Goofing Around at the Chateau…

We spent much of the week hanging at the Chateau enjoying the glorious weather. Kid activities this year included: a lizard show for the parents in the empty moat, including a fantastic demonstration by Andrew of what a lizard tail looks like after it’s been grabbed off by a predator; tractor rides headed up by Jim (please note, that while we are irresponsible, this photo was posed--when Ashlynn was allowed to drive, she had a parent with her at the time); many imagination games such as Flight 29 Down at the tent we brought along, Indians under a bridge and Survivor at the remnants of a Japanese water garden; variations of hide-n-go-seek including sardines and walkie-talkie; and another great Easter Egg Hunt.

Adults Know How to Play, Too…

It's no surprise to many of you that there was a lot of vin rouge consumed over the week, but I assure you we didn’t spend all of our time just drinking. We also played a lot and sometimes even let the kids join along: a bonfire with roasted marshmallows and a crazed fiddler; night sky viewing through a computer-guided telescope (I still think Saturn looked like a cartoon, but Jimmy’s convinced it’s real); a midnight tour by candlelight complete with surprise ghosts; extreme adult bocce with a playoff round done in the dark with glow-in-the-dark bracelets as the target (fun idea as long as you don’t mind permanently losing balls); and the first Chateau du Plessis-Fortia Hash hared by Tractor and Heatseeker.

Communal Living…

Unlike staying with friends at a hotel, the Chateau is a giant home where we’re hanging out together all the time. Just like in most homes, we're usually in the kitchen but here we're most likely planning, preparing or cleaning up group meals. One night Jimmy made homemade pizza; another he made homemade quiche. Sally made artichokes and avocado appetizers for Easter happy hour on the veranda, then Vivynne made leg of lamb and Greek chicken for our Easter feast in the main dining room. Most other nights we ate either leftovers or pasta. Of course, shopping for a commune takes a lot of coordination. Luckily we managed to make much of the shopping fun. For the big grocery store run, we had teams who competed to see who could shop the fastest; the prize was not having to spend the entire afternoon at the supersized supermarket. Here you see us with Sally and John at the farmer’s market in Vendome stocking up on veggies. Commune life can be quite tasty!

Sharing with Friends…

We didn’t expect when we first started planning this trip that we’d end up with a group of friends from so many different parts of our lives. In this crowd is our old friends from Florida, new friends in Holland from the Bay Area, the family from Raleigh who’s responsible for us moving to Holland, a couple who work with Jimmy, a British family from our school in Holland, a family we used to hash with in San Diego who were passing through France, and an old San Diego hash buddy who lives in Barcelona. It’s such fun watching our friends whose paths would normally not cross getting to know each other. Amazingly, we forgot to sing “It’s a Small World.”

Back to the Chateau…

It was hard to resist the idea of having another Easter at the Chateau. Lucky for us the weather was much warmer this year and absolutely dry. This was our family’s 6^th visit and we just never grow tired of being here, as evidenced by the fact that we stayed an extra night and still didn't want to leave. As much fun as we had alone here over Christmas, there’s something very special about being able to share it with friends.

A Walled City…

We stayed at a hotel along the beach in Saint Malo, which had a beautiful view of the Brittany Coast. A short walk down the beach was the medieval walled city, which was considerably larger than I’d imagined it would be. From most of the city streets you don’t even realize that you’re surrounded by a large wall. The city was founded in the 6^th century by a monk from Wales; it was originally built as a fortified island, but is now completely attached to the mainland. It was very popular with pirates over the centuries; now it's very popular with British tourists in the summer. We spent a few hours wandering the streets, then walked along the wall to check out the views of the English Channel, which as you can see were great.

The Back of Mont St-Michel...

Rather than eat in a cafe, we grabbed some sandwiches and sat just below the abbey on an old wall enjoying the view. We had some time to kill before meeting up with Vivynne, Tony, Ariana & Max to tour the abbey itself, so we did our usual favorite family activity--mudrucking at low tide. Never mind that we didn't have the right shoes, we couldn't pass up the chance to see the back side of the abbey. Without a boat, this view can only be seen at low tide. We didn't have great luck finding old relics, but Jimmy scored when he found a muddy 20 Euro bill. We didn't stick around to watch the tide come back in, which is supposed to be quite spectacular (especially if folks forget to get their cars out of the lower parking lots in time), but now we have a reason to go back.

Mont Saint-Michel...

We were excited to see Mont St-Michel in the daylight, although as this photo shows, it was quite windy. As with many beautiful places, the photos just don't really do it justice. Basically, Mont St-Michel is a tidal island (the thin road to the mainland is covered everyday by high tide) topped with an abbey that's earliest sections were built in 708. In the 10^th century the Benedictines settled in the abbey and a village grew up around the base. It was a popular site for pilgrimages until the Reformation in the 16^th century. It was converted into a prison during the French Revolution until 1863. In 1874, it was classified as a historic monument and had a major restoration. Today, the village is full of cafes, small hotels and junk shops, but the architecture retains the look of medieval times.

Timing is Everything...

When our old Florida buddies Vivynne and Tony realized that our Easter breaks were the same and that we were heading back to the Chateau, they quickly made plans to join us. Rather than head straight to the Loire Valley, Vivynne suggested we spend two nights on France's Brittany coast. Ironically, if we hadn't gotten lost after our lunch in the historic center of Ghent in Belgium, our arrival wouldn't have been timed perfectly to see our first spectacular view of Mont Saint-Michel just as the sun was setting.

Still Fashion-Challenged...

The good news for a bargain shopper like me is that most stores in Holland feature prices along with the clothes in the front windows. Clothes tend to be pricey and shoes ridiculously expensive with major sales only held twice a year, but at least I have a warning before entering a new shop. The bad news is even after a year here I still have no fashion sense. Somehow I thought some amount of Euro-Hip would rub off on me, but no such luck. Many tops are very low cut, which might make for nice views for Jimmy, but don't help me much. Women also love to layer tops and are quite into ruffles along with blazers, which don't work so well with my coats and backpack I'm always lugging around. Boots are a big thing in the winter usually worn with capris or skirts, but hats are only for wimps like me.

Our Little Orphan...

Another interesting event at our school last week was the 4th/5th Grade Play. Unlike our school in Cary where a few classes per year would put on short skits at PTA meetings, this was a huge 2-hour production performed for 3 nights. It's also part of the curriculum, so about 240 kids were in it whether they wanted to be or not. Veronica was excited about the idea, so she took Theatre Skills Club after school so that she could be considered for a speaking role. This year’s musical was “Olivia,” a humorous combination of “Annie,” “My Fair Lady,” and “Oliver Twist.” Veronica played an orphan and had 6 lines in the opening scene, which she delivered beautifully (and I'm not just saying that because I'm her mother). Since she's part of the lunchtime choir, she also got to be a Victorian pupil as shown above (she’s in the center waving). Can’t wait to see what they come up with next year!

Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho, A Pirate's Life for Me...

Each year, there's a dress-up day at school that ties into the curriculum for each particular grade. This term, 1st grade had Pirate Day as part of their studies of island life. What a great way to make learning fun. Of course, I couldn't pass up another excuse to get dressed up and this time was able to recruit Jimmy along as well. Not surprisingly, we were put in charge of serving grog at the pub. It was quite fun seeing 120 kids dressed up going from room-to-room doing pirate crafts and games. Even more fun was getting to leave our manners at the door.