Going Home . . .

      Our year in France was due to expire Friday, July 27th.  There were many things to do to get ready to depart.  We had to say goodbye to lots of people and take care of many details.  We even needed a doggy passport.  And on the night before we were to leave, Asha cashed in her "Daddy, you promised that we could sleep out in the yard before we left France" card:

Then, at midnight, all the automatic sprinklers turned on.  Oops.

     The morning we left, we posed for last photos in front of the house:

Fortunately, it was all business and no one was the slightest bit sentimental:

     We had 7 suitcases, our 1-year old Golden Retriever, and her travel kennel.  

     Our itinerary was as follows:  (1) drive 45 minutes from Vaison to Avignon train station; (2) turn in rental car; (3) board high speed train and travel 3 hours to Paris airport stop; (4) get off train, through airport (to a different terminal) and find shuttle to nearby hotel; (5) spend the night in Paris; (6) wake at 5:00 a.m. to walk dog before early flight; (6) take 5:45 a.m. shuttle back to airport; (7) check in regular baggage at 6:00; (8) take Ivy for a last walk around airport; (9) check in Ivy/kennel at 7:00; (10) board 8:20 a.m. flight and hope someone tells the pilot to turn on the pressurization and temperature control in the pet compartment; (11) fly 8 hours to New York; (12) collect luggage and, hopefully, dog, hopefully alive and well; (13) clear border control and customs (including illicit dog food); (14) get through JFK airport and find rental car shuttle and place for dog to relieve self; (15) collect rental car; (16) drive 3 hours from New York to house of Averil's cousin who lives in Malvern, Pennsylvania; (17) spend night with Averil's cousin; (18) in morning, visit Averil's aunt, uncle, and other cousin and have lunch with them; (19) drive 3 hours to Averil's family place at Lake Paupac in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, where we will stay for about 12 days before heading to Seattle on August 10th.

     There were a lot of steps in the process and many issues to consider.  Who would direct it all?  And who would carry the heavy suitcases?  Would this crazy-@$$ scheme work?  The official odds were 50-50.

     Fortunately, the luck of Lady Gaga smiled upon us.  Everything went off without a hitch.

     From the time we left the house, Ivy was the perfect traveling dog.  We got really lucky there!  And nothing went wrong anywhere along the chain of events.

     Here we are on the train ride to Paris:

     And in the airport in Paris:

And, in this picture, a man is wheeling Ivy off the plane and out of a secret door into the baggage area at JFK:

We were back in America (later confirmed by a stop at Burger King):

     We're slowly reintroducing ourselves to America in order to avoid cracking under the strain of culture shock.  A couple of cups of peanut butter a day and some down time at Lake Paupac ought to do it. 

Back in America at Lake Paupac

     Thanks for tuning in to Le Blog.  We hope you enjoyed the tales of our adventures, large and small.  But but now that we're back in the USA there's really not much more to say . . . except . . . "Did we really just do that?!"

     Actually, there's a tiny bit more to say . . . The General (no more "Le") will close out our 110th and final blog entry with these words:

                                                      "C'etait trop bien!"


    

Saying Goodbye . . .

     First things first:  we had our first legitimate miracle!  An image of Lady Gaga appeared in Ed's burnt protein-pancake:

There She Is, on the Left, if You Squint and Hum 'Pokerface'

    That's good luck!  Now it's time to say goodbye to France.  It's hard to believe we've finished out the year.  We leave in just two days.  Fortunately, our departure plans seem to be coming together well.  Of course, with Le General in charge, what else would you expect?

Calm, Cool, and Collected

     The main order of business (on Monday) was selling our car back to the guy we bought it from a year ago.  That had the potential to go wrong on several levels.  We had to go to Avignon and rent a car (big enough to move our luggage at the end of the week), then caravan to the dealer who had agreed (two weeks ago, in principal, and only orally) to buy our car for a set price.  Then, on the way to the dealer our car started making funny noises again.  We hoped the guy wouldn't test drive it . . . we could see a last minute objection or an excuse to re-negotiate the price.  Then, as we drove it into the dealer's lot, one of us (she shall remain nameless) scratched the side of the car on a half-dead palm tree.  

     As soon as we arrived, the dealer had one of his workers take our car out for a final test drive.  We sat in the dealer's office and made small talk for what seemed like an eternity.  It felt like we were in a Quentin Tarantino movie.  It was tense.  Finally, the worker came back (after a very long time) and reported that it was making a strange vibration.  "Strange vibration?" said the dealer.  "Strange vibration?" said Le General.  So he took it out himself and the tension got even higher.  But we were relieved when he came back a few minutes later and dismissed the issue as minor.  We signed a few papers and left with the cash in the agreed-on amount.  Goodbye Hyundai!  You caused us grief, but never let us down.

     We discharged our last hosting duties . . . the family who hosted Ford for a week in Dinan last spring was passing through the area.  They stayed with us for two nights.  These are their boys, Brieuc and Theotime:

Naturally, we took them to the P.d.G. (if you don't know what that is, you haven't been reading this blog!).

     We have a lot of folks to say goodbye too, but we're ready to depart.  We're leaving just as hordes of Northern Europeans (we can tell from their license plates) have descended on Vaison for their vacations.  The traffic has gotten many times worse.  Time to go back to Seattle! 

     There's lot's more to say of course . . . but right now it's crunch time . . . lots of packing and doing stuff . . . so we'll fill you in when we get back to the states.  Let's just conclude by saying IT'S BEEN GREAT!

     Also, Ed saw a really beautiful woman at a dance show and had to take a photo:

 

P.S.  Here's her dog:

Ivy "Rests Up"

Apricots

     Our friends have a fruit orchard about 40 minutes out of town.  They have cherries and apricots.  They invited us to see their apricot operation, only to get us working for them, Tom-Sawyer style:

More pictures from the apricot day:

Averil & Sylvie

Dmitri's Father

Ford & Nicolas

The Kids Help

Benji the Apricot Dog Sleeps Under Apricot Sorting Machine

Dmitri & Sylvie

     That night, our friends Thierry and Stacy came over for dinner.  Thierry is French and runs a bakery in Seattle . . . we know them from the French school in Seattle.  They have a summer house not too far from Vaison.

Good Dinner!

 

     In other news, a snake came to visit and was promptly placed into a box and observed before being set free (which is what you do when you find a non-poisonous snake):

     And little does Ivy know what's in store for her next week:

Get Ready to Travel Trans-Atlantic Ivy

14, July

     July 14th is the national holiday of France, known as Bastille Day in English speaking countries.  They don't call it Bastille Day in France, which explains the blank looks Ed received upon wishing various people "Happy Day of Bastille" throughout the day.  Here, they simply call it the "National Holiday."

     Anyway, on this year's National Holiday, one leg of the Tour de France was passing through an area about an hour from Vaison.  Having missed "Le Tour" in previous years, we decided to make a plan to go see it!  By "Google-Earthing" the known route, we strategically chose an ascending portion of the road located near the tiny town of St. Marcel de Careiret (we can't pronounce it either).  We had to figure out how to get there since roads were closed in the area on account of the tour.  We made it, and set up "camp" about an hour before the racers were due to pass:

     After a while, there was a buzz in the air.  The riders were approaching!

     Afterwards, we drove a short distance to some waterfalls that Le General had seen on the map.  It turned out to be lots of fun!  Here are some pictures of the Cascades du Sautadet:

Downstream from the falls there was a great place for swimming . . . and jumping into the water.  Witness Ford:

Le General thought that looked pretty fun!  She climbed up there to check it out for herself:

Asha took some plunges from the opposite bank:

     When we finally got home, our uphill neighbor, Dominique, called down to invite us for dinner and to watch the Vaison fireworks from his yard.  We said "Yes."

Dominique to Averil's Left

When it got dark, it was time for fireworks!

By the time we got home, it was the 15th of July. 

Two-Week Countdown

     We'll be heading back to the USA in two weeks, with a stop on the East Coast before arriving in Seattle in mid August.  Therefore, Le General has instituted a no-holds-barred policy for the final 14 days:  "We shall make a list of fun stuff and cram it all in!  Hand me the pencil!"

     We have mixed feelings about leaving France.  It's been a great year, to be sure.  But there are some things we admit to missing.  Such as a dishwasher, spicy food, a reliable car, English (in Ed's case), painters who don't take a month to get you a simple estimate on two rooms, inexpensive hardware, $4 a gallon gas (try paying $8 a gallon!) and, of course, peanut butter (to name a few).

     Anyway, here are some photos from recent times:

The Always-Photogenic Chateau

"Try a Green Grape?"

"That's Sour!"

Summer Fruit Abounds

Jean and Mireille Visit While Passing Through the Area

These French "milkshakes" were terrible!  Don't order a milkshake in France.

"Don't Worry, Be Happy"

  
     I think what Asha meant to say there, was:

Ford still spends a lot of time at the pool.  Sometimes the rest of us come along:

  
Just back from the photo lab, shots of the kids in their end-of-the-year performances:   

CM2 getting down: Klara, Nicolas, Killian, Ford, Nicolas

Camille et Asha entertain

 Yesterday we took yet another canoe trip down the Gardon river (ending at the Pont du Gard).  This time we brought the hippopotomus-beaver-muskrat-dog:

Sometimes she stayed in the canoe with us.  But mostly she swam next to the canoe.  She's part dolphin too.

     Tomorrow is the 14th of July . . . Bastille Day.  It happens that the Tour de France is passing through a town not too far from here on that same day.  We're going to go check it out.  It's on Le General's list after all . . . .