Saturday, July 26, 2008

Finalement


en vacances.

Well, presque.

Yesterday was the last day at the nursery school, and so aside from some clean up that we have to do at school on Monday, I am now kid-free until September. What a relief! Plus one of the parents was nice enough to give us each a bottle of Champagne as a thank you gift, which I decided Erik and I should enjoy this afternoon. Because, when you're on vacation, you can enjoy things like Champagne in the middle of the afternoon. I did have to work this morning, but nothing makes bubbly taste bubblier than a couple of hours at the gym.

Anyway, the presque part is the fact that I still have to teach my fitness classes until I actually leave the country, but the fact that I have the weekends off is more than enough to make up for that minor inconvenience.

I'm off now to the FNAC to see if I can find a book about hiragana and katakana in preparation for our upcoming trip.

Oh, and did I mention that I got to go for a massage on Wednesday? It was a gift from one of the classes at school, and it was AWESOME. In a perfect world I'd be doing that every week. Plus I got a new cell phone (completely unrelated to the massage, and not a gift. Decided to take the plunge and commit to another two years of cell phone service). Very exciting.

Life is sweet :)

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

A Weekend Away

Last weekend was my first full free weekend since April. And it was a lovely three day weekend, thanks to Bastille Day on Monday. Our friends Alex and Marie have invited us many times to Tours to stay at Alex's parents house, and we have never been able to. Until now. We found last minute train tickets, and after a quick hour on the TGV we arrived in Tours on Sunday morning.
It was a wonderful weekend, complete with a degustation de vin, bbq and lots of pool time. It's finally beginning to feel like summer.


In the pool with a beer. La vie est dur!


Sunday wine tasting at Domaine Eric Bureau et fils

Marie takes a turn behind the bar

In the cave tasting the 2007

Julia give the pipette a try

Perhaps we got a bit carried away? (Don't worry, it's not all for us)


Aperitif by the pool


Alex makes aligot for dinner: riced potatoes mixed with fresh Cantal cheese

Erik takes a turn mixing

Bon apetit!


Petanque on Monday

One last meal (Alex next to me, Marie at the end of the table)

Thomas and Julia