 - 17, Volume 3, Number 16a
Hello once again. We continue our travels through London.
On Monday, after a tasty early breakfast, we went to the local "Big Bus Sightseeing tours" stand to by a ticket on the hop on, hop off sightseeing bus. This pass is good all day and you can get off the bus whenever, and get back on when you are ready to continue on. We got an early start because we wanted to be in Trafalgar Square in time to grab a tour to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. After the bus took us past Hyde Park, the American Embassy, the high class shopping district, and the Texas Embassy, we arrived at Trafalgar Square. I took pictures of the boys on the gigantic lion statues at the base of the statue of Lord Nelson. Then we joined up with our walking tour. Our first stop was St James's palace to wait for the review of the guards. However, when we arrived, we were informed that the ceremony would be delayed by up to an hour. So, we all got our picture taken with the guard in front of the gates. The stories are true. The guy just stands there and doesn't react to anything.
After a wait of about an hour, the regiment decided to move out even though they couldn't find the band to play them down the street. Apparently, that was the delay. So we got to watch the guard march out of the gates, stand at attention while they were being inspected, and then move out. We marched alongside them down the Mall to Buckingham Palace. Since they didn't have a band, our tour hummed "Bridge over the River Quay." They went into the palace. Then, because we were with a guide, we learned that the new guard was marching down the mall with a mass band and horse regiment. We had excellent spots to watch the parade. They were practicing for the festivities the following day. The Queen would travel down the Mall from Buckingham Palace to Parliament to open this session of parliament. We got to see the dress rehearsal.
After a quick lunch, we headed off to The British museum. We all got the kids audiotour. This is a headset and map the you take around the museum to find certain displays that are explained for kids. We stopped first at THE Rosetta stone. Andrew was very impressed with this. Then we were off to find the kids displays. It is kind of like a scavenger hunt. The highlights of the tour were seeing the very first plate in England (2000 years old), some well preserved mummified bodies, and the chess set that was used as a model for the giant wizards chess set in Harry Potter. As we were searching for the exit (it is a really big museum), we happened upon a lady that had a display of coins. We held coins that were 2500 years old. Wow!
We joined up with our bus tour after the museum. There was only one problem. While we were in the museum, it started to rain. Can you believe it? In England? We had had nothing but sun until now - we even got sun burned. But there wasn't a whole lot to see from the bus. We decided to call it a day (Michael had fallen asleep on the bus anyway) and headed back to the hotel. We found a restaurant near the hotel and I had a real Cornish pastie for dinner. They taste as good as in Mackinaw City. Then it was off to bed.
Tuesday morning we jumped on a train and headed to Windsor. You would think we were headed to the castle, right? Nope. We were looking for LEGOland. This was a really fun day for the kids. There are LEGO creations everywhere in the park, including LEGOworld, mini cities from all over the world. We even saw the Space shuttle take off!! I think a sign said that they used 20 million LEGOS in the park. There were also many rides. Most were fairly tame (the park is geared towards kids under 12, but we went on two roller coasters. They were the first coasters for both kids. The first one was mostly up and down. Michael wanted to go again. Andrew hated it. The second one we did was very curvy. Andrew liked this one and Michael was very upset. Strange kids.
The park was not very crowded (we went on quite a few rides twice - no wait), and much bigger than we thought it would be, so it took us most of the day. By the time we got to Windsor castle it was closed. We walked around the outside though, and even think we saw the butler leave for the day (maybe a tour guide).
We took the train back to London and picked up some chicken to eat in the room. I don't think I have said anything about our hotel. It is in Belgravia, down the street from Buckingham palace. This is a really neat part of London. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Margaret Thatcher live here. We really like the hotel. It is conveniently located, and a bed and breakfast, very small and friendly. We are the only family staying here, though. The staff knows who we are without asking, the American family. Anyway, we had this cute but rather small set of rooms in the converted basement. Sounds kind of dark and gloomy but it wasn't. We had a shared courtyard entry way and our own courtyard out the side. Even though Michael was on a cot on the floor, it was really a cute room. There was only one problem. Starting on Monday morning at about 7:00, there was a drip through the ceiling in the boys room from the shower of the room above. It woke the boys up earlier than we would have liked. We had mentioned it to two different people in the mornings, but when we asked about it to the night manager, he moved us to a new room. We are now on the top floor, the fourth. It is still a two room suite, but now the boys are in what would be the attic. They have a large room with two beds. We have moved to a king from a full. And we have a balcony that looks out onto the rooftops of London. Every time I stand out there at night I start singing from Mary Poppins. "On the rooftops of London..... Whew, what a sight." We are very happy.
Until the next edition!!
Amy
On Monday, after a tasty early breakfast, we went to the local "Big Bus Sightseeing tours" stand to by a ticket on the hop on, hop off sightseeing bus. This pass is good all day and you can get off the bus whenever, and get back on when you are ready to continue on. We got an early start because we wanted to be in Trafalgar Square in time to grab a tour to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. After the bus took us past Hyde Park, the American Embassy, the high class shopping district, and the Texas Embassy, we arrived at Trafalgar Square. I took pictures of the boys on the gigantic lion statues at the base of the statue of Lord Nelson. Then we joined up with our walking tour. Our first stop was St James's palace to wait for the review of the guards. However, when we arrived, we were informed that the ceremony would be delayed by up to an hour. So, we all got our picture taken with the guard in front of the gates. The stories are true. The guy just stands there and doesn't react to anything.
After a wait of about an hour, the regiment decided to move out even though they couldn't find the band to play them down the street. Apparently, that was the delay. So we got to watch the guard march out of the gates, stand at attention while they were being inspected, and then move out. We marched alongside them down the Mall to Buckingham Palace. Since they didn't have a band, our tour hummed "Bridge over the River Quay." They went into the palace. Then, because we were with a guide, we learned that the new guard was marching down the mall with a mass band and horse regiment. We had excellent spots to watch the parade. They were practicing for the festivities the following day. The Queen would travel down the Mall from Buckingham Palace to Parliament to open this session of parliament. We got to see the dress rehearsal.
After a quick lunch, we headed off to The British museum. We all got the kids audiotour. This is a headset and map the you take around the museum to find certain displays that are explained for kids. We stopped first at THE Rosetta stone. Andrew was very impressed with this. Then we were off to find the kids displays. It is kind of like a scavenger hunt. The highlights of the tour were seeing the very first plate in England (2000 years old), some well preserved mummified bodies, and the chess set that was used as a model for the giant wizards chess set in Harry Potter. As we were searching for the exit (it is a really big museum), we happened upon a lady that had a display of coins. We held coins that were 2500 years old. Wow!
We joined up with our bus tour after the museum. There was only one problem. While we were in the museum, it started to rain. Can you believe it? In England? We had had nothing but sun until now - we even got sun burned. But there wasn't a whole lot to see from the bus. We decided to call it a day (Michael had fallen asleep on the bus anyway) and headed back to the hotel. We found a restaurant near the hotel and I had a real Cornish pastie for dinner. They taste as good as in Mackinaw City. Then it was off to bed.
Tuesday morning we jumped on a train and headed to Windsor. You would think we were headed to the castle, right? Nope. We were looking for LEGOland. This was a really fun day for the kids. There are LEGO creations everywhere in the park, including LEGOworld, mini cities from all over the world. We even saw the Space shuttle take off!! I think a sign said that they used 20 million LEGOS in the park. There were also many rides. Most were fairly tame (the park is geared towards kids under 12, but we went on two roller coasters. They were the first coasters for both kids. The first one was mostly up and down. Michael wanted to go again. Andrew hated it. The second one we did was very curvy. Andrew liked this one and Michael was very upset. Strange kids.
The park was not very crowded (we went on quite a few rides twice - no wait), and much bigger than we thought it would be, so it took us most of the day. By the time we got to Windsor castle it was closed. We walked around the outside though, and even think we saw the butler leave for the day (maybe a tour guide).
We took the train back to London and picked up some chicken to eat in the room. I don't think I have said anything about our hotel. It is in Belgravia, down the street from Buckingham palace. This is a really neat part of London. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Margaret Thatcher live here. We really like the hotel. It is conveniently located, and a bed and breakfast, very small and friendly. We are the only family staying here, though. The staff knows who we are without asking, the American family. Anyway, we had this cute but rather small set of rooms in the converted basement. Sounds kind of dark and gloomy but it wasn't. We had a shared courtyard entry way and our own courtyard out the side. Even though Michael was on a cot on the floor, it was really a cute room. There was only one problem. Starting on Monday morning at about 7:00, there was a drip through the ceiling in the boys room from the shower of the room above. It woke the boys up earlier than we would have liked. We had mentioned it to two different people in the mornings, but when we asked about it to the night manager, he moved us to a new room. We are now on the top floor, the fourth. It is still a two room suite, but now the boys are in what would be the attic. They have a large room with two beds. We have moved to a king from a full. And we have a balcony that looks out onto the rooftops of London. Every time I stand out there at night I start singing from Mary Poppins. "On the rooftops of London..... Whew, what a sight." We are very happy.
Until the next edition!!
Amy
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Furman weekly, May 9 - 15, volume 3, number 15
Cheerio from Jolly old England!! My, we are getting around this trip, aren't we?? It's been another busy and fun week.
The week started off with the Rinaldi's coming over for dessert on Monday. This was so that they could say hi to my parents, who were arriving that evening (more on that later), and also so they could say goodbye. Tuesday was to be the last tutoring sessions for the boys as Shahla is heading to Iran for 5 weeks. So we had cookies, brownies, and cidre and all laughed and talked together. My parents called after a while and said that they were stuck in Toulouse. The train that runs to Colomiers stopped running at 9:00 and they arrived at 9:10. So some of us made a trip to get them. It was good that the Rinaldi's were there. We would have never found them otherwise!!
Tuesday, Andrew had a full day with the tutor. Then my parents, the boys and I (poor Dave) packed off to Carcassonne overnight. We stayed in a bed and breakfast in the walled city. The bed and breakfast was very pleasant with a very interesting Scottish host and a loud TV. He fell asleep in front of the TV with the volume all the way up. Fine, until it was just static!! Before bed, we had an interesting dinner at a cave-like restaurant. The sign outside said that there was live music. It was actually a practice session for a not so good band. They would start on a song, then stop half way through when they messed up. Then they would start over again. It got a little annoying after a while.
On Wednesday, we saw the city. We bought some souvenirs (after all, we may never be back, right?) and Andrew discovered that he does NOT like haunted houses. We spent all day there and got back in time to pick Dave up from work.Thursday morning, Dave dropped my parents off at the airport. They were heading to London for a day before flying home. I spent the day cleaning the house. You see, the realtor got our month's notice, and already wanted to show the house. Sigh. I was hoping to rest for a day before packing. Oh well, now we will come home to a clean house.
Friday morning the realtor came through the house. All that cleaning, and they only spent 10 minutes in the house and tracked flowers all over!! Then in the afternoon, I took Shahla to the airport. We said goodbye. I hope that we see her again. We have come to really like the family. Maybe Roxanna will come visit with us this summer.
Saturday, we started off on our last big trip, London! Our plane was supposed to leave at 9:40, but, as there was an "unofficial" security strike, it took a long time to load the luggage. It was almost an hour before we left. And, of course, when we arrived in London, one of our bags was missing. We had all our clothes and things, but no cameras!! Bummer.
That didn't stop us, though. We took the express train into London and found our hotel. It is a really cute bed and breakfast in Belgravia. We are a few blocks from Buckingham palace! After settling in, we asked for a recommendation for someplace quick for lunch. We are used to living in France, where this is difficult, but in London, no problem. The guy that checked us in suggested we go back to the train station (three blocks) and eat upstairs. So we followed his advice and you'll never believe what we found. All of the major tube stations have malls in them. Stores, groceries, and a food court! There was a Starbucks, burger King, Mc Donalds, and a bagel shop. We settled for the KFC, although the deep dish pizza place looked good too. Funny how good fast food tastes when you haven't had it for a while.
After lunch, we bought a disposable camera and took the tube to the Natural history museum. This was a good way to spend the rest of our first day here. They have a special dinosaur exhibit. There were lots of bones and interactive displays, but the most impressive were the animatronic dinos. The T-rex was very realistic and appeared to be sniffing you. Very scary. Michael thought it was really cool and had a big grin on his face when we left.
We also checked out the mammal exhibit (complete with full scale models of a Blue whale and many other large mammals), and the "creepy crawly" exhibit. Gross! In one section, they showed you all of the bugs that live in your kitchen. The boys loved it.
Unfortunately, the museum was closing, so we took the tube back to the hotel to see if our luggage had arrived. Nope. So we went for dinner. What else do you have, the first night in London? Fish and Chips. Yum! Andrew is even sold on Vinegar instead of ketchup.
Sunday morning, after discovering that our suitcase had arrived, we had a real English breakfast. France has great food, but the breakfasts leave a lot to be desired. We had eggs and toast, fried mushrooms, ham, grilled tomatoes (read to-MAT-toes), OJ, fruit, bread, cereal, cheese, and of course TEA! We enjoyed it so much, that Dave and I were planning what we would have tomorrow before we finished.
Then we took the tube to the Westminster pier. While looking at Big Ben, we bought tickets for a river cruise to Greenwich. The tour was very pretty and the guide was really funny and informative. When we got to Greenwich, we explored the last remaining Tea Clipper, the Cutty Sark. This boat could travel up to 20 miles per hour, had three masts and over 11 miles of rope on the deck. We got to tour the whole boat, from the head, to the galley, to the crews quarters. It even had a saloon, even though there were only about 28 people on board.
After exploring the ship, we had worked up an appetite, so we stopped at a local grocery to pick up picnic supplies. We ate in the shadow of the clipper, before heading on to the Old Navel College.
We walked the grounds and peaked in the chapel and the painted hall, but there was nothing much to see here. So instead we moved on to the Maritime Museum. We spent a long time here. They have displays on any aspect of sea faring. I enjoyed the section on arctic explorers and shipwrecks the most. There were quite a few things displayed from the titanic. The boys really liked the art room (where they made 3-D rock ponds. I have no idea how we are getting these home), and the "hands on" kids area. They got to practice loading cargo with a crane, test out deep sea diving equipment, and have target practice with a cannon. It was a really cool museum. We had a hard time dragging them away.
We had other places to go, though. We trudged up a steep hill to the Royal observatory. At the top of the hill, we got to stand on the prime meridian (0 Longitude) and see the clock that sets the world's time, Greenwich Mean Time. As Dave said, this place is obsessed with clocks!! In the museum, there were all different kinds of clocks. Even an atomic clock. There is also a large telescope here. And, in one of the rooms, there was an ancient telescope that you could look through and see Pluto (as in Mickey and Pluto. Very Funny).
As we were walking through Greenwich, we decided that is was time for dinner. So, when you are in Greenwich, what do you eat? Tex Mex!! It was actually a really good meal. Then it was back to the hotel for baths and bed.
Whew. This was a really long note. I will try to divide up the rest for you. We have a lot of really cool things to see this week. I think we all will be really worn out by the time we leave on Sunday, but you only get to do this once, right? Until then!
Amy
The week started off with the Rinaldi's coming over for dessert on Monday. This was so that they could say hi to my parents, who were arriving that evening (more on that later), and also so they could say goodbye. Tuesday was to be the last tutoring sessions for the boys as Shahla is heading to Iran for 5 weeks. So we had cookies, brownies, and cidre and all laughed and talked together. My parents called after a while and said that they were stuck in Toulouse. The train that runs to Colomiers stopped running at 9:00 and they arrived at 9:10. So some of us made a trip to get them. It was good that the Rinaldi's were there. We would have never found them otherwise!!
Tuesday, Andrew had a full day with the tutor. Then my parents, the boys and I (poor Dave) packed off to Carcassonne overnight. We stayed in a bed and breakfast in the walled city. The bed and breakfast was very pleasant with a very interesting Scottish host and a loud TV. He fell asleep in front of the TV with the volume all the way up. Fine, until it was just static!! Before bed, we had an interesting dinner at a cave-like restaurant. The sign outside said that there was live music. It was actually a practice session for a not so good band. They would start on a song, then stop half way through when they messed up. Then they would start over again. It got a little annoying after a while.
On Wednesday, we saw the city. We bought some souvenirs (after all, we may never be back, right?) and Andrew discovered that he does NOT like haunted houses. We spent all day there and got back in time to pick Dave up from work.Thursday morning, Dave dropped my parents off at the airport. They were heading to London for a day before flying home. I spent the day cleaning the house. You see, the realtor got our month's notice, and already wanted to show the house. Sigh. I was hoping to rest for a day before packing. Oh well, now we will come home to a clean house.
Friday morning the realtor came through the house. All that cleaning, and they only spent 10 minutes in the house and tracked flowers all over!! Then in the afternoon, I took Shahla to the airport. We said goodbye. I hope that we see her again. We have come to really like the family. Maybe Roxanna will come visit with us this summer.
Saturday, we started off on our last big trip, London! Our plane was supposed to leave at 9:40, but, as there was an "unofficial" security strike, it took a long time to load the luggage. It was almost an hour before we left. And, of course, when we arrived in London, one of our bags was missing. We had all our clothes and things, but no cameras!! Bummer.
That didn't stop us, though. We took the express train into London and found our hotel. It is a really cute bed and breakfast in Belgravia. We are a few blocks from Buckingham palace! After settling in, we asked for a recommendation for someplace quick for lunch. We are used to living in France, where this is difficult, but in London, no problem. The guy that checked us in suggested we go back to the train station (three blocks) and eat upstairs. So we followed his advice and you'll never believe what we found. All of the major tube stations have malls in them. Stores, groceries, and a food court! There was a Starbucks, burger King, Mc Donalds, and a bagel shop. We settled for the KFC, although the deep dish pizza place looked good too. Funny how good fast food tastes when you haven't had it for a while.
After lunch, we bought a disposable camera and took the tube to the Natural history museum. This was a good way to spend the rest of our first day here. They have a special dinosaur exhibit. There were lots of bones and interactive displays, but the most impressive were the animatronic dinos. The T-rex was very realistic and appeared to be sniffing you. Very scary. Michael thought it was really cool and had a big grin on his face when we left.
We also checked out the mammal exhibit (complete with full scale models of a Blue whale and many other large mammals), and the "creepy crawly" exhibit. Gross! In one section, they showed you all of the bugs that live in your kitchen. The boys loved it.
Unfortunately, the museum was closing, so we took the tube back to the hotel to see if our luggage had arrived. Nope. So we went for dinner. What else do you have, the first night in London? Fish and Chips. Yum! Andrew is even sold on Vinegar instead of ketchup.
Sunday morning, after discovering that our suitcase had arrived, we had a real English breakfast. France has great food, but the breakfasts leave a lot to be desired. We had eggs and toast, fried mushrooms, ham, grilled tomatoes (read to-MAT-toes), OJ, fruit, bread, cereal, cheese, and of course TEA! We enjoyed it so much, that Dave and I were planning what we would have tomorrow before we finished.
Then we took the tube to the Westminster pier. While looking at Big Ben, we bought tickets for a river cruise to Greenwich. The tour was very pretty and the guide was really funny and informative. When we got to Greenwich, we explored the last remaining Tea Clipper, the Cutty Sark. This boat could travel up to 20 miles per hour, had three masts and over 11 miles of rope on the deck. We got to tour the whole boat, from the head, to the galley, to the crews quarters. It even had a saloon, even though there were only about 28 people on board.
After exploring the ship, we had worked up an appetite, so we stopped at a local grocery to pick up picnic supplies. We ate in the shadow of the clipper, before heading on to the Old Navel College.
We walked the grounds and peaked in the chapel and the painted hall, but there was nothing much to see here. So instead we moved on to the Maritime Museum. We spent a long time here. They have displays on any aspect of sea faring. I enjoyed the section on arctic explorers and shipwrecks the most. There were quite a few things displayed from the titanic. The boys really liked the art room (where they made 3-D rock ponds. I have no idea how we are getting these home), and the "hands on" kids area. They got to practice loading cargo with a crane, test out deep sea diving equipment, and have target practice with a cannon. It was a really cool museum. We had a hard time dragging them away.
We had other places to go, though. We trudged up a steep hill to the Royal observatory. At the top of the hill, we got to stand on the prime meridian (0 Longitude) and see the clock that sets the world's time, Greenwich Mean Time. As Dave said, this place is obsessed with clocks!! In the museum, there were all different kinds of clocks. Even an atomic clock. There is also a large telescope here. And, in one of the rooms, there was an ancient telescope that you could look through and see Pluto (as in Mickey and Pluto. Very Funny).
As we were walking through Greenwich, we decided that is was time for dinner. So, when you are in Greenwich, what do you eat? Tex Mex!! It was actually a really good meal. Then it was back to the hotel for baths and bed.
Whew. This was a really long note. I will try to divide up the rest for you. We have a lot of really cool things to see this week. I think we all will be really worn out by the time we leave on Sunday, but you only get to do this once, right? Until then!
Amy
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Furman weekly, May 2 - 8; Volume 3, Number 14
Hello again!!
Well, one more week has come and gone. It is amazing how fast our time is going by. We received news this week that Smiths Grand Rapids can't live without Dave any longer (It's terrible to be needed), so our return date is currently June 8. There are a lot of mixed feelings about this. As Andrew says, when he is here, he misses there, but when he is there, he misses here. I agree. I am not sure that I am ready to head home. I am so comfortable and relaxed here, but there are lots of things to look forward to at home. We seem to have two lives and we are about to return to our other one.
The week was fairly quiet. We are trying to rest up for the upcoming trip to London. Dave and I went out on Tuesday night. We are starting our "last time" visits to places. We went to the Chinese place and enjoyed our last nems. We had a nice time.
Then on Thursday, we invited the Wichmans (with their five kids) over to help us celebrate Cinco de Mayo. This is a Mexican holiday that is celebrated in Texas as well. We continue to celebrate it to honor Andrew's birth place. It is really an un-French holiday as it celebrates the defeat of the French army by the Mexicans, so we are pretty sure that we were the only ones celebrating. We had a good meal - we even found Cheddar cheese!! The kids had a good time playing and the adults had fun comparing notes on living in France. It's sad that we are leaving, when we are starting to feel so settled - friends, church - it's starting to feel like home.
Saturday, after sleeping in, we headed back to the Prehistoric parc near Foix. The boys wanted to see the rest of the park and to show Dave. We had a picnic on the way and arrived just in time to see a wedding party arrive. The grounds are really beautiful and they were having there reception at the restaurant on site. We toured the museum again (the boys were great considering that they had seen it a week before) and learned a little more about the items that have been found. Then we took in the rest of the park. We all got a chance to try the spear throwers. Michael and Andrew are getting really good. I hit the target on the first try, and Dave can throw really far.
From there we took in a few more of the displays, but the highlight was getting to try our had at cave painting. There was a cave "wall" set up with the three colors of paint that were used. After a brief introduction, we all tried our hand at painting. It was very messy, but lots of fun.
We were pretty worn out at this point, so we headed home. We decided to take the scenic route, which really paid off. Dave happened to glance out the side window, and what did he see? The A380 returning from it's third flight. It was preparing to land (the airport was about 15 miles away) so the landing gear was down. I was struck again by how graceful the plane is. It appears to be flying in slow motion. It flew directly over the car. We pulled off the road and watched it fly into the distance. It was really cool.
Today is Mother's day (in the states. It is next week in Europe. Do I get two?) and the boys did a great job making the day really fun. I slept in (oops, missed church), and had a great French breakfast of croissants, bagette, cheese, yogurt, orange juice, and jelly, and, of course, hot chocolate. Then I got to open presents. There was lots of chocolate, bath salts, and a monopoly Europe Edition. It is in Euros and you buy famous cities in Europe. It will be a game that can only be played with me because all the cards are in French! We played a game this afternoon (Andrew soundly beat everyone), I had a bath and we went for a nice bike ride in the sun. It was a really nice day.
Well, that's it for another week. We will have lots to tell you next week. My parents come back on Monday and leave on Thursday. Then we leave on Saturday morning to head to London. Should be interesting. We will keep you informed. Have a great week.
A bientot!
Amy
Well, one more week has come and gone. It is amazing how fast our time is going by. We received news this week that Smiths Grand Rapids can't live without Dave any longer (It's terrible to be needed), so our return date is currently June 8. There are a lot of mixed feelings about this. As Andrew says, when he is here, he misses there, but when he is there, he misses here. I agree. I am not sure that I am ready to head home. I am so comfortable and relaxed here, but there are lots of things to look forward to at home. We seem to have two lives and we are about to return to our other one.
The week was fairly quiet. We are trying to rest up for the upcoming trip to London. Dave and I went out on Tuesday night. We are starting our "last time" visits to places. We went to the Chinese place and enjoyed our last nems. We had a nice time.
Then on Thursday, we invited the Wichmans (with their five kids) over to help us celebrate Cinco de Mayo. This is a Mexican holiday that is celebrated in Texas as well. We continue to celebrate it to honor Andrew's birth place. It is really an un-French holiday as it celebrates the defeat of the French army by the Mexicans, so we are pretty sure that we were the only ones celebrating. We had a good meal - we even found Cheddar cheese!! The kids had a good time playing and the adults had fun comparing notes on living in France. It's sad that we are leaving, when we are starting to feel so settled - friends, church - it's starting to feel like home.
Saturday, after sleeping in, we headed back to the Prehistoric parc near Foix. The boys wanted to see the rest of the park and to show Dave. We had a picnic on the way and arrived just in time to see a wedding party arrive. The grounds are really beautiful and they were having there reception at the restaurant on site. We toured the museum again (the boys were great considering that they had seen it a week before) and learned a little more about the items that have been found. Then we took in the rest of the park. We all got a chance to try the spear throwers. Michael and Andrew are getting really good. I hit the target on the first try, and Dave can throw really far.
From there we took in a few more of the displays, but the highlight was getting to try our had at cave painting. There was a cave "wall" set up with the three colors of paint that were used. After a brief introduction, we all tried our hand at painting. It was very messy, but lots of fun.
We were pretty worn out at this point, so we headed home. We decided to take the scenic route, which really paid off. Dave happened to glance out the side window, and what did he see? The A380 returning from it's third flight. It was preparing to land (the airport was about 15 miles away) so the landing gear was down. I was struck again by how graceful the plane is. It appears to be flying in slow motion. It flew directly over the car. We pulled off the road and watched it fly into the distance. It was really cool.
Today is Mother's day (in the states. It is next week in Europe. Do I get two?) and the boys did a great job making the day really fun. I slept in (oops, missed church), and had a great French breakfast of croissants, bagette, cheese, yogurt, orange juice, and jelly, and, of course, hot chocolate. Then I got to open presents. There was lots of chocolate, bath salts, and a monopoly Europe Edition. It is in Euros and you buy famous cities in Europe. It will be a game that can only be played with me because all the cards are in French! We played a game this afternoon (Andrew soundly beat everyone), I had a bath and we went for a nice bike ride in the sun. It was a really nice day.
Well, that's it for another week. We will have lots to tell you next week. My parents come back on Monday and leave on Thursday. Then we leave on Saturday morning to head to London. Should be interesting. We will keep you informed. Have a great week.
A bientot!
Amy
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Furman weekly, April 25 - May 1; Volume 3, Number 13
Happy Labor Day everyone!! I hope this finds you well. We are still here and enjoying every minute of our brief time in Europe.
I thought that this week was going to be a quiet week of rest after rushing around for the last three weeks. I was wrong. It had been quite a busy one.
It started off quietly, with lots of laundry and the boys to the tutor's. Then on Wednesday we were up early to watch history as it happened. We went to the smith's office (at the end of the runway), climbed on the roof of the building (through a bathroom and up a ladder), and watched the A380's first flight. There were around 50,000 people watching, some having camped out all night. We got there about 30 minutes before the scheduled take off and had some of the best seats. It was really amazing. This huge plane was so graceful when it took off. And quiet, too. It is half as loud as a 747. The flight went really well and they are planning another for Monday. That one we will watch from the front yard. Then it was back down the ladder (the highlight of Michael's day) and home for lunch.
The next morning, my parents, the boys, and I left to do a little spelunking. We drove down past Foix to the Grotte de Niaux. This is a cave with 15,000 year old cave paintings that you can still see. We had a tour reserved at 1:00 and it turned out that we had the tour all to ourselves. So the five of us and the tour guide grabbed some flashlights (no electric lights so as to preserve the paintings) and headed into the cave. We walked in the dark through the caves for about 35 minutes before we reached the first paintings. They were in a dead end that had the most amazing echoes. The paintings were beautiful. The ones that we have seen in Lascaux were redone to look like they had when they were first drawn. These were obviously much older. It is amazing that any survived. In fact, the tour guide showed us one that had almost washed away in the span of a few days when the cave started draining a new way a few years ago. They had to adjust the flow of water to protect it. Incredible.
We spent about a hour and 45 minutes in the cave and saw two major painting sights. Then when we came out (surprised that it was daylight), we went to the prehistoric park near by. This one is much more modern and technologically advanced then the one near Lascaux II. In the first building, we wore headsets that were controlled by infrared lights. Where you were standing determined what the tape spoke about. There were many interesting displays along the way, including an exhibit of prehistoric artifacts and a recreation of the caves.
From this building, we went to a mock archeologist's dig. This was an opportunity for children to learn how to be an archeologist. The next class didn't start for 30 minutes though, so instead we continued exploring. There were neat paths through the woods and alongside a river that took you out onto a hunting plain. At this sight, there was an opportunity to learn to throw a spear using a spear thrower!! WOW!! We all took a turn and were pretty good with most of us hitting the targets.
Unfortunately, we learned that the park was closing then. We still had half the park to cover! We will definitely have to go back. It was really cool.
When we got up Friday morning, we learned that mom and dad had decided the night before, after we went to bed, to leave that morning on the train. So we dropped them off at the train station and wished them well. It should be interesting to see how their vacation goes.
Friday night we had the Reich's over for dinner and haircuts. We even figured out how to use the charcoal!! We had a very nice evening and wished them well as they head to Paris this week.
Saturday we finally had our rest day. We didn't do anything until late afternoon and then it was only a trip to the store for a few things. It was a good day and we are almost recovered from our travels.
This morning we had a totally new adventure. We went to church. The Toulouse International church is in a town right near here. We had been invited by a friend of Dave's at work. Although it is more new age and fundamental than we are used to, it was nice to be at church again. When we are here, we see a lot of churches, but don't ever go to church. This was a nice change to that pattern and I think that we will go again when we are in town on Sundays.
After church, we had lunch with the Wichman's (he invited us to church). They have 5 children, ages 3 1/2 to 14. We all had a great time. The boys especially had great fun playing with other children, something they have really been missing. We were there most of the day. We are going to schedule another visit soon.
Well, that's it for another week. We are quickly running out of them. We are looking to be home the second or third week of June, so the weeks are definitely numbered.
Until next week.
A bientot!!
Amy
I thought that this week was going to be a quiet week of rest after rushing around for the last three weeks. I was wrong. It had been quite a busy one.
It started off quietly, with lots of laundry and the boys to the tutor's. Then on Wednesday we were up early to watch history as it happened. We went to the smith's office (at the end of the runway), climbed on the roof of the building (through a bathroom and up a ladder), and watched the A380's first flight. There were around 50,000 people watching, some having camped out all night. We got there about 30 minutes before the scheduled take off and had some of the best seats. It was really amazing. This huge plane was so graceful when it took off. And quiet, too. It is half as loud as a 747. The flight went really well and they are planning another for Monday. That one we will watch from the front yard. Then it was back down the ladder (the highlight of Michael's day) and home for lunch.
The next morning, my parents, the boys, and I left to do a little spelunking. We drove down past Foix to the Grotte de Niaux. This is a cave with 15,000 year old cave paintings that you can still see. We had a tour reserved at 1:00 and it turned out that we had the tour all to ourselves. So the five of us and the tour guide grabbed some flashlights (no electric lights so as to preserve the paintings) and headed into the cave. We walked in the dark through the caves for about 35 minutes before we reached the first paintings. They were in a dead end that had the most amazing echoes. The paintings were beautiful. The ones that we have seen in Lascaux were redone to look like they had when they were first drawn. These were obviously much older. It is amazing that any survived. In fact, the tour guide showed us one that had almost washed away in the span of a few days when the cave started draining a new way a few years ago. They had to adjust the flow of water to protect it. Incredible.
We spent about a hour and 45 minutes in the cave and saw two major painting sights. Then when we came out (surprised that it was daylight), we went to the prehistoric park near by. This one is much more modern and technologically advanced then the one near Lascaux II. In the first building, we wore headsets that were controlled by infrared lights. Where you were standing determined what the tape spoke about. There were many interesting displays along the way, including an exhibit of prehistoric artifacts and a recreation of the caves.
From this building, we went to a mock archeologist's dig. This was an opportunity for children to learn how to be an archeologist. The next class didn't start for 30 minutes though, so instead we continued exploring. There were neat paths through the woods and alongside a river that took you out onto a hunting plain. At this sight, there was an opportunity to learn to throw a spear using a spear thrower!! WOW!! We all took a turn and were pretty good with most of us hitting the targets.
Unfortunately, we learned that the park was closing then. We still had half the park to cover! We will definitely have to go back. It was really cool.
When we got up Friday morning, we learned that mom and dad had decided the night before, after we went to bed, to leave that morning on the train. So we dropped them off at the train station and wished them well. It should be interesting to see how their vacation goes.
Friday night we had the Reich's over for dinner and haircuts. We even figured out how to use the charcoal!! We had a very nice evening and wished them well as they head to Paris this week.
Saturday we finally had our rest day. We didn't do anything until late afternoon and then it was only a trip to the store for a few things. It was a good day and we are almost recovered from our travels.
This morning we had a totally new adventure. We went to church. The Toulouse International church is in a town right near here. We had been invited by a friend of Dave's at work. Although it is more new age and fundamental than we are used to, it was nice to be at church again. When we are here, we see a lot of churches, but don't ever go to church. This was a nice change to that pattern and I think that we will go again when we are in town on Sundays.
After church, we had lunch with the Wichman's (he invited us to church). They have 5 children, ages 3 1/2 to 14. We all had a great time. The boys especially had great fun playing with other children, something they have really been missing. We were there most of the day. We are going to schedule another visit soon.
Well, that's it for another week. We are quickly running out of them. We are looking to be home the second or third week of June, so the weeks are definitely numbered.
Until next week.
A bientot!!
Amy
Monday, April 25, 2005
Furman weekly, April 22 - 24; Volume 3, Number 12
Wow. What a week! We are really worn out. This has been a really tiring week. We saw lots of really cool things, but we worked hard to do it.
We got up on Friday and had breakfast in the rooms, after wishing Grandpa happy birthday. Then we all packed into the car (it is kind of crowded with the six of us and the luggage) and headed to Italy. We didn't have a hard time leaving Geneva. It was much better than when we arrived. We did have one stop on the way to Italy; Mount Blanc, the highest peak in Europe. We stopped to look at the peak (and the other mountains in the Alps), and then drove UNDER it!! The tunnel took about 20 minutes, and when we came out, we were on the other side of the Alps and in Italy.
We drove for another few hours and finally arrived in Turin (Turino). We were going to skip checking in until after a little sight-seeing, but we stumbled across the hotel as we were entering town. So we checked in and picked up a map. It was very helpful! Turin is about as well marked as Geneva. But, armed with a map, we made our way to the Museo dell Automobile (Automobile museum). Turin is the Detroit of Italy, making brands like Fiat and Ferrari. They had some really cool displays of old cars starting with a model A and a model T through modern cars. They even had some steam engine cars. We had a good time wondering through the displays and were pleased that some of the displays had English translations.
Then we headed off to the Borgo Medioevala, a reconstructed medieval village. It was built in 1884. It is a small cluster of buildings, dwellings, workshops, and stores all looking onto one street with a castle at the end. The castle was really cool, but we didn't get much out of the tour. It was only in Italian. We walked through the town and felt like we were in the middle ages due to the large numbers of knights and ladies running through the streets. (A school had been making clothes and armor out of crape paper and had been let loose to have a battle.)
We walked back to the car by way of the river and park. After resting in the hotel for about an hour, we went to a restaurant recommended by the front desk. Time for PIZZA!! Because restaurants don't open until 8:00 (even later than in France), it was a late night. We had great pizza, though. The wait staff had a good time trying to teach us Italian, and thought we were very funny. It was a wonderful meal and we look forward to our next meal.
From there it was off to bed. Saturday was going to be a big day. We have all of Turin to see in one day!!
Saturday morning we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel. Then we drove into Turin. Amazingly, we were able to find a free (read not pay) parking space! We then walked to our first stop, Duomo di San Giovanni. While it is a beautiful church in its own right, this is the church that houses The Shroud of Turin. This is the 4 yard sheet of linen that many believe to be the burial shroud of Christ. Although the actual shroud is next scheduled for public viewing in 2025, we saw the case that holds it. There was also a striking, full sized photo copy. There was a person constantly narrating the copy, always in Italian. However, we could see the outline of a man that was obviously hurt when he died. Andrew was very impressed with how clearly you can see the outline of a face. I found it very moving to stand before the case holding the shroud.
From there we moved on to the Palazzo Reale. This is a 17th century castle. Unfortunately, the Italians don't seem to be very organized and the next tour was at 1:00 (it was 11:30), so we bought tickets for the tour and went to see the San Lorenzo church. This was a really beautiful church. It is very different from any church we have ever seen. It was circular and the guide book says that it was designed by the architect, Guariano Guarini, at his best. It was very hard to explain, so I will have to let the pictures speak for themselves. There was also a side alcove with a copy of the shroud (much less crowded) and selves showing the articles of the passion. There was a replica of the crown of thorns (matched to the wounds on the shroud), samples of the nails that would have been used, and some of the whips that would have been used (also matching the wounds on the back).
We have a quick lunch of Panini, al fresco, before heading back to the tour. Although the tour was in Italian, we enjoyed the beautiful rooms and the brief written translations into English. We also met a man from England (and Canada) who was on holiday. He offered to translate if the tour was in German or Dutch, while I offered the same for French. No luck though. The castle was decorated similar to Versailles. Lots of paintings and gold. I'm sure we would have gotten more out of it if we had understood the tour. :)
I forgot to mention that Turin is the sight of the 2006 Winter Olympics. Knowing that, we knew that there was going to be some road construction while they put in a subway system. We didn't see much of that. What we did see was the whole town "sprucing up." Many of the statues were covered up and being cleaned. Many buildings as well. In fact, the next thing we tried to see. The Queen's castle is right across the square from the Palazzo Reale. However, it was closed and looked like it was being remodeled. So we moved on, consoling ourselves with gelato (ice cream) on the way.
We had quite a walk to get to the twin churches of San Carlo and San Cristina. These two churches are built right next to each other (both in the 17th century) on Piazza San Carlo. The Piazza (plaza) was described to us as one of the most beautiful in Turin. We missed the piazza, walked right on by. When we finally found it, we knew why we walked by. It is not there. It has been replaced by a hole in the ground. Apparently, they are redoing the piazza. Because the churches open onto the square, they were closed as well. We have learned that you shouldn't visit a town that is hosting the Olympics the next year. Everything is being closed in preparation for the next year!!
We then ran into the British man from the castle. It turns out he owns a bed and breakfast in Canada and invited my parents up for a stay!
We walked back to almost where we started to go to two museums that are housed in the same building, Museo Egizio and Galleria Sabauda. The Galleria is a collection of paintings from the house of Savoy (the royal family). It sounded very impressive and we were looking forward to seeing it. However, it was also close in preparation for the Olympics. So we had to settle on just the Museo. This was really cool. It is called the Egyptian museum. There were statues of Pharaohs, real mummies in real sarcophaguses, and entire tombs transplanted there. It is one of the best museums of its kind. We had a great time and the kids were very fascinated with the mummies and the food and things that were buried with them.
We were all really worn out by this time, so we headed back to the hotel to give the boys baths. We then got another recommendation for a restaurant, this time we requested pasta. The first option was closed, the second full, but the third was open. It appeared that the front desk misunderstood our request, because this was a seafood restaurant. Very traditional Italian food, but hard on Dave. He settled for the calzone, and the rest of us took the recommendation of the waiter. What we got was a pasta with mussels, calamari, squid, and a prawn. UGH!! Definitely not what I would have picked. I suffered through and most of it was pretty good. The highpoint of the meal was the dessert. You get to pick out three!!! Yummy.
We took our time in the morning and were on the road by around 10:30. When we left Turin, it started raining. As we climbed in the Alps, it started snowing. By the time we left the tunnel on the other side, it was raining again and it rained the whole way home. We got home around 7:30. A very long day. Needless to say we are tired out. Hopefully we will rest up this week.
Well, I hope you enjoyed our adventures this week. We sure did. You probably won't hear from us for a week now. Hope you are all well. We miss you.
Amy
We got up on Friday and had breakfast in the rooms, after wishing Grandpa happy birthday. Then we all packed into the car (it is kind of crowded with the six of us and the luggage) and headed to Italy. We didn't have a hard time leaving Geneva. It was much better than when we arrived. We did have one stop on the way to Italy; Mount Blanc, the highest peak in Europe. We stopped to look at the peak (and the other mountains in the Alps), and then drove UNDER it!! The tunnel took about 20 minutes, and when we came out, we were on the other side of the Alps and in Italy.
We drove for another few hours and finally arrived in Turin (Turino). We were going to skip checking in until after a little sight-seeing, but we stumbled across the hotel as we were entering town. So we checked in and picked up a map. It was very helpful! Turin is about as well marked as Geneva. But, armed with a map, we made our way to the Museo dell Automobile (Automobile museum). Turin is the Detroit of Italy, making brands like Fiat and Ferrari. They had some really cool displays of old cars starting with a model A and a model T through modern cars. They even had some steam engine cars. We had a good time wondering through the displays and were pleased that some of the displays had English translations.
Then we headed off to the Borgo Medioevala, a reconstructed medieval village. It was built in 1884. It is a small cluster of buildings, dwellings, workshops, and stores all looking onto one street with a castle at the end. The castle was really cool, but we didn't get much out of the tour. It was only in Italian. We walked through the town and felt like we were in the middle ages due to the large numbers of knights and ladies running through the streets. (A school had been making clothes and armor out of crape paper and had been let loose to have a battle.)
We walked back to the car by way of the river and park. After resting in the hotel for about an hour, we went to a restaurant recommended by the front desk. Time for PIZZA!! Because restaurants don't open until 8:00 (even later than in France), it was a late night. We had great pizza, though. The wait staff had a good time trying to teach us Italian, and thought we were very funny. It was a wonderful meal and we look forward to our next meal.
From there it was off to bed. Saturday was going to be a big day. We have all of Turin to see in one day!!
Saturday morning we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel. Then we drove into Turin. Amazingly, we were able to find a free (read not pay) parking space! We then walked to our first stop, Duomo di San Giovanni. While it is a beautiful church in its own right, this is the church that houses The Shroud of Turin. This is the 4 yard sheet of linen that many believe to be the burial shroud of Christ. Although the actual shroud is next scheduled for public viewing in 2025, we saw the case that holds it. There was also a striking, full sized photo copy. There was a person constantly narrating the copy, always in Italian. However, we could see the outline of a man that was obviously hurt when he died. Andrew was very impressed with how clearly you can see the outline of a face. I found it very moving to stand before the case holding the shroud.
From there we moved on to the Palazzo Reale. This is a 17th century castle. Unfortunately, the Italians don't seem to be very organized and the next tour was at 1:00 (it was 11:30), so we bought tickets for the tour and went to see the San Lorenzo church. This was a really beautiful church. It is very different from any church we have ever seen. It was circular and the guide book says that it was designed by the architect, Guariano Guarini, at his best. It was very hard to explain, so I will have to let the pictures speak for themselves. There was also a side alcove with a copy of the shroud (much less crowded) and selves showing the articles of the passion. There was a replica of the crown of thorns (matched to the wounds on the shroud), samples of the nails that would have been used, and some of the whips that would have been used (also matching the wounds on the back).
We have a quick lunch of Panini, al fresco, before heading back to the tour. Although the tour was in Italian, we enjoyed the beautiful rooms and the brief written translations into English. We also met a man from England (and Canada) who was on holiday. He offered to translate if the tour was in German or Dutch, while I offered the same for French. No luck though. The castle was decorated similar to Versailles. Lots of paintings and gold. I'm sure we would have gotten more out of it if we had understood the tour. :)
I forgot to mention that Turin is the sight of the 2006 Winter Olympics. Knowing that, we knew that there was going to be some road construction while they put in a subway system. We didn't see much of that. What we did see was the whole town "sprucing up." Many of the statues were covered up and being cleaned. Many buildings as well. In fact, the next thing we tried to see. The Queen's castle is right across the square from the Palazzo Reale. However, it was closed and looked like it was being remodeled. So we moved on, consoling ourselves with gelato (ice cream) on the way.
We had quite a walk to get to the twin churches of San Carlo and San Cristina. These two churches are built right next to each other (both in the 17th century) on Piazza San Carlo. The Piazza (plaza) was described to us as one of the most beautiful in Turin. We missed the piazza, walked right on by. When we finally found it, we knew why we walked by. It is not there. It has been replaced by a hole in the ground. Apparently, they are redoing the piazza. Because the churches open onto the square, they were closed as well. We have learned that you shouldn't visit a town that is hosting the Olympics the next year. Everything is being closed in preparation for the next year!!
We then ran into the British man from the castle. It turns out he owns a bed and breakfast in Canada and invited my parents up for a stay!
We walked back to almost where we started to go to two museums that are housed in the same building, Museo Egizio and Galleria Sabauda. The Galleria is a collection of paintings from the house of Savoy (the royal family). It sounded very impressive and we were looking forward to seeing it. However, it was also close in preparation for the Olympics. So we had to settle on just the Museo. This was really cool. It is called the Egyptian museum. There were statues of Pharaohs, real mummies in real sarcophaguses, and entire tombs transplanted there. It is one of the best museums of its kind. We had a great time and the kids were very fascinated with the mummies and the food and things that were buried with them.
We were all really worn out by this time, so we headed back to the hotel to give the boys baths. We then got another recommendation for a restaurant, this time we requested pasta. The first option was closed, the second full, but the third was open. It appeared that the front desk misunderstood our request, because this was a seafood restaurant. Very traditional Italian food, but hard on Dave. He settled for the calzone, and the rest of us took the recommendation of the waiter. What we got was a pasta with mussels, calamari, squid, and a prawn. UGH!! Definitely not what I would have picked. I suffered through and most of it was pretty good. The highpoint of the meal was the dessert. You get to pick out three!!! Yummy.
We took our time in the morning and were on the road by around 10:30. When we left Turin, it started raining. As we climbed in the Alps, it started snowing. By the time we left the tunnel on the other side, it was raining again and it rained the whole way home. We got home around 7:30. A very long day. Needless to say we are tired out. Hopefully we will rest up this week.
Well, I hope you enjoyed our adventures this week. We sure did. You probably won't hear from us for a week now. Hope you are all well. We miss you.
Amy
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Furman weekly, special edition, April 20 - 21
Here we are again. Still in Geneva, and still having a great vacation. It can be very stressful to travel, but I think we are all doing really well.
Wednesday, the 20th was a very long day. We saw some really amazing things, though. The day started off kind of rough. We decided to try out the public transport system. We found the train station, thought we deciphered the route and schedules, but couldn't find anyway to pay. The machine accepted only Swiss coins, of which we had none. It was rather difficult. We headed across the tracks to the train info booth and a very kind lady helped us out. She showed us the train and bus we wanted and let us purchase our tickets as well. We got on the train and headed off.
Our first stop was to walk up the hill that leads to the United Nations. On the way, we passed the World Trade Organization, UNICEF, and the World Meteorological Organization. We took pictures of all these places and the main entrance to the United Nations. Our entrance was further on, so we made a side trip to the Museum of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent. This is a really well done museum. It tells the history of the Red Cross and shows many of their outreach programs. Some highlights were the millions of cards of POWs from WWI, the oldest known Red Cross flag, and the lists of humanitarian efforts. At the end, they had rooms dedicated to all of their current goals. They even had an example of one of the mosquito nets that my women's group makes at church! That was really cool. They also had a special exhibition regarding the current wars between the US and Afghanistan and Iraq. That was very sobering and we did not take the boys in to see the exhibit.
After lunch at the museum, we headed across the street to the United Nations. After surrendering our passports at the checkpoint, we had an hour wait for our tour to begin. There was a gift shop to poke around in while we waited, though. Our tour was very informative. Our tour guide was from Senegal. We got to sit in two conference rooms, including the main one that seats 2000 delegates and that is seen on TV. Michael's favorite part was the peacocks that roam freely around the complex as part of the agreement by the man that donated the property.
We were pretty worn out by this time so we headed back to the hotel. We fed the boys in the room and then got to do something that we never expected to do. We went out to dinner alone! The boys stayed in the hotel with my parents, and we wandered down the street to the local FONDUE place. Of course! We are in Switzerland after all. It was great. We had cheese fondue and then tried one plate of raclette because Amy saw it and was jealous. All of the food was great and the waiter was very entertaining. We really enjoyed ourselves and like the benefits of traveling with grandparents. They went to the same restaurant after we got back.
Thursday, April 21st was another big day. We slept in a little, but headed out by around 10:00. We walked along the lake until we got to a bridge on the Isle de la Cite. Here we found a plaque commemorating the fact the Julius Caesar past through Geneva in 58 BC. Then we headed off to a park where the boys and Grandpa had fun playing chess with three foot tall chess pieces. Michael especially liked attacking his brother's pieces.
Our next stop was the Monument of the Reformation. This is a huge monument dedicated to the 16th century religious movement, spearheaded by William Ferrel, John Calvin, Theodore de Beze, and John Knox. There were large statues of the four men and also bas reliefs of things like the signing of the Mayflower contract. It was right across from the college that Calvin founded (can you say Calvin College?).
We also went in the church that Calvin founded and that John Knox preached in. The Presbyterians from Scotland hid here during the protestant persecutions.
From there we headed to the Archeological Site. This is a site that was discovered when the floor of a church started to fall in. They took out the floor and discovered the remains of two 4th century Christians sanctuaries, mosaic floors from the late Roman Empire, portions of three early churches, and an 11th century crypt. There were even wells from before the time of Christ. This place was amazing. They just built one thing on top of another. At one spot we saw a tomb that had been covered up by the floor of the next church. They found the mosaic under many different layers of floors, roads and dirt. There were wells from before the time of Christ uncovered as well. It was like they weren't concerned about what they built on top of, just as long as a building went up. After 20 years, they are still working on uncovering news sites and add to the museum whenever they find something new. We even saw the desk of one of the archeologists sitting amongst the diggings.
After a great lunch, we stopped at a store that specializes in Olive oil. We tried three different types of olive oil straight from the spoon. It was really good. I can't wait to make our tomato salad with my new purchase. From the olive oil, we headed to the Maison Tavel. This is the oldest house in Geneva. We searched the house from the attic to the basement. The second floor was set up with period furniture from the 1800s (complete with wallpaper). There were also samples of doors from houses that were torn down in the last hundred years, including one that had medieval graffiti! We also saw a guillotine and a model of Geneva in the early 1800s.
We were going to visit the museum of the history of watch making, but we learned that it had closed. Bummer. So instead, we walked around in downtown Geneva until we reached the waterfront again. We decided that since we were in Geneva, we should take a boat tour. We toured around Lake Lemont for an hour, before heading to dinner. There are many restaurants in Geneva, but they are all different nationalities, not many Swiss restaurants. So, we talked about it for a while and decided to go back to the fondue place that we had been to the night before. This time, we took the boys and had the raclette instead of the fondue. It was great! We all had a good time and had great food. The staff said they will see us tomorrow!
Tomorrow we head to Italy. We are going to spend two nights there and have a really long drive on Sunday. But we are only here once!! Of course, we said that before. We will check in on Monday. Until then!
Amy
Wednesday, the 20th was a very long day. We saw some really amazing things, though. The day started off kind of rough. We decided to try out the public transport system. We found the train station, thought we deciphered the route and schedules, but couldn't find anyway to pay. The machine accepted only Swiss coins, of which we had none. It was rather difficult. We headed across the tracks to the train info booth and a very kind lady helped us out. She showed us the train and bus we wanted and let us purchase our tickets as well. We got on the train and headed off.
Our first stop was to walk up the hill that leads to the United Nations. On the way, we passed the World Trade Organization, UNICEF, and the World Meteorological Organization. We took pictures of all these places and the main entrance to the United Nations. Our entrance was further on, so we made a side trip to the Museum of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent. This is a really well done museum. It tells the history of the Red Cross and shows many of their outreach programs. Some highlights were the millions of cards of POWs from WWI, the oldest known Red Cross flag, and the lists of humanitarian efforts. At the end, they had rooms dedicated to all of their current goals. They even had an example of one of the mosquito nets that my women's group makes at church! That was really cool. They also had a special exhibition regarding the current wars between the US and Afghanistan and Iraq. That was very sobering and we did not take the boys in to see the exhibit.
After lunch at the museum, we headed across the street to the United Nations. After surrendering our passports at the checkpoint, we had an hour wait for our tour to begin. There was a gift shop to poke around in while we waited, though. Our tour was very informative. Our tour guide was from Senegal. We got to sit in two conference rooms, including the main one that seats 2000 delegates and that is seen on TV. Michael's favorite part was the peacocks that roam freely around the complex as part of the agreement by the man that donated the property.
We were pretty worn out by this time so we headed back to the hotel. We fed the boys in the room and then got to do something that we never expected to do. We went out to dinner alone! The boys stayed in the hotel with my parents, and we wandered down the street to the local FONDUE place. Of course! We are in Switzerland after all. It was great. We had cheese fondue and then tried one plate of raclette because Amy saw it and was jealous. All of the food was great and the waiter was very entertaining. We really enjoyed ourselves and like the benefits of traveling with grandparents. They went to the same restaurant after we got back.
Thursday, April 21st was another big day. We slept in a little, but headed out by around 10:00. We walked along the lake until we got to a bridge on the Isle de la Cite. Here we found a plaque commemorating the fact the Julius Caesar past through Geneva in 58 BC. Then we headed off to a park where the boys and Grandpa had fun playing chess with three foot tall chess pieces. Michael especially liked attacking his brother's pieces.
Our next stop was the Monument of the Reformation. This is a huge monument dedicated to the 16th century religious movement, spearheaded by William Ferrel, John Calvin, Theodore de Beze, and John Knox. There were large statues of the four men and also bas reliefs of things like the signing of the Mayflower contract. It was right across from the college that Calvin founded (can you say Calvin College?).
We also went in the church that Calvin founded and that John Knox preached in. The Presbyterians from Scotland hid here during the protestant persecutions.
From there we headed to the Archeological Site. This is a site that was discovered when the floor of a church started to fall in. They took out the floor and discovered the remains of two 4th century Christians sanctuaries, mosaic floors from the late Roman Empire, portions of three early churches, and an 11th century crypt. There were even wells from before the time of Christ. This place was amazing. They just built one thing on top of another. At one spot we saw a tomb that had been covered up by the floor of the next church. They found the mosaic under many different layers of floors, roads and dirt. There were wells from before the time of Christ uncovered as well. It was like they weren't concerned about what they built on top of, just as long as a building went up. After 20 years, they are still working on uncovering news sites and add to the museum whenever they find something new. We even saw the desk of one of the archeologists sitting amongst the diggings.
After a great lunch, we stopped at a store that specializes in Olive oil. We tried three different types of olive oil straight from the spoon. It was really good. I can't wait to make our tomato salad with my new purchase. From the olive oil, we headed to the Maison Tavel. This is the oldest house in Geneva. We searched the house from the attic to the basement. The second floor was set up with period furniture from the 1800s (complete with wallpaper). There were also samples of doors from houses that were torn down in the last hundred years, including one that had medieval graffiti! We also saw a guillotine and a model of Geneva in the early 1800s.
We were going to visit the museum of the history of watch making, but we learned that it had closed. Bummer. So instead, we walked around in downtown Geneva until we reached the waterfront again. We decided that since we were in Geneva, we should take a boat tour. We toured around Lake Lemont for an hour, before heading to dinner. There are many restaurants in Geneva, but they are all different nationalities, not many Swiss restaurants. So, we talked about it for a while and decided to go back to the fondue place that we had been to the night before. This time, we took the boys and had the raclette instead of the fondue. It was great! We all had a good time and had great food. The staff said they will see us tomorrow!
Tomorrow we head to Italy. We are going to spend two nights there and have a really long drive on Sunday. But we are only here once!! Of course, we said that before. We will check in on Monday. Until then!
Amy
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Furman weekly, Special Edition, April 18 - 20
Hello all from Switzerland!! So many things are happening, we thought we should divide the weekly into smaller chunks. You may hear from us a few times this week.
When we left you last, we had just finished a long day in Lyon. The next day, we left Lyon to explore some of the area around the city. First, we drove south to the town of Vienne. This town is well known for being a former Gallo-Roman city.
Our first stop was St Maurice Church. It is named after a martyr from the third century. He was a captain of the guard who refused to offer a sacrifice to the Roman gods after his town was taken. So he was beheaded. He is now a saint and his relic at the church is his head. The Catholics here are very strange. It is a very pretty church and had some very impressive Flemish tapestries depicting the life of Saint Maurice, including his beheading. I told you the Catholics are weird.
From the church, we walked to a temple dedicated to Augustus Caesar and his wife, Livie. I can't explain how strange it is to be wandering around a fairly modern town (built several hundred, if not a thousand years ago) and stumble across a roman temple. It seems so out of place. We tried to take some pictures to show the incongruity. We'll see how we did.
From there it was off to Cybele's garden. Here we found the ruins of an aquaduct that filled the baths and the ruins of a temple to the goddess Cybele. There were also ruins of the anterooms where bull sacrifices were performed.
We tried to visit the L'eglise Saint-Pierre. This church has a wonderful museum of archeology in the basement, but because it was Monday, it was closed. Oh well, we consoled ourselves with lunch in a cute little Italian restaurant. The waiter was very funny and entertaining. He kept us laughing the whole meal.
We decided to head north of Lyon at this point to check out the Beaujolais wine region. We stopped at a winery that is also a 15th century chateau. The best thing about this winery is that we had free reign over the castle. We could roam the rooms at will. It wasn't a very big place, but we sure had fun playing. We checked out the chapel, guard room, dungeon (complete with bones that glowed under a black light), and the kitchen. It was a lot of fun. Then we sampled some of the local wine, and Dave and I bought a few bottles.
We asked for a recommendation for dinner from the front desk again. This time we were directed to a really cool brasserie, the Brasserie George. It is the oldest restaurant in Europe. They started serving in 1836! The meal was very good, but we couldn't eat it all. Very large portions for a French restaurant. We started with French onion soup, the tried the sauerkraut and sausage. Every table had a comment card (which is also unusual for a French restaurant), but what could we say about a restaurant that was 170 years old!
The next day we packed up and left Lyon. We were on our way to Geneva! We had a very pleasant drive through the mountains (literally, many tunnels and viaducts, really high ones) and found Geneva with no problem. Getting around in Geneva was another thing. We have been spoiled by the wonderful direction signs in France. Geneva is not so well marked. We drove around for an hour looking for the hotel. We finally had to head back out of town and start allover again. Fortunately, the town has great public transportation, so we parked the car and won't need it again until we leave.
All that driving around made us very late for lunch. We also didn't have any Swiss Francs (they aren't part European Union so no Euros), so our choices were limited. We walked into a restaurant across from the hotel and the owner was willing to serve us at such a weird time AND took credit cards. What was really cool was it was a Lebanese restaurant. Wow! This was an awesome meal. We told him it was the first time we were eating Lebanese food, so he took the menu away and just made us a bunch of samples. It was some of the best food I have ever had. We had rice in grape leaves, lamb prepared three different ways (in bread), sausage, three different salads, and two different kinds of dips for the flat breads. He also made us a fruit juice mix that was spectacular.
From lunch, we decided to walk along the water front and take in the sights. Highlights from this walk included the first protestant church in Geneva, built for the refugees fleeing from France, a clock (in Switzerland?) made from flowers, and the Jet d'eau. This is a jet of water that shoots out of Lake Lemont to a height of 460 ft. It is pretty impressive, not to mention wet. Also, all the way along, are wonderful views of the Alps in the distance.
Well, I will close this edition and fill you in on our adventures again later in the week. Hope all is well. We'll have some Fondue for you.
Amy
When we left you last, we had just finished a long day in Lyon. The next day, we left Lyon to explore some of the area around the city. First, we drove south to the town of Vienne. This town is well known for being a former Gallo-Roman city.
Our first stop was St Maurice Church. It is named after a martyr from the third century. He was a captain of the guard who refused to offer a sacrifice to the Roman gods after his town was taken. So he was beheaded. He is now a saint and his relic at the church is his head. The Catholics here are very strange. It is a very pretty church and had some very impressive Flemish tapestries depicting the life of Saint Maurice, including his beheading. I told you the Catholics are weird.
From the church, we walked to a temple dedicated to Augustus Caesar and his wife, Livie. I can't explain how strange it is to be wandering around a fairly modern town (built several hundred, if not a thousand years ago) and stumble across a roman temple. It seems so out of place. We tried to take some pictures to show the incongruity. We'll see how we did.
From there it was off to Cybele's garden. Here we found the ruins of an aquaduct that filled the baths and the ruins of a temple to the goddess Cybele. There were also ruins of the anterooms where bull sacrifices were performed.
We tried to visit the L'eglise Saint-Pierre. This church has a wonderful museum of archeology in the basement, but because it was Monday, it was closed. Oh well, we consoled ourselves with lunch in a cute little Italian restaurant. The waiter was very funny and entertaining. He kept us laughing the whole meal.
We decided to head north of Lyon at this point to check out the Beaujolais wine region. We stopped at a winery that is also a 15th century chateau. The best thing about this winery is that we had free reign over the castle. We could roam the rooms at will. It wasn't a very big place, but we sure had fun playing. We checked out the chapel, guard room, dungeon (complete with bones that glowed under a black light), and the kitchen. It was a lot of fun. Then we sampled some of the local wine, and Dave and I bought a few bottles.
We asked for a recommendation for dinner from the front desk again. This time we were directed to a really cool brasserie, the Brasserie George. It is the oldest restaurant in Europe. They started serving in 1836! The meal was very good, but we couldn't eat it all. Very large portions for a French restaurant. We started with French onion soup, the tried the sauerkraut and sausage. Every table had a comment card (which is also unusual for a French restaurant), but what could we say about a restaurant that was 170 years old!
The next day we packed up and left Lyon. We were on our way to Geneva! We had a very pleasant drive through the mountains (literally, many tunnels and viaducts, really high ones) and found Geneva with no problem. Getting around in Geneva was another thing. We have been spoiled by the wonderful direction signs in France. Geneva is not so well marked. We drove around for an hour looking for the hotel. We finally had to head back out of town and start allover again. Fortunately, the town has great public transportation, so we parked the car and won't need it again until we leave.
All that driving around made us very late for lunch. We also didn't have any Swiss Francs (they aren't part European Union so no Euros), so our choices were limited. We walked into a restaurant across from the hotel and the owner was willing to serve us at such a weird time AND took credit cards. What was really cool was it was a Lebanese restaurant. Wow! This was an awesome meal. We told him it was the first time we were eating Lebanese food, so he took the menu away and just made us a bunch of samples. It was some of the best food I have ever had. We had rice in grape leaves, lamb prepared three different ways (in bread), sausage, three different salads, and two different kinds of dips for the flat breads. He also made us a fruit juice mix that was spectacular.
From lunch, we decided to walk along the water front and take in the sights. Highlights from this walk included the first protestant church in Geneva, built for the refugees fleeing from France, a clock (in Switzerland?) made from flowers, and the Jet d'eau. This is a jet of water that shoots out of Lake Lemont to a height of 460 ft. It is pretty impressive, not to mention wet. Also, all the way along, are wonderful views of the Alps in the distance.
Well, I will close this edition and fill you in on our adventures again later in the week. Hope all is well. We'll have some Fondue for you.
Amy
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Furman weekly, April 11 - 17; Volume 3, Number 11
Well, last time we talked, we were recovering from a whirlwind visit with Wendy. We continued to rest on Monday and Tuesday, not to mention clean house. We were preparing for our next set of visitors, my parents. They arrived on Wednesday at noon. We took them out for pizza, then we just rested around the house. The trip over is quite a shock and we usually take the first day easy. Grandpa did take the kids out for a walk and had them convinced that they were lost. He isn't commenting. They made it home in time for dinner though, so all was well.
On Thursday, the boys went to the tutor's in the morning. While Andrew was there, Grandpa blew up his shaver with the 220v we have here. So we made a quick trip to the store. We also picked up some new things to try, after all we were shopping with MY father, the ultimate shopper!! We tried some French salami, ham, and three different kinds of cheeses. All were very good.
That evening, I took my parents out to the same Chinese place I took Wendy while Dave stayed home with the boys and worked. We had a fun time and my Dad learned that the cokes are very small (33cl), there are no refills, and the wine is cheaper. We all agreed that the nems are wonderful.
Friday morning, we went to downtown Toulouse so my dad could change some American money that he brought along. Silly man. After we concluded our business at the bank, we decided to do some sight-seeing downtown. We saw the Capitole square, the Marie, St Sernin cathedral, and the church that St Sernin started. We also made a stop at the museum of antiquities of Toulouse. This museum is amazing. They have rooms of Roman statuary that were all found around Toulouse. We saw busts of all of the Roman emperors from the one before Augustus (BC) to almost 400 AD, and some of their wives. Then in the basement, we saw lots of sarcophaguses that they discovered when they were remodeling the basement of the museum. It turns out that the museum was built on top of an old Roman burial ground! They had no idea that there were over 100 sarcophaguses in the basement. Some of them were left where they were, so you could see how they looked when they were found. We also found some glass containers! None of us knew that they made glass that long ago.
Saturday morning we left Toulouse around 10:00. We drove all the way to Lyon. It was about a six hour trip. It rained a lot of the way, but while we were in the mountains it snowed!! The only time it snows here is when people from home are here.
After checking into the hotel and baths for the boys, we headed downtown to a restaurant recommended by the front desk. It is called the Trois Maries (three mayors) and is apparently a very well known restaurant in Lyon. It was really good. We broke our long standing avoidance of beef and had steak. (It is said that now the beef here is safer than there. I hope so.) It was wonderful. There was a very funny Frenchman sitting at the table next to us and at one point he even took our picture for us. It was a really fun night, but very late. We got back to the hotel at 11:00!
Sunday morning we woke up to a steady rain. Yuck. We dragged our feet getting ready, but it didn't show any signs of letting up, so we headed out anyway. By the time we got to Lyon center, it was pouring. We had a hard time finding a place to park due to a marathon being run through downtown, but we eventually managed it. Then we explored old Lyon for a bit. It is a very pretty town, with tons of little alleyway streets all over. Just what you would see in the movies. We tried to go to a museum (to get out of the rain) that said that it was open everyday, but it was closed. So we headed over to the Cathedral Saint Jean and arrived just as it closed for lunch. We instead headed to the cable car to see the basilica at the top of cliff overhanging the city. But when we got to the top, it was nowhere to be found. We searched for a while, decided that we were hungry, and headed back down to find some lunch. We stopped at a friendly brasserie and all had crepes for lunch (they are not just dessert!)
We then stopped by St Jean's cathedral. It is very pretty and has the honor of having the organ that was the first one to be recorded. They also have a very unusual clock. It has been around since at least 1383, and from it you can determine the time, the date, the year (yes, it said 2005), any liturgical holidays, and your astrological sign. In addition, three times a day, it acted out when Peter denied Christ three times. The cock even crowed. It was really something to see!
Then we took the cable car back up to the top of the cliff (on a different line this time) and found the basilica. It was built to show how powerful the catholic church was after the very anti-church revolution. There are mosaics from floor to ceiling (including the floor) and all use gold. The rest is gilded in gold. We will post some pictures, but decided that it would be really hard to describe. It was beautiful, but over the top, too. Too much beauty, if there is such a thing.
We looked out over the cliff to see the city. It was a very beautiful view, but the edges of the city disappeared into the rain clouds (yes, it was still raining).
Our last stop of the day was the Roman theater and museum. The theater was impressive, but nothing like the museum. It was amazing. There were tons of displays. There were funeral monuments, statues, mosaics, signs, catapults, money, and even glass (we weren't surprised by this anymore though). One of the most memorable was a huge bronze plaque (20 ft x 15 ft) that reprinted a speech by a Roman emperor from in 61 AD. It was amazing. We also saw coins and coin molds from before Christ! The only problem was that we had about an hour to spend there and we only saw about a third of the museum! They kicked us out at closing time. We will try to work a trip back into our busy schedule.
We had PB&Js in the hotel and are heading off to an early bed. My parents are out to dinner somewhere. We hope they can find their way back to the hotel. We are going to spend one more day here in Lyon, then move on to Geneva. From there we aren't sure. We will just have to see. We will be sure to let you know what we are up to, though!!
Until next week!
Amy
On Thursday, the boys went to the tutor's in the morning. While Andrew was there, Grandpa blew up his shaver with the 220v we have here. So we made a quick trip to the store. We also picked up some new things to try, after all we were shopping with MY father, the ultimate shopper!! We tried some French salami, ham, and three different kinds of cheeses. All were very good.
That evening, I took my parents out to the same Chinese place I took Wendy while Dave stayed home with the boys and worked. We had a fun time and my Dad learned that the cokes are very small (33cl), there are no refills, and the wine is cheaper. We all agreed that the nems are wonderful.
Friday morning, we went to downtown Toulouse so my dad could change some American money that he brought along. Silly man. After we concluded our business at the bank, we decided to do some sight-seeing downtown. We saw the Capitole square, the Marie, St Sernin cathedral, and the church that St Sernin started. We also made a stop at the museum of antiquities of Toulouse. This museum is amazing. They have rooms of Roman statuary that were all found around Toulouse. We saw busts of all of the Roman emperors from the one before Augustus (BC) to almost 400 AD, and some of their wives. Then in the basement, we saw lots of sarcophaguses that they discovered when they were remodeling the basement of the museum. It turns out that the museum was built on top of an old Roman burial ground! They had no idea that there were over 100 sarcophaguses in the basement. Some of them were left where they were, so you could see how they looked when they were found. We also found some glass containers! None of us knew that they made glass that long ago.
Saturday morning we left Toulouse around 10:00. We drove all the way to Lyon. It was about a six hour trip. It rained a lot of the way, but while we were in the mountains it snowed!! The only time it snows here is when people from home are here.
After checking into the hotel and baths for the boys, we headed downtown to a restaurant recommended by the front desk. It is called the Trois Maries (three mayors) and is apparently a very well known restaurant in Lyon. It was really good. We broke our long standing avoidance of beef and had steak. (It is said that now the beef here is safer than there. I hope so.) It was wonderful. There was a very funny Frenchman sitting at the table next to us and at one point he even took our picture for us. It was a really fun night, but very late. We got back to the hotel at 11:00!
Sunday morning we woke up to a steady rain. Yuck. We dragged our feet getting ready, but it didn't show any signs of letting up, so we headed out anyway. By the time we got to Lyon center, it was pouring. We had a hard time finding a place to park due to a marathon being run through downtown, but we eventually managed it. Then we explored old Lyon for a bit. It is a very pretty town, with tons of little alleyway streets all over. Just what you would see in the movies. We tried to go to a museum (to get out of the rain) that said that it was open everyday, but it was closed. So we headed over to the Cathedral Saint Jean and arrived just as it closed for lunch. We instead headed to the cable car to see the basilica at the top of cliff overhanging the city. But when we got to the top, it was nowhere to be found. We searched for a while, decided that we were hungry, and headed back down to find some lunch. We stopped at a friendly brasserie and all had crepes for lunch (they are not just dessert!)
We then stopped by St Jean's cathedral. It is very pretty and has the honor of having the organ that was the first one to be recorded. They also have a very unusual clock. It has been around since at least 1383, and from it you can determine the time, the date, the year (yes, it said 2005), any liturgical holidays, and your astrological sign. In addition, three times a day, it acted out when Peter denied Christ three times. The cock even crowed. It was really something to see!
Then we took the cable car back up to the top of the cliff (on a different line this time) and found the basilica. It was built to show how powerful the catholic church was after the very anti-church revolution. There are mosaics from floor to ceiling (including the floor) and all use gold. The rest is gilded in gold. We will post some pictures, but decided that it would be really hard to describe. It was beautiful, but over the top, too. Too much beauty, if there is such a thing.
We looked out over the cliff to see the city. It was a very beautiful view, but the edges of the city disappeared into the rain clouds (yes, it was still raining).
Our last stop of the day was the Roman theater and museum. The theater was impressive, but nothing like the museum. It was amazing. There were tons of displays. There were funeral monuments, statues, mosaics, signs, catapults, money, and even glass (we weren't surprised by this anymore though). One of the most memorable was a huge bronze plaque (20 ft x 15 ft) that reprinted a speech by a Roman emperor from in 61 AD. It was amazing. We also saw coins and coin molds from before Christ! The only problem was that we had about an hour to spend there and we only saw about a third of the museum! They kicked us out at closing time. We will try to work a trip back into our busy schedule.
We had PB&Js in the hotel and are heading off to an early bed. My parents are out to dinner somewhere. We hope they can find their way back to the hotel. We are going to spend one more day here in Lyon, then move on to Geneva. From there we aren't sure. We will just have to see. We will be sure to let you know what we are up to, though!!
Until next week!
Amy
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Furman weekly, April 4 - 10; Volume 3, Number 10
Whew! What a week. We are worn out.
On Monday, after the boys went to the tutor's, we rested around the house so Wendy wouldn't be worn out when she went back to school next week. We had Roxanna come over that night, though, so we could take Wendy to the P'tit Montagnard, our favorite fondue restaurant. Our first stop was the capitol square for drinks. Wendy tried a southern France favorite, Pastis. It tastes like black licorice. Then it was off to dinner. We had a great time. It is fun to share these places with our family.
On Tuesday, while Dave was at work, we packed up and headed to Albi. Even though the boys were just there, we had lots of fun. Due to construction, we had to park a ways from the cathedral. But we stumbled across a new museum. This museum follows the travels of a French explorer, Laperouse. He sailed all over, and meet his end at New Zeeland in Botany Bay. We had fun looking at all of the items that they recently pulled up from the shipwreck.
Then it was off to lunch. Wendy tried the French favorite, croq monsieur. We also enjoyed some hot chocolate after the meal. Of course.
The church was next on our list. We got there right as it opened after lunch and looked around for a while. Unfortunately, due to the death of the pope, only certain parts of the church were lit. The treasure and the choir stalls were closed. But Wendy was impressed by the beauty of the cathedral. She agreed that it is nearly impossible to describe the impressiveness of the building.
From there, we went through the Toulouse-Lautrec museum. This isn't a museum geared to kids, but ours did really well on their second trip through. We rented audio-guides and Michael loved searching for the numbers on the paintings. Then he would listen to the guide, even though I don't think he could understand any of it.
When we got home that night, we noticed that we no longer had any hot water. Oh No!! Another plumbing saga. How long would this take?
Wednesday morning we spent resting. Dave came home at 3:00 (after watching the A380 roll to the test hanger) to work from home. Wendy and I left and headed to the "center commercial." We sat outside in the sun and had "tea" before heading in to check out the grocery store. It is quite an experience. We looked at things for a while and Wendy picked up some surprises for people back home. After dropping off our treasures, the two of us headed to dinner. We went out for Chinese. You would think that it would be the same from country to country, wouldn't you? Nope. Our favorite things are nems. They are like spring rolls that you wrap in a leaf of lettuce with a sprig of mint. Yummy!! We had a lot of fun hanging out together, and finished off the night sharing a bottle of cidre with Dave at home.
On Thursday, the boys visited with the tutor. I dropped them off in between visits from the plumber. No hot water is an two day wait. Not bad. After he had left, I jumped into the shower before going to pick up Andrew. When I got out, we noticed water pouring out of the hot water heater! No shower for Wendy yet. After a few frantic phone calls, I left to pick up Dave and Andrew. In the meantime, the water heater healed itself and all was well. We quick grabbed a bite to eat and headed off to Auch, the home of D'Artagnan (the three musketeers). On the way, we stumbled across pieces of the A380, getting ready to squeeze through the town just north of Colomiers, on it's way to the assembly plant. Cool. Check out the size of the fuselage compared to the size of the truck towing it. (by the way, the website is up and running. Check us out at efurman.com)
When we got to Auch, we discovered that it was very crowded. There was a funeral going on in the church and a carnival in the park. There were people waiting in the parking lots on the off chance someone would come back to their car and leave a space. We drove around for a little while and then, after some fancy maneuvering on our part, parked on the curb, down the street from the church. All four wheels up on the sidewalk. When in France...
We explored the city and ended up back at the cathedral. Wendy took some really great pictures, while I entertained Michael. He is tired of sight-seeing. He kept saying "I hate this church." and "This music is giving me a headache." There were organ lessons going on so they did repeat a lot, but I thought it was very pretty.
On the way home, we passed by the A380 again. They were preparing to take it through town. They raise the wings up on an angle so they fit better down the skinny streets.
Friday morning, we had a special birthday breakfast for Wendy. Then we rested because we had a busy day ahead. Wendy and I dropped the boys off with Lisa Reich (after another really fancy parking job downtown) and went to downtown Toulouse for the afternoon. We had a great lunch in the sun on the terrace of a cute brasserie. Then we explored two different churches to compare different building styles. Then we decided to stop and have hot chocolate (of course) at a brasserie. After we ordered, the sky opened up and it POURED!! But by the time we were done, the sun was shinning again. On our way back to pick up the boys, we stopped at two different chocolateries to sample and purchase sweets for Wendy to bring home. In one of the shops (the first place that made chocolate in France) they sold hot chocolate. Well, I am not one to turn that down. So I ordered one. Wow. First, she took powdered cocao, mixed it with a little bit of liquid ginger. She stirred it for a while until Wendy said it looked like crude oil. The she took a piece of 92% cocao chocolate and broke it into pieces to add to the cup. After this was mixed well (this took up 3/4 of the cup), she added hot milk. This was awesome. I will be stopping there whenever I am in Toulouse!!
That night we headed off to the Cote de Boeuf. This is the restaurant where we go to feel cared for and known in Toulouse. Dave is always greeted with a handshake at the door. Now I am greeted as well. A handshake and a kiss!!! I knew they would take good care of Wendy on her birthday. And they did. We had a wonderful meal. Then, we not only got after dinner drinks (on the house), she left the bottle. And when she felt that we were not taking advantage of this, she refilled our cups! It's good to know people.
We slept in some on Saturday, so we got a late start. We decided to head north to visit the caves of Lascaux II. As we got underway, the skies turned very threatening. We considered turning around and heading south, but decided to chance it. After a downpour, the sun came out and the drive was very pretty. We stopped for lunch in Cahors, but first visited the devil's bridge. Apparently, to find the money to finish the bridge, the city leader's made a deal with the devil. In exchange for a finished bridge, the devil would get the soul of the first person who crossed the bridge. After it was finished, no one would cross, so the city sent a dog across. The devil was furious!! He caused the center tower to fall down. Each time the city rebuilt the tower, it fell down again. Finally, they built a small demon onto the tower. This seems to have appeased the devil, because the tower is still standing.
After visiting the bridge, we stopped at a cave (wine seller) to purchase a specific brand of cahors wine that we enjoyed but can't find in the store. How fun to be familiar enough with the wine to know where to find a certain kind. While we were in the store, it started snowing heavily. What is going on with the weather? By the time we left the store, the sun was shining again. Then we grabbed sandwiches to eat in the car and went on our way.
We visited Lascaux II again, while Dave and Michael took a walk. This tour guide told us some new things. He also turned off all of the lights and held up a lighter to the walls to show us how the paintings seem to move in the firelight. Very impressive.
Then it was off to the Parc Prehistoric. We had fun walking through the park in the sun, although it was quite cold. Because we were there so late in the day, the flint knapper had already left. Maybe he will be there when we return with my parents.
We started heading for home, but decided that since it was Wendy's last day, we should make one more stop. We decided to eat in Sarlat (where they taped EVER AFTER). We ate at a cozy brasserie, where Wendy had her first French pizza (without egg) and her last hot chocolate. It was very late when we finally got home, but we had a really good day.
Wendy left this morning and will be home late tonight. I think that she had a fun visit and that we didn't tire her out too much. I know that we enjoyed having her. We miss her and she was only here for a week. I hope that she can come again.
The Reich's came over for haircuts and pizza tonight. We had a good evening and sent the kids to bed early. They are worn out from a week of playing tourist and need to rest up before my parents arrive on Wednesday. Then we are planning a week long vacation starting Saturday. We hope to make it to Switzerland and maybe even Italy! We will keep you posted.
Until next week!
Amy
On Monday, after the boys went to the tutor's, we rested around the house so Wendy wouldn't be worn out when she went back to school next week. We had Roxanna come over that night, though, so we could take Wendy to the P'tit Montagnard, our favorite fondue restaurant. Our first stop was the capitol square for drinks. Wendy tried a southern France favorite, Pastis. It tastes like black licorice. Then it was off to dinner. We had a great time. It is fun to share these places with our family.
On Tuesday, while Dave was at work, we packed up and headed to Albi. Even though the boys were just there, we had lots of fun. Due to construction, we had to park a ways from the cathedral. But we stumbled across a new museum. This museum follows the travels of a French explorer, Laperouse. He sailed all over, and meet his end at New Zeeland in Botany Bay. We had fun looking at all of the items that they recently pulled up from the shipwreck.
Then it was off to lunch. Wendy tried the French favorite, croq monsieur. We also enjoyed some hot chocolate after the meal. Of course.
The church was next on our list. We got there right as it opened after lunch and looked around for a while. Unfortunately, due to the death of the pope, only certain parts of the church were lit. The treasure and the choir stalls were closed. But Wendy was impressed by the beauty of the cathedral. She agreed that it is nearly impossible to describe the impressiveness of the building.
From there, we went through the Toulouse-Lautrec museum. This isn't a museum geared to kids, but ours did really well on their second trip through. We rented audio-guides and Michael loved searching for the numbers on the paintings. Then he would listen to the guide, even though I don't think he could understand any of it.
When we got home that night, we noticed that we no longer had any hot water. Oh No!! Another plumbing saga. How long would this take?
Wednesday morning we spent resting. Dave came home at 3:00 (after watching the A380 roll to the test hanger) to work from home. Wendy and I left and headed to the "center commercial." We sat outside in the sun and had "tea" before heading in to check out the grocery store. It is quite an experience. We looked at things for a while and Wendy picked up some surprises for people back home. After dropping off our treasures, the two of us headed to dinner. We went out for Chinese. You would think that it would be the same from country to country, wouldn't you? Nope. Our favorite things are nems. They are like spring rolls that you wrap in a leaf of lettuce with a sprig of mint. Yummy!! We had a lot of fun hanging out together, and finished off the night sharing a bottle of cidre with Dave at home.
On Thursday, the boys visited with the tutor. I dropped them off in between visits from the plumber. No hot water is an two day wait. Not bad. After he had left, I jumped into the shower before going to pick up Andrew. When I got out, we noticed water pouring out of the hot water heater! No shower for Wendy yet. After a few frantic phone calls, I left to pick up Dave and Andrew. In the meantime, the water heater healed itself and all was well. We quick grabbed a bite to eat and headed off to Auch, the home of D'Artagnan (the three musketeers). On the way, we stumbled across pieces of the A380, getting ready to squeeze through the town just north of Colomiers, on it's way to the assembly plant. Cool. Check out the size of the fuselage compared to the size of the truck towing it. (by the way, the website is up and running. Check us out at efurman.com)
When we got to Auch, we discovered that it was very crowded. There was a funeral going on in the church and a carnival in the park. There were people waiting in the parking lots on the off chance someone would come back to their car and leave a space. We drove around for a little while and then, after some fancy maneuvering on our part, parked on the curb, down the street from the church. All four wheels up on the sidewalk. When in France...
We explored the city and ended up back at the cathedral. Wendy took some really great pictures, while I entertained Michael. He is tired of sight-seeing. He kept saying "I hate this church." and "This music is giving me a headache." There were organ lessons going on so they did repeat a lot, but I thought it was very pretty.
On the way home, we passed by the A380 again. They were preparing to take it through town. They raise the wings up on an angle so they fit better down the skinny streets.
Friday morning, we had a special birthday breakfast for Wendy. Then we rested because we had a busy day ahead. Wendy and I dropped the boys off with Lisa Reich (after another really fancy parking job downtown) and went to downtown Toulouse for the afternoon. We had a great lunch in the sun on the terrace of a cute brasserie. Then we explored two different churches to compare different building styles. Then we decided to stop and have hot chocolate (of course) at a brasserie. After we ordered, the sky opened up and it POURED!! But by the time we were done, the sun was shinning again. On our way back to pick up the boys, we stopped at two different chocolateries to sample and purchase sweets for Wendy to bring home. In one of the shops (the first place that made chocolate in France) they sold hot chocolate. Well, I am not one to turn that down. So I ordered one. Wow. First, she took powdered cocao, mixed it with a little bit of liquid ginger. She stirred it for a while until Wendy said it looked like crude oil. The she took a piece of 92% cocao chocolate and broke it into pieces to add to the cup. After this was mixed well (this took up 3/4 of the cup), she added hot milk. This was awesome. I will be stopping there whenever I am in Toulouse!!
That night we headed off to the Cote de Boeuf. This is the restaurant where we go to feel cared for and known in Toulouse. Dave is always greeted with a handshake at the door. Now I am greeted as well. A handshake and a kiss!!! I knew they would take good care of Wendy on her birthday. And they did. We had a wonderful meal. Then, we not only got after dinner drinks (on the house), she left the bottle. And when she felt that we were not taking advantage of this, she refilled our cups! It's good to know people.
We slept in some on Saturday, so we got a late start. We decided to head north to visit the caves of Lascaux II. As we got underway, the skies turned very threatening. We considered turning around and heading south, but decided to chance it. After a downpour, the sun came out and the drive was very pretty. We stopped for lunch in Cahors, but first visited the devil's bridge. Apparently, to find the money to finish the bridge, the city leader's made a deal with the devil. In exchange for a finished bridge, the devil would get the soul of the first person who crossed the bridge. After it was finished, no one would cross, so the city sent a dog across. The devil was furious!! He caused the center tower to fall down. Each time the city rebuilt the tower, it fell down again. Finally, they built a small demon onto the tower. This seems to have appeased the devil, because the tower is still standing.
After visiting the bridge, we stopped at a cave (wine seller) to purchase a specific brand of cahors wine that we enjoyed but can't find in the store. How fun to be familiar enough with the wine to know where to find a certain kind. While we were in the store, it started snowing heavily. What is going on with the weather? By the time we left the store, the sun was shining again. Then we grabbed sandwiches to eat in the car and went on our way.
We visited Lascaux II again, while Dave and Michael took a walk. This tour guide told us some new things. He also turned off all of the lights and held up a lighter to the walls to show us how the paintings seem to move in the firelight. Very impressive.
Then it was off to the Parc Prehistoric. We had fun walking through the park in the sun, although it was quite cold. Because we were there so late in the day, the flint knapper had already left. Maybe he will be there when we return with my parents.
We started heading for home, but decided that since it was Wendy's last day, we should make one more stop. We decided to eat in Sarlat (where they taped EVER AFTER). We ate at a cozy brasserie, where Wendy had her first French pizza (without egg) and her last hot chocolate. It was very late when we finally got home, but we had a really good day.
Wendy left this morning and will be home late tonight. I think that she had a fun visit and that we didn't tire her out too much. I know that we enjoyed having her. We miss her and she was only here for a week. I hope that she can come again.
The Reich's came over for haircuts and pizza tonight. We had a good evening and sent the kids to bed early. They are worn out from a week of playing tourist and need to rest up before my parents arrive on Wednesday. Then we are planning a week long vacation starting Saturday. We hope to make it to Switzerland and maybe even Italy! We will keep you posted.
Until next week!
Amy
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Furman weekly, March 29 - April 3; Volume 3, Number 9
March 29 - April 3
Bon jour all. It's Sunday night again, so the saga continues.
This was a very short week. Monday was a vacation day, so things started off on Tuesday. The boys did the school routine. Things are going very well with the tutor. Andrew is making great advances in math and is starting to read magazines in French! Michael is learning a lot of French as well and has virtually no accent. That means when we don't know how to say something, we ask him. It's fun. We are also are learning lots of French medieval history. It is fun to be able to live our lessons each weekend. Learn the history, go see the history. What a cool way to learn.
On Friday, we decided that I had spent too much time with the boys and needed an emergency date night. So we hired Roxanna and headed off. This time Dave took me past the hanger where the A380 is. It was a long way away, but I could tell it was very big. The most noticeable thing were the wings. They are attached at the bottom of the belly of the plane. Then they are angled very strangely. They are really curved. The plane is being moved to the test facility next week, which is right near where we live, so maybe we can get a picture for you to see.
On Saturday morning, Wendy arrived!! Her plane from Amsterdam had computer problems, so they were delayed while they got a new plane, but she arrived all in one piece, with all of her luggage, almost. Her carry on had to be checked on the plane from Amsterdam. That was fine, except that when she arrived in Toulouse, that bag wasn't considered and international bag. All of her other bags arrived on the international belt. We thought that one was lost. Of course, it was the one with all the important things in it, it was a carry on after all. It turns out the airline found it on the domestic flights belt, but not until after we left. So Dave went back to the airport to retrieve it later that night.
After Wendy unpacked, we didn't want her to sleep, so we drove her to downtown Toulouse. The first thing we saw was a demonstration of teachers. They have been striking about once a week, to protest changes in the education system. Wendy, being a teacher, was very excited to see this. We walked over a lot of downtown, saw the capitole square, the inside of a chocolate shop, the inside of the capitole building, and visited a creperie (You can't visit France without tasting a crepe!). We walked a lot and wore Wendy out. Then, since we were downtown, we stopped by and visited with the Reich's. They had fun talking with Wendy.
After we got back to the house, we fed Wendy her first taste of French food; Fondue, of course! It was a very good meal, complete with Apple tarte for dessert. Then Wendy headed off to bed.
On Sunday, we decided to take Wendy to see Carcassonne. What fun! The walled city was just as impressive as always. Our first stop was lunch (of course. As Wendy says, in France it's all about the food). Wendy sampled the regional dish, cassoulet. Yum!
Then it was off to tour the castle. We first toured the museum, full of sarcophaguses and various other medieval objects. Then we took in a tour of the castle and part of the ramparts - in English, no less. It was a great tour and we learned lots we didn't know, including that the king, Louis XIV, added pointy blue slate roofs to the towers so that everyone knew it belonged to him. Two of the towers, weren't reconstructed correctly and have pointy orange tile roofs. This is causing some offense to the French people. Pointy roofs are from northern France. Orange tiles are from the south of France. So... when the orange roofs are old and need to be replaced, they will use blue slate. Then everything will match. This seemed to be a big deal to the tour guide. Wendy found it very funny.
After touring the cathedral (which, by the way is one of only three in France that has Chartes blue stained glass windows), we did some souvenir shopping. Then Andrew took Wendy to the School museum. They had a good time playing with the quills and ink. Then it was off to home for taco dinner and bed.
This promises to be a fun and busy week. We have so much that we want to show Wendy and she has a birthday this week. We will have lots of fun.
Until next time!
Amy
Bon jour all. It's Sunday night again, so the saga continues.
This was a very short week. Monday was a vacation day, so things started off on Tuesday. The boys did the school routine. Things are going very well with the tutor. Andrew is making great advances in math and is starting to read magazines in French! Michael is learning a lot of French as well and has virtually no accent. That means when we don't know how to say something, we ask him. It's fun. We are also are learning lots of French medieval history. It is fun to be able to live our lessons each weekend. Learn the history, go see the history. What a cool way to learn.
On Friday, we decided that I had spent too much time with the boys and needed an emergency date night. So we hired Roxanna and headed off. This time Dave took me past the hanger where the A380 is. It was a long way away, but I could tell it was very big. The most noticeable thing were the wings. They are attached at the bottom of the belly of the plane. Then they are angled very strangely. They are really curved. The plane is being moved to the test facility next week, which is right near where we live, so maybe we can get a picture for you to see.
On Saturday morning, Wendy arrived!! Her plane from Amsterdam had computer problems, so they were delayed while they got a new plane, but she arrived all in one piece, with all of her luggage, almost. Her carry on had to be checked on the plane from Amsterdam. That was fine, except that when she arrived in Toulouse, that bag wasn't considered and international bag. All of her other bags arrived on the international belt. We thought that one was lost. Of course, it was the one with all the important things in it, it was a carry on after all. It turns out the airline found it on the domestic flights belt, but not until after we left. So Dave went back to the airport to retrieve it later that night.
After Wendy unpacked, we didn't want her to sleep, so we drove her to downtown Toulouse. The first thing we saw was a demonstration of teachers. They have been striking about once a week, to protest changes in the education system. Wendy, being a teacher, was very excited to see this. We walked over a lot of downtown, saw the capitole square, the inside of a chocolate shop, the inside of the capitole building, and visited a creperie (You can't visit France without tasting a crepe!). We walked a lot and wore Wendy out. Then, since we were downtown, we stopped by and visited with the Reich's. They had fun talking with Wendy.
After we got back to the house, we fed Wendy her first taste of French food; Fondue, of course! It was a very good meal, complete with Apple tarte for dessert. Then Wendy headed off to bed.
On Sunday, we decided to take Wendy to see Carcassonne. What fun! The walled city was just as impressive as always. Our first stop was lunch (of course. As Wendy says, in France it's all about the food). Wendy sampled the regional dish, cassoulet. Yum!
Then it was off to tour the castle. We first toured the museum, full of sarcophaguses and various other medieval objects. Then we took in a tour of the castle and part of the ramparts - in English, no less. It was a great tour and we learned lots we didn't know, including that the king, Louis XIV, added pointy blue slate roofs to the towers so that everyone knew it belonged to him. Two of the towers, weren't reconstructed correctly and have pointy orange tile roofs. This is causing some offense to the French people. Pointy roofs are from northern France. Orange tiles are from the south of France. So... when the orange roofs are old and need to be replaced, they will use blue slate. Then everything will match. This seemed to be a big deal to the tour guide. Wendy found it very funny.
After touring the cathedral (which, by the way is one of only three in France that has Chartes blue stained glass windows), we did some souvenir shopping. Then Andrew took Wendy to the School museum. They had a good time playing with the quills and ink. Then it was off to home for taco dinner and bed.
This promises to be a fun and busy week. We have so much that we want to show Wendy and she has a birthday this week. We will have lots of fun.
Until next time!
Amy
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Furman weekly, March 21 - 28 ; Volume 3, Number 8
Joyous Paques a vous!! Happy Easter to you all!!
Has it really been two months? This is the eighth edition of the Furman Weekly so it must be, but it has gone so fast it is hard to believe.
As you recall, last week we had dropped Dave off at the airport to send him off to Germany. He arrived home around midnight on Monday. He had a good trip and only got lost twice on the way to the hotel. He stayed in Friedrichshafen, Germany, on Lake Constance. This is the border between Germany and Switzerland. He could see the Alps and flew near Mount Blanc, the tallest mountain in the Alps.
The rest of the week was short, due to the Easter holiday. The boys went to school and Dave went to work as usual. On Wednesday, while Andrew was at the tutor's, Lisa came over to spend the morning at our house. I am helping her plan her trip to Paris next month. We had a good morning and commented that it is really nice to have someone to chat with that has the same set of references. We will work on her trip again.
Thursday night was date night again. This time we went back to the capitol square to sit and watch the world go by. It had turned a little colder, so we had our hot chocolate first. Then we headed off to dinner. We really enjoy spending this time alone together. We get a lot of family time when we are here, so we really appreciate any time we can get alone.
On Friday morning, we met the Reich's and headed off for a long weekend. This time we decided to head to the Atlantic coast near the Spanish border. This region is known as the Pays-Basque. It was about a three and a half hour drive. After we checked into the hotel, we headed off to the town of Biarritz. This is a beautiful coastal town. We walked through the town for a bit, then the boys played on the beach for a while. Mom walked in the sand for a bit, then advised that everyone be careful or they would get wet. Turns out Mom knows best. David's pant legs got wet, Andrew's pants were quite wet all the way up, and Michael? Well, Michael fell flat into a wave. He was soaked from his shoulders down. After that, the beach didn't seem as fun. We tried to walk a little through the town, but the boys were too uncomfortable. So we headed back to the hotel for baths and clean clothes.
After everyone was clean and dry, we headed off to find some dinner. The backseat drivers requested Italian, and the Men in the front delivered. We were a little worried after we stopped because there was no one else in the restaurant and no one else came in while we were there. That is usually a bad sign. However, the food was wonderful and the service was very attentive (there was no one else to worry about). Then we had one of the regional desserts, gateaux Basque. WOW!! It is probably good that we can't get this cake anywhere else. It is great! We had it every time we could the whole weekend.
The next day, we started of the day at the Museum of Chocolate. We learned the history of making chocolate, starting with the Aztecs. Did you know that only men were allowed to have it in the beginning? We even got to try some pure Cacao. It is very strong. Then it was served as hot chocolate (heaven!!). This was a very educational and tasty tour. We also met an English family who were very friendly and gave us some suggestions of places to visit when we go to England next month.
Then we headed south to the coastal town of St Jean-de-Luz. We had a traditional Basque lunch (Paella and poulet (chicken) Basque) complete with gatuaex Basque. Yum. Then we wandered around the town and saw the house that King Louis XIV (the sun king) built for himself and the one built for his future bride. Then while Michael played on the beach with Dave and Tom, Amy, Lisa, and Andrew went to see the church where Louis XIV was married. It is a beautiful church and was decorated for Easter the next day.
After sampling some of the local macaroons (the recipe hasn't changed since they were sampled by Louis XIV on his wedding day), we went back into the car. We decided to drive to Spain for dinner. (Can you imagine!?!)
We drove down the coast to the city of San Sebastian. What a beautiful city. We walked around the city for about two hours, checking out two churches, a mall, and an ice cream shop. We bought some souvenirs and then headed to dinner. UGH!! The food was very good, but ordering was a problem. We were all so confused. Everything was in Spanish and even so close to the border, no one spoke French, not to mention English. The waitress did speak German. Unfortunately, Dave didn't learn enough while he was there this week. We finally struggled through ordering, enjoyed our dinner (and some GREAT Sangria), and decided to head home to France. It helped us to see how comfortable we have become in our new country.
The next day was Easter. After the boys found the eggs that the bunny hid in the hotel room, we headed off for a day of ups and downs. Our first stop was the Petit Train. We boarded the train and took a 30 minute trip up mount Rhune. This mountain is 902 meters (~3,000 feet)above sea level, the tallest one in the area. When we reached the top, we walked around a bit until we spotted a magician doing tricks. He was entertaining children for Easter. While we were watching, he picked Andrew out to help him do some tricks!! After a little explaining, the magician started translating into English for him. It was a good bit of magic and the boys both got balloon animals.
We headed back down the mountain and headed off to our next stop, hoping to find lunch on the way (it is a pretty rural area). We found the only restaurant on the way, and stopped in. It smelled wonderful! But alas, it was 2:15. Lunch is only served until 2:00. We were turned away. Fortunately, I also stock snacks in case of a situation like this. We snacked on the way to the bottom of the mountains. Literally. Our next stop was a cave.
After grabbing a sandwich at the stand where you bought the tickets for the tour, we took a tour of the caves of the Pays-Basque. Unfortunately, the tour started out with a 15 minute informational video about bats. YUCK! We were a little worried about the tour after that. However, it turned out to be a good tour about the people who lived in these caves 40-20,000 years ago. We did see some bats, but also lots of neat rock formations, an underground river, a magma tube, and underground pools.
Then it was back to town for dinner. We almost stopped at a Tex-Mex place, but opted for a seafood place on the beach. Very good dinner and our last taste of gateaux-basque. Then it was off to bed.
Monday morning we lounged at the hotel, eating, playing ping-pong and play station, and packing. We checked out and headed to Pau for lunch. Because the French take Easter Monday as a holiday, many places were closed, but we tried a new thing called a Panchetta. It was sort of like a pizza on a really big piece of bread. It was very good. I tried to order Sangria (I thought since we were near the border, it might be as good), but they only had the non-alcoholic version available. How strange, in France!
Then we walked around the grounds of the castle in Pau. Since the tour is in French and we have been here before, we decided to skip it. We did have a lot of fun walking around in the gardens, though.
We headed home then. We unpacked and had dinner. The boys are both glad to be "home." It's good to know that they are adjusting to living in a new place.
This will be a quiet week. We are preparing for a visit from Amy's sister, Wendy. She arrives on Saturday, so we will spend all of next week showing her the sights. We can't wait.
Sorry this edition was so long. We had a lot of things to tell you all. We still miss you and look forward to your notes and emails. Until next week.
A bientot
Amy
Has it really been two months? This is the eighth edition of the Furman Weekly so it must be, but it has gone so fast it is hard to believe.
As you recall, last week we had dropped Dave off at the airport to send him off to Germany. He arrived home around midnight on Monday. He had a good trip and only got lost twice on the way to the hotel. He stayed in Friedrichshafen, Germany, on Lake Constance. This is the border between Germany and Switzerland. He could see the Alps and flew near Mount Blanc, the tallest mountain in the Alps.
The rest of the week was short, due to the Easter holiday. The boys went to school and Dave went to work as usual. On Wednesday, while Andrew was at the tutor's, Lisa came over to spend the morning at our house. I am helping her plan her trip to Paris next month. We had a good morning and commented that it is really nice to have someone to chat with that has the same set of references. We will work on her trip again.
Thursday night was date night again. This time we went back to the capitol square to sit and watch the world go by. It had turned a little colder, so we had our hot chocolate first. Then we headed off to dinner. We really enjoy spending this time alone together. We get a lot of family time when we are here, so we really appreciate any time we can get alone.
On Friday morning, we met the Reich's and headed off for a long weekend. This time we decided to head to the Atlantic coast near the Spanish border. This region is known as the Pays-Basque. It was about a three and a half hour drive. After we checked into the hotel, we headed off to the town of Biarritz. This is a beautiful coastal town. We walked through the town for a bit, then the boys played on the beach for a while. Mom walked in the sand for a bit, then advised that everyone be careful or they would get wet. Turns out Mom knows best. David's pant legs got wet, Andrew's pants were quite wet all the way up, and Michael? Well, Michael fell flat into a wave. He was soaked from his shoulders down. After that, the beach didn't seem as fun. We tried to walk a little through the town, but the boys were too uncomfortable. So we headed back to the hotel for baths and clean clothes.
After everyone was clean and dry, we headed off to find some dinner. The backseat drivers requested Italian, and the Men in the front delivered. We were a little worried after we stopped because there was no one else in the restaurant and no one else came in while we were there. That is usually a bad sign. However, the food was wonderful and the service was very attentive (there was no one else to worry about). Then we had one of the regional desserts, gateaux Basque. WOW!! It is probably good that we can't get this cake anywhere else. It is great! We had it every time we could the whole weekend.
The next day, we started of the day at the Museum of Chocolate. We learned the history of making chocolate, starting with the Aztecs. Did you know that only men were allowed to have it in the beginning? We even got to try some pure Cacao. It is very strong. Then it was served as hot chocolate (heaven!!). This was a very educational and tasty tour. We also met an English family who were very friendly and gave us some suggestions of places to visit when we go to England next month.
Then we headed south to the coastal town of St Jean-de-Luz. We had a traditional Basque lunch (Paella and poulet (chicken) Basque) complete with gatuaex Basque. Yum. Then we wandered around the town and saw the house that King Louis XIV (the sun king) built for himself and the one built for his future bride. Then while Michael played on the beach with Dave and Tom, Amy, Lisa, and Andrew went to see the church where Louis XIV was married. It is a beautiful church and was decorated for Easter the next day.
After sampling some of the local macaroons (the recipe hasn't changed since they were sampled by Louis XIV on his wedding day), we went back into the car. We decided to drive to Spain for dinner. (Can you imagine!?!)
We drove down the coast to the city of San Sebastian. What a beautiful city. We walked around the city for about two hours, checking out two churches, a mall, and an ice cream shop. We bought some souvenirs and then headed to dinner. UGH!! The food was very good, but ordering was a problem. We were all so confused. Everything was in Spanish and even so close to the border, no one spoke French, not to mention English. The waitress did speak German. Unfortunately, Dave didn't learn enough while he was there this week. We finally struggled through ordering, enjoyed our dinner (and some GREAT Sangria), and decided to head home to France. It helped us to see how comfortable we have become in our new country.
The next day was Easter. After the boys found the eggs that the bunny hid in the hotel room, we headed off for a day of ups and downs. Our first stop was the Petit Train. We boarded the train and took a 30 minute trip up mount Rhune. This mountain is 902 meters (~3,000 feet)above sea level, the tallest one in the area. When we reached the top, we walked around a bit until we spotted a magician doing tricks. He was entertaining children for Easter. While we were watching, he picked Andrew out to help him do some tricks!! After a little explaining, the magician started translating into English for him. It was a good bit of magic and the boys both got balloon animals.
We headed back down the mountain and headed off to our next stop, hoping to find lunch on the way (it is a pretty rural area). We found the only restaurant on the way, and stopped in. It smelled wonderful! But alas, it was 2:15. Lunch is only served until 2:00. We were turned away. Fortunately, I also stock snacks in case of a situation like this. We snacked on the way to the bottom of the mountains. Literally. Our next stop was a cave.
After grabbing a sandwich at the stand where you bought the tickets for the tour, we took a tour of the caves of the Pays-Basque. Unfortunately, the tour started out with a 15 minute informational video about bats. YUCK! We were a little worried about the tour after that. However, it turned out to be a good tour about the people who lived in these caves 40-20,000 years ago. We did see some bats, but also lots of neat rock formations, an underground river, a magma tube, and underground pools.
Then it was back to town for dinner. We almost stopped at a Tex-Mex place, but opted for a seafood place on the beach. Very good dinner and our last taste of gateaux-basque. Then it was off to bed.
Monday morning we lounged at the hotel, eating, playing ping-pong and play station, and packing. We checked out and headed to Pau for lunch. Because the French take Easter Monday as a holiday, many places were closed, but we tried a new thing called a Panchetta. It was sort of like a pizza on a really big piece of bread. It was very good. I tried to order Sangria (I thought since we were near the border, it might be as good), but they only had the non-alcoholic version available. How strange, in France!
Then we walked around the grounds of the castle in Pau. Since the tour is in French and we have been here before, we decided to skip it. We did have a lot of fun walking around in the gardens, though.
We headed home then. We unpacked and had dinner. The boys are both glad to be "home." It's good to know that they are adjusting to living in a new place.
This will be a quiet week. We are preparing for a visit from Amy's sister, Wendy. She arrives on Saturday, so we will spend all of next week showing her the sights. We can't wait.
Sorry this edition was so long. We had a lot of things to tell you all. We still miss you and look forward to your notes and emails. Until next week.
A bientot
Amy
Friday, March 04, 2005
Furman weekly, February 21-27 Volume 3, Number 4
February 21-27
Well, we are settling in nicely. We like the house a lot. The kitchen and shower leave a bit to be desired, but we are quite happy! The boys have new soccer balls that they have been using in the yard. That makes a big difference, they love having a place to run and be noisy. Much better than the hotel.
The week started off slowly. Andrew went to school all day with the tutor on Monday again. She is trying to make up for lost time at the beginning if the month. It is a long day for him, so we will only do it every once in a while. Usually, the afternoon session will be spent with "culture" lessons (a visit to the post office, bakery,etc). He is learning lots of math (even long division) and French and French culture with her. We are pleased.
Monday night has been christened "Pizza night." The local pizza guy seems to enjoy seeing Dave, so I think we will continue to frequent his establishment.
On Tuesday afternoon we had a visit from the plumber. This was very strange. Two men came to the door to look at the radiator in Andrew's room, which has been leaking. The went into the room, looked at it, shook their heads that yes it was leaking. Then they took a measurement and left. They were just the advance scouts to determine that there is a job, I guess. They will send someone else to fix it some other day. I wonder how much that house call cost?
On Thursday night, we had another date night. The boys so look forward to Roxanna coming that we are going to make use of her services as often as the budget will allow. This time we went to the store to look around without the boys pestering us. We found many interesting things and agreed that it was a good use of our time away from the boys. Then we Dave took Amy to a restaurant downtown that he has enjoyed on one of his previous trips. It is called J'Go. It was great. It is owned by some former Rugby players. There is a bar downstairs that you should avoid on nights that the French Rugby team is playing. It was very crowded and it wasn't even a game night. Then upstairs there is a restaurant. Amy had her first Truffles at dinner. The entre (which is the appetizer) was a truffle omelette. The omelette tasted pretty ordinary, maybe a little woodsy. But the little sliver of Truffle on top was awesome. The truffle melts in your mouth. And it tastes... hard to describe... Kind of outdoorsy. It was really good and I can see why they are such a delicacy here.
We knew that we wanted to go somewhere this weekend, but it is hard to decide where to go. We have seen so much of this part of France, that picking something new is going to be hard. So we decided to pick places that we really enjoyed and investigate them more thoroughly since the boys are older. So we headed off to Albi. It has a very beautiful cathedral and we both wanted to see it again (the boys don't remember much, although when Andrew sees the place he remembers).
WOW. I think that it is impossible to describe how huge this cathedral is. It is massive. We learned that it was built during the crusades against the Cathars, so it was built like a fortress. It looks like this massive fortress in the middle of town. But when you go inside, it is one of the most beautifully decorated churches we have seen. Every inch of the church is painted or ornately carved. Keep an eye on the web site. Dave is going to try to post some pictures.
We have never been to see the church's "Tresor." This is where the keep the treasures of the church, for example special crosses (used in coronations, that sort of thing) and the "relics." These would be the bones or hair of some of the saints. We saw things as small as pinky bones to whole skulls. All are in ornate glass and gold containers. It was very interesting. There were also some very old carvings from around the time the church was built, in the 1200's. We poked around the church some more until they closed for lunch.
Then we did as the French... had lunch. We ate at a very good Brasserie. Amy and Michael had a traditional French favorite, the croq monsieur (Toasted ham and cheese), while Dave and Andrew had omelettes (these are always very good, but never served for breakfast, only lunch and dinner). The boys all had dessert (ice cream and crepes), but Amy opted for the hot chocolate. WOW!! This was served the way all hot chocolate should be served. A pitcher of steamed milk and a cup with a half inch of pure melted dark chocolate. YUM!!
After lunch we walked along the ramparts and the riverbank until the museum opened. Albi is the town where Toulouse-Lautrec was born and therefore has the most extensive collection of his works. It was really an interesting museum. He painted a lot more than the posters for the Moulin Rouge that you associate with him. There were some very pretty pieces and lots of sketchings on cardboard boxes! One of the most interesting things that we saw was his cane that he often used. It came apart and hidden inside was a small glass and a vial of alcohol! Pretty tricky.
We headed home then. The boys are pretty worn out. They aren't ready to do long weekends of travel. They just wanted to go "home." So we went home and had tacos for dinner. Very American.
Today we took it easy. Dave made French Toast (pain perdue - usually a essert) for breakfast. Then we walked to the bakery for bread for lunch. We took naps in the afternoon and had dinner at the Reich's. They have just moved in this week end. It is a very nice little apartment (flat) downtown. Parking is going to be a problem, but other than that it seems just right for them. Andrew taught them a French card game that he has learned and then it was time to head home for bed.
The coming week looks pretty quiet. Michael starts French lessons this week. I think that he is very ready. He is very frustrated that he can't talk to anyone here. We will continue to have school here and Dave will continue to work a lot. But the weekend is all ours and we are eyeing a prehistoric museum and theme park north of here for the weekend (especially since Amy is reading The Clan of the Cave Bear series). Who knows where we will end up next!
Have a good week! We will try to have lots of adventures to tell you about in the next edition.
Amy