We got our absentee ballots in the mail yesterday! There were 4 sheets of paper in two different colors in 2 different sizes. There were 2 different envelopes in 2 different colors in 2 different sizes.
And then so much Spanish that I had to hunt to find the English. I find that appalling.
But we are excited to send our ballots in!
P
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Parents in Paris!
If you had a choice, which one you pick? Hurricane destroyed Houston? Or 3 weeks in Paris? My parents chose 3 weeks in Paris. And luckily, their house was spared enough so that they could leave it!
We are having fun eating and running around the city! Here we are on a nice Sunday morning at the Luxembourg Gardens before heading to Chinatown for Dim Sum. Michael was JUST not in the mood for pictures:
On October 1st, we decided to explore the lovely Dordogne region of France. This southern area of France is known for truffles, strawberries, walnuts, and the controversial fois gras. We stayed at this cute rental house with 2 bedrooms, kitchen, living room, pool, and TONS of toys for kids. They had badminton, pingpong, and bikes! Plus movies! It was amazing. Here's a pic:
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The first day, we arrived in Bordeaux and drove the 2 hours to Sarlat. Along the way, we stopped at an adorable little town called St. Emilion, which is known for wine. Shocking right? No pictures though because I left the camera in the car!
Anyways, we learned a bit about the best years for St. Emilion and stocked up on some wine to drink for now and for later. For those who are wondering, 2000 was a good year and 2001 was also excellent. Ready to drink now. Buy a 2005, the vintage of the century, and save it for at least 2 years to drink for later. The Grand Cru Premier Classe cost 280 Euro so we bought some Grand Cru instead.
We checked into our bungalow and then rested for the evening.
On our 2nd day, we explored the prehistoric caves around the area, which are famous for its cave art that is 14000 years old. No pictures either of this because cameras are NOT ALLOWED!!!! :o(
We visited 2 caves. The first was Font de Gaumes in Les Eyzies, which was amazing. It is the only original cave art open to the public. When you enter it, it is really a cave. A very small dark confined space. This German woman opted out and left about 4 steps in. The guide showed us these amazing paintings which were so faint you would never have seen them had he not pointed them out. The cro magnon man used the natural curves and indentations of the caves as part of their animals that they drew and painted with water and natural substances. It was amazing. I learned a lot more things about cave art so if you are interested (which I know you are not), you can post in comments and we can discuss more there.
The 2nd cave is the most famous, the caves of Lascaux. The original Lascaux caves were shut down due to the level of calcite that had built up on the original paintings due to human exposure. So we saw the replica, which is supposed to be amazingly accurate. It was absolutely awesome to see these HUGE animals being drawn on cave walls. At one point, the guide turned off the lights and held up a small lighter so we could see what the paintings would look like in the original lighting and it was amazing. They were painted to where they looked like they were moving if you had a flickering light. And it was indeed just that. Good ole wikipedia for pictures of cave art for ya: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux
What was impressive too was that for the first tour, Brian and i understood almost all the French. For the 2nd one, about 50-75% of what we could hear. We were pretty happy with that!
Anyways, we ended our day at a fois gras farm where we learned about the process and how it is made. Brian got to feed some geese. Michael was not too impressed.
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The geese are bought as geeslings (?) and then fed normally until 5 months old. At which point, they are force fed for about a month. Then, slaughtered for their buttery fat livers. This is then canned with salt and pepper. After which they are sterilized in hot water, which also cooks the interior of the can. Not for everyone, but we adore it.
The 3rd day, my angelic parents took care of Michael in Beynac while Brian and I canoed down the Dordogne. That definitely earned the 3 stars in Rick's book! My parents took a river cruise with Michael and Brian and I canoed for 3 hours from Vitrac to La Roque Gagaec and finally to Beynac, where my parents were. Here are some of our views:
.jpg)
Brian being the steering for our boat:
.jpg)
We only went around in circles 4 times and never got beached so I consider that to be quite successful!
We drove and enjoyed touring the French countryside. We stopped near a walnut tree and took pictures. This is my parents before we got a finger shaking at us for trying to gather up walnuts to take home!
.JPG)
Our last day, we went to the Saturday market in a little town named Sarlat. It is the most amazing market I've been to yet in France. It was magical.
.JPG)
They had LOADS of gorgeous and sweet strawberries. Tons of tins of fois gras. Bottles upon bottles of Walnut olive oil and truffle oil. And a walking band to provide the music. And that was just the food market! My parents explored the clothing market and loved every bit of THAT!
We found this funny statue of 3 geese in Sarlat. Had to take a picture of that! Family picture at that!
We are having fun eating and running around the city! Here we are on a nice Sunday morning at the Luxembourg Gardens before heading to Chinatown for Dim Sum. Michael was JUST not in the mood for pictures:
On October 1st, we decided to explore the lovely Dordogne region of France. This southern area of France is known for truffles, strawberries, walnuts, and the controversial fois gras. We stayed at this cute rental house with 2 bedrooms, kitchen, living room, pool, and TONS of toys for kids. They had badminton, pingpong, and bikes! Plus movies! It was amazing. Here's a pic:
The first day, we arrived in Bordeaux and drove the 2 hours to Sarlat. Along the way, we stopped at an adorable little town called St. Emilion, which is known for wine. Shocking right? No pictures though because I left the camera in the car!
Anyways, we learned a bit about the best years for St. Emilion and stocked up on some wine to drink for now and for later. For those who are wondering, 2000 was a good year and 2001 was also excellent. Ready to drink now. Buy a 2005, the vintage of the century, and save it for at least 2 years to drink for later. The Grand Cru Premier Classe cost 280 Euro so we bought some Grand Cru instead.
We checked into our bungalow and then rested for the evening.
On our 2nd day, we explored the prehistoric caves around the area, which are famous for its cave art that is 14000 years old. No pictures either of this because cameras are NOT ALLOWED!!!! :o(
We visited 2 caves. The first was Font de Gaumes in Les Eyzies, which was amazing. It is the only original cave art open to the public. When you enter it, it is really a cave. A very small dark confined space. This German woman opted out and left about 4 steps in. The guide showed us these amazing paintings which were so faint you would never have seen them had he not pointed them out. The cro magnon man used the natural curves and indentations of the caves as part of their animals that they drew and painted with water and natural substances. It was amazing. I learned a lot more things about cave art so if you are interested (which I know you are not), you can post in comments and we can discuss more there.
The 2nd cave is the most famous, the caves of Lascaux. The original Lascaux caves were shut down due to the level of calcite that had built up on the original paintings due to human exposure. So we saw the replica, which is supposed to be amazingly accurate. It was absolutely awesome to see these HUGE animals being drawn on cave walls. At one point, the guide turned off the lights and held up a small lighter so we could see what the paintings would look like in the original lighting and it was amazing. They were painted to where they looked like they were moving if you had a flickering light. And it was indeed just that. Good ole wikipedia for pictures of cave art for ya: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux
What was impressive too was that for the first tour, Brian and i understood almost all the French. For the 2nd one, about 50-75% of what we could hear. We were pretty happy with that!
Anyways, we ended our day at a fois gras farm where we learned about the process and how it is made. Brian got to feed some geese. Michael was not too impressed.
The geese are bought as geeslings (?) and then fed normally until 5 months old. At which point, they are force fed for about a month. Then, slaughtered for their buttery fat livers. This is then canned with salt and pepper. After which they are sterilized in hot water, which also cooks the interior of the can. Not for everyone, but we adore it.
The 3rd day, my angelic parents took care of Michael in Beynac while Brian and I canoed down the Dordogne. That definitely earned the 3 stars in Rick's book! My parents took a river cruise with Michael and Brian and I canoed for 3 hours from Vitrac to La Roque Gagaec and finally to Beynac, where my parents were. Here are some of our views:
.jpg)
Brian being the steering for our boat:.jpg)
We only went around in circles 4 times and never got beached so I consider that to be quite successful!We drove and enjoyed touring the French countryside. We stopped near a walnut tree and took pictures. This is my parents before we got a finger shaking at us for trying to gather up walnuts to take home!
.JPG)
Our last day, we went to the Saturday market in a little town named Sarlat. It is the most amazing market I've been to yet in France. It was magical.They had LOADS of gorgeous and sweet strawberries. Tons of tins of fois gras. Bottles upon bottles of Walnut olive oil and truffle oil. And a walking band to provide the music. And that was just the food market! My parents explored the clothing market and loved every bit of THAT!We found this funny statue of 3 geese in Sarlat. Had to take a picture of that! Family picture at that!
.JPG)
We spent the last day strolling around Sarlat and headed home for a calm evening full of games and movies. But then I was chasing after Michael, stepped wrong, and did something to my left foot and couldn't put any weight on it.
So instead of enjoying enchanting Sarlat at night, Brian and I went to the emergency room to make sure nothing was broken. I did this once to the same foot in college and had a fracture and had to wear a weird blue shoe for 3 weeks. So we wanted to get it checked out before we headed back to Paris and I'm running around pushing a stroller and wearing my carryon sized backpack like a pack mule. Luckily, nothing was broken and I am hobbling much better everyday!
That was it! We had fun!
P
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