01 DON AND GERALYNN IN FRANCE AGAIN

SOUTHERN FRANCE 2007

April 11, 2007 we finished our last minute preparations and headed off to the airport to catch our Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt and then on to Marseille.  Our exchangers, the Canourgues family of Marseille (Eoures) arrived at the airport just as our flight was boarding.  Yvonne and Bryce met the Canourgues family and showed them to our car and took them to our house where they will stay until the end of April.

Our Lufthansa flight turned out to be on United.  I had tried to avoid United because of all of the complaints I have heard about them.  Oh, well.

It was good to have a direct flight from SFO to Frankfurt, but the seats are really packed in on this plane.  We could hardly see our food when the people in front of us had their seats reclined.  We managed to survive the flight and were glad to get off and stretch our legs before our next flight to Marseille.

The second leg of our trip had been cancelled, however.  So we spent the day waiting in the Frankfurt airport until 5pm when we caught our plane.  When we arrived Andre, Philippe Canourgues father, was waiting for us.  He rounded up Philippe’s car and we drove across Marseille and on to the village of Eoures.

Our new home for the month is quite nice.  We have 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms; a good kitchen, large living room and a dining room.  In addition there is a wonderful patio covered with grape vines and gorgeous wisteria in full bloom.  We also have a swimming pool.

After Andre showed us around we settled in and had a light meal and a shower before retiring for the night.  We both slept well and awoke refreshed.

After breakfast we headed into the town of Aubagne to do some grocery shopping, find a bank, and get the lay of the land.  We had a successful trip and came home to find that our friends, Jose and Marielle, were on their way to visit.

Jose and Marielle Flatot-le Bohec and their teenage sons, Victor and Charles, are longtime friends.  Une famille charmant!  We only see them every 5 years or so, but every time we do we enjoy them so much.  They are a very gracious, intelligent and witty pair.  Their sons have grown up before our eyes and are very nice boys. 

They arrived in a whirl, with Marielle taking charge and giving us lunch that she brought, installing everyone into their sleeping places, unpacking the car and keeping us entertained the whole time.

After lunch we went into Marseille to Vieux Port.  We strolled along the old port area in the rain and wind and then climbed up the hill to the famous church, Notre Dame de la Garde.  This church stands on a small mountain that sticks up unexpectedly out of the harbor town.  There she stands to watch over and protect Marseille and her people.  The mosaics inside the church are beautiful.

That evening we had lasagne, left by our hosts, for dinner, with strawberries and ice cream for dessert.  We talked our heads off, catching up on the past 7 years, and then headed off for a good night’s sleep.

In the morning the group had breakfast and packed up and headed off for Grenoble.  It was so nice of them to take the time and make the long drive south to visit us.

In the afternoon Don and I went into Aubagne to a café to go online.  We were having some trouble on the computer at home.  So we ordered our drinks and got busy checking email, banks and credit cards.  The server left the bill and I put out the payment.  Then it was my turn to get on the computer so Don and I switched sides.  When I was done and we were ready to go, Don mentioned that he had picked up the change.  What??? What change??  Well, Don handed me e4.50.  I looked at it and looked at it.  There shouldn’t be any change.  Where did this come from?  Well, Don postulated that I paid e10, but even if I had, the change would be wrong.  I guess I was still a bit groggy from the marathon travel day because it took me 2 minutes to figure out that the money that Don had picked up was the payment I had left for the waiter.  I put the money back and the server rushed up and picked it up before we could change our minds again.

The next day was Sunday and the weather started to look a bit better.  Don and I took a drive along the coast to Cap Croisette, where we had a picnic lunch.  Then we proceeded to drive up the mountainside and followed the ridge along to Cassis.  We looped back through Aubagne, stopping at the Geant supermarket and Ikea for some knives and cutting boards.

That evening we went to the airport to pick up Don’s nephew, Eric.  He arrived around 11pm, so we just took him home, fed him and put him to bed.

In the morning we had a good visit with Eric while we had a light breakfast and then we took him to the train station where he caught the train to Nice.  He promised to be back in a few days when his mom arrives. Don and I made a trip to the big Auchan Supermarche to buy groceries.

The weather has warmed up and is sunny and pleasant now.

Tuesday we decided to get busy and do something, so we took a hike up into the rocky cliffs behind the house.  We hiked about 11 kilometers, up to the top of a mountain where we saw the remnants of some old buildings and a cross.  The weather was warm and nice.  The trail was quite rocky, with some challenging parts.  It was a good hike.