BATMOM

Guerande Part 2

I seem to be going way out of order regarding our trip to France. Ah well! When I have some down time, I'll organize it all in order with trackbacks. For now, pardon the confusion! 

Here is Part 2 of the Guerande/Tulloc post. 

We arrived at Guerande in old Brittany from Normandy to visit Clotilde and her family on the weekend. It was August 16. Amaury had sent us specific driving directions. Clotilde sent us visual references such as the stone wall and the old, large cypress tree. She's a landscape architect and has a passion for trees.  It made me laugh. Both sets of directions were necessary, and we made it! 

Cousins Marc and Constance as well as Etienne, Cyrille (Clotilde's brothers) and Mathilde (Cyrille's wife) were visiting with their children as well. There were as many children as adults (perhaps even more?) and the activity level was high. Even as we arrived, Marc and Constance; Cyrille and Mathilde were off to the beach with their children. Etienne was either coming or going from one of his swims of many miles.

There were more beds in this house than I could count. I did try once, but lost count and people were in bedrooms and did you count beds with only a box spring? I got to 27 beds and stopped. 2 rooms had 7-10 twin beds in them. As I said it was a kids dream. Cousins and cousins and cousins and kids and kids and kids... Clotilde confessed that one grandmother's house had rooms in which she could not sit down as a child (I had the fortune to meet that lovely grandmother in Paris a few years before she died), and Tulloc was a place, for her, where there were no boundaries.

This spirit was infectious, and our children felt it. Our kids would head outside after breakfast and go, go, go. So would Amici. She saw George sitting over by the hydrangeas and was determined to sit next to him (a crush? she is drawn to foliage like her mother?). She found George's sword and using it as a prop, walked over to him and sat down. George was flattered!

We went often to the beach. Our California kids who listened relentlessly to the Beach Boys and often sing in passing, "Surfing is the only life, the only life for me, Now surf!" screamed at the thought of putting their feet in the water near green seaweed! 

Clotilde told the kids about a game her aunt played. When they found 15 of a certain shell they would get crepes, and as a girl, Clotilde looked hard and kept busy (which I suppose was the point). She showed the boys what the shell looked like and sent them to work. Etienne took Cole under his wing and helped him find some. Etienne was very patient and said that Cole's attention span was very good. It must be all of those puzzles he loves!

Here he is, he says, as Sand Man:

They eventually got the idea and went in the water despite THE GREEN!

Although there were never enough shells found (Clotilde's aunt was tough!), there was a crepe and cider outing. 

Amaury started something...

And everyone had to try it:

We also went into the old city center of Guerande. It's very touristy (all the shops and cafes cater to tourists) but who cares? It's lovely all the same.

One evening we celebrated Madame Viellard's birthday. Because all of her grandchildren were present, we decided to celebrate with a "show." As all of her grandchildren (4 in all) are 3 and under, you can imagine how the show went! The Clyde kids were privileged to be a part of the action. George was the knight that got to marry the princess Philomene (who insisted on getting married and wearing a veil!). King Cole (Philomene's father) and Queen Adeline (Philo's step-mom?), King Henri of Barcelona and Princesses Amici and Madeline laughed and wandered.

There was also a dragon played by Tom who kidnapped the princess and thus allowed the knight to save her. In the rehearsal, Philomene was fine with the dragon but in the show she cried for "Maman!" The mask was scary! During the rehearsal, we also found Madame Beatrice Viellard peeking out of her window and watching!

I think she was worried that we didn't seem to be getting much accomplished in rehearsal (and she would have been right)!

The audience was quite limited as most of us were in the play or backstage hands.

The performance begins! Here's King Cole:

The Princess Philomene, who is about to be kidnapped goes about her daily business of plating her younger sister:

King Cole, not knowing that trouble lurks, takes his daily bubble bath. His Queen goes off script and joins him for the bubble bath.

Oh No!

Oh No! "Maman!"

The Knight arrives! (a brush with death brings a smile to his face).

>

The deal having been made, the knight takes his very pleased princess!

A wedding!

A birthday!

The princess learns that family is the most important thing of all (don't plate your sister)!

Triplets in pink:

The feast after the play.

Birthday girl and lobster:

We ended the evening with an amazing lobster meal cooked for his sweetheart by Monsieur Christophe Viellard. It was  HUGE lobster and its shell was placed in the sandpit for the kids the next morning. They went crazy when they found it! We also found Les Escargots.

On the final evening, we gathered in the kitchen and not the dining room for dinner. Amaury and Christophe and Clotilde took turns making crepes for everyone. It seemed appropriate to end the week huddled together in the kitchen. What fun!

We were sad to say goodbye, but were off to our next adventure. We spent the night in Avalon at Amaury's aunt's house and bed and breakfast. I mentioned it before, but here are some photos from the IPhone.

The cement quarry that now has a lovely pool:

Guerande

We are settling back into a routine. Fortunately for the staff of Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley (George and Cole's school), it is an earlier schedule than last year. I think we wrapped up close to 76 late arrivals last year (hey! It was preschool!). 

School is going well for the boys. Adeline starts tomorrow. She is so excited to see her buddy Audrey with whom she did a share last year... Every day since she's been home, she has looked out the window and told me that Lucia and Audrey would be coming soon. I have been her only constant female companion in months and frankly, I am not so crazy about pink. 

She was very intrigued by Philomene in Guerande. Philomene is 3. She's Clotilde's daughter and Philomene is an adventurer. She explores everything confidently, and I think Adeline liked this. Adeline is also confident, but has had little opportunity to do much exploring on her own. I found her watching Philomene closely. "She speaks French!" Adeline declared. 

(look at the amazing color of those eyes!)

Cole also liked this Philomene. Cole, George, Philomene and for a short time, Josephine, slept in the "big kid" room. There were 7 twin beds in the room. As this was one of several rooms with large quantities of twin beds, you can see that this house called "Tulloc" was a dream for kids. Clotilde explained to our kids that it was impossible to ruin anything as this house was for the kids. Many cousins own the house and even more come and stay in it. The walls and towers date back to the 5th century. It blew Cole and George's minds that actual knights flung arrows from the towers.

(This is the side of the house where we had a room... top left window).

We kept a French schedule. We were asked to have the children down by 8:30PM, so that we could join the grown up dinner. We tried.  One of us was usually arriving to the table late and another was getting up to check when strange bumps and thumps were heard above us.

One night, I walked into the "big kid" room. From left to right, George was covered completely in his pale blue sheets and orange polyester mattress protecter.  Cole was stark naked and climbing into his bed. Philomene was sandwiched in between two mattresses. They were all silent until George began to wale from under his sheet, 'I can't sleep! I can't sleep! They won't let me sleep."

Another night, Tom went up. George was again under his covers. "Philomene keeps giving us things. We can't sleep."

"I like it," piped Cole from the corner, "I like it when she gives me things!"

At some point in our stay in Guerande, we realized that it was the longest we had stayed anywhere in 2 months. The kids would be outside in the sandpit (that overlooked the famous Guerande salt fields) as soon as breakfast was over (and sometimes before). Tom and I were more than happy to adopt the French vacation slow down. It was all very civilized! We relaxed and talked and caught up.

It had been 2+ years since I had seen Clotilde. We met in the 1990s in San Francisco when Malcolm had dragged me to an engagement party. It was Clotilde's apartment mate who was engaged, and Clotilde and I were never many days apart after meeting. There was much dining, dancing and, of course, many costumes. I even met Tom at Clotilde's DJ party!

Every evening, we would be in her grandmother's kitchen cooking for our own children in much the same way we had cooked for our friends in San Francisco (though perhaps there was a little less wine). She feed her baby Amici in the high chair, and Philomene would sit amongst my wild children. What a change!

It meant so much to be there. We weren't just guests. We felt like family. Her mother and father (Beatrice and Christophe Viellard) said that it was a tradition of the house to bring and celebrate other cultures and as such we all cooked from our native countries. We shared traditions and ideas. I find that tremendously important. I am still digesting and thinking and all of that is informing the way I act... the way Tom acts... the children act... 

Amaury and Clotilde... Beatrice and Christophe... were impeccable hosts. Amaury had ordered wine he thought I would enjoy (we both share a love of wine), and I did! Clotilde is Clotilde and, in that, even hanging laundry was special. We got to see Amici begin to walk. We saw the salt fields being plowed (beautiful!). We saw anxious and energetic octopi. We had amazing, lingering meals every day that reminded me how important adult conversation and friendship also are.

The Burgundy Road

Today was just funny. Okay, it was mostly not funny but we did laugh.

We set off for The Burgundy Wine road. We knew it would be a challenge with the kids, but when has that stopped us before?

We knew that wine tasting was not the objective and nearly impossible... Especially with George screaming in the back seat, "When is this day going to get better?"

The country side was beautiful as were the small villages. We had some amazing Coq au vin and boeuf Bourgogne in Nuits St Georges (we were trying to make it better for George by eating in his town)!

Babu took the kids to look at the centre ville water fountain. Cole stepped into a tiny street and was only just missed by a large car. I heard the scream from Babu. I was far behind because my sandal had broken so I didn't see it.

I knew what the scream meant and I also knew he was okay because he was crying, but I couldn't bring myself to go closer. I don't know what came over me. At the moment when I finally did make it over to the fountain to look at Cole, George stepped into the same road and was also almost hit. I was furious. And shaken. Poor George.

The wine at lunch was mediocre and I was unable to give much. Tom kept us laughing by ordering and sharing his escargot with the kids. Cole was first. Then George, after Cole told him it wasn't slimey. Adeline just flat out refused. She felt no competition to be cool and happily ate her chicken.

She laughed and smiled. She stood upon her seat and danced and then, yes, started to fall backwards onto the cement. Babu, next to her, screamed and held her arm out. Tom caught her chair in mid air. Whew. I think the patrons were exhausted just watching our adrenalin rushes.

We had one wine tasting in Aloxe Corton, a small beautiful village with a great wine reputation. Yes, we could sample all the wines at a Baune or Dijion wine cave but to meet the family and wine maker is fun. The wines were beautiful and the kids were happy with plenty of kitties and a big sweet dog.

We were happy to get "home" to Semur-en-Auxois and have dinner in the garden. We called Grandma Sheri from the garden for her birthday. Happy Burthday! The kids were pretending to be cavemen at these time and all naked so they literally grunted the first half of the HB song. Sheri told Tom to pick me up and spin me around which he did much to my suprise.

The ducks heard us leave the garden and came down expecting bread which was gladly given.

Tomorrow is our last day and Babu leaves in the morning. It has been so nice to have a relaxing time here with her.

Dinner conversation revolved around what we miss at home and what the kids remember about their bedrooms. George misses his giraffe, Cole wants to see Big Toe and Pink Bunny. Adeline misses the 2 euro car ride at Semur's grocery store! Ah memories...

From the Yonne River

I am sitting in our living room in Burgundy's Semur-en-Auxois. It's a beautiful medieval city with the river Yonne flowing through it. Tom is typing away.

I can see 2 of the city's famous towers from the window. The house is small but on the river and punctuated by the Pont Pinard double stone arches (the oldest and probably most narrow bridge in town... Ask Tom the
driver). There is a private orchard and stone wall garden also on the river. We had dinner
there tonight. Enchanting is the word I would
use to describe it here.

We left Guerande and the Viellard and de Buchet families on Saturday. It was such a beautiful time there. As we took our daily lunch in the garden overlooking the Guerande salt marshes, I knew the kids, Tom, and I were building precious memories.

There is so much to say about our time in old Brittany and so many pictures of Clotilde and her family that I can't do it justice on an IPhone. When we finally get wireless, I'll post again!

We went from Guerande to Amaury's aunt's Bed and Breakfast in Avallon, Bourgogne. Breakfast in the garden on the elegant grounds and a fascinating history (a former cement factory and quarters) made this a
unique experience.

We picked up my mom from the train station. She was quickly thrown into our chaos while trying to nurse a hangover from her time in Paris with my cousin Nicole and Aunt Sandy.

My good friend Ellen from Charleston was fresh off a canal boat and was in Auxois for one day with husband, father and son. I had never met Julian her son and was determined to see all of them.

We raced to our house where we planned to meet and all managed to get lost. In the end, we all showed up and it was a happy reunion! Ellen and I both had dreams of the children playing blissfully, but our kids tuckered out and needed sleep.

Sweet and very funny Julian stayed up and made us laugh while George contimplated the ducks and got his shoes soaked.

All and all, we are having a great time. Tom is anxious to write, and we are all ready to be home soon. The kids are happy and amazing. They spend much of their energy seeking the most precious of precious things: being carried by their daddy. I am constantly in awe of Tom's patience and strong back.

catch up

I am jumping ahead. I've written posts to the end of our American journey through Las Vegas and LAX, a super awesome airport hotel visit from Grandma and Poppy and lift off. I can't post them however. We only have Internet access through our IPhones and my posts are on my laptop.

We are in France driving through the beautiful Normandy villages. We have done the DDay beaches and American Cemetery which were very moving. We even slept in a replica of the bed Eisenhower borrowed (a longer post later regarding this). We could see Mont Saint Michel from our window.

The last 2 nights have been at an amazingly restored 17th century chateau near Volognes. There were peacocks, black swans and lambs, white donkies and geese. It was extraordinary place and we didn't leaveuntil we had to leave.

Now we are headed to Clotilde's family house in Brittany. We can't wait!