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
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