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
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