The truth is - the summer was busy. End of school year PLUS busy summer trips to France and Ireland PLUS start of new school year makes for a busy family. Also both flickr and facebook seem to have taken over the little computer time I do get. And of course there is the ipod...that evil little thing filled with podcasts that I just can't resist. But I have uploaded many pictures from the summer - you can see them on flickr. Oh - and we bought a house. It was busy.
The summer started with a great trip to Ireland. We all had a fun time with the grandparents and Seth got right into the spirit...
Fiona on the other hand stayed with pink and flowers...
We all enjoyed staying at a lovely house in the village of Clifden - about an hour west of Galway. The weather was even cool enough to throw some turf in the stove...
The weather cooperated for most of the week - no rain for a few days straight! This allowed us to take the kids to a 'bug discovery class' at the Connemara National Park, for numerous drives through the countryside, a visit to a wool factory,go on a bog walk, visit Kylmore Abbey, and hit the beach (with wellies). The rain did eventually come on the last couple of days - but we were lucky for most of the week.
If only the kids were able to get along that well all week long....
All of the Ireland pictures are here.
We returned to Switzerland in early July for a month filled with camp, pools, and a few local trips. Of course the kids enjoyed the public pools the most. This was the first summer that I wasn't constantly worried about them at our public pools - although the busy days had me a bit on edge. With so many kids in the pool you do worry about an accident. Seth's swimming is coming along and Fiona has no fear of the water - although she is still required to wear water wings.
We even managed to squeeze in a hike at the Creux-du-Van, a Swiss gorge just a couple hours drive from Basel. I didn't quite realize how far we had parked from the view point... The kids were good about the 3 hour hike up and down without food or drink. Well - Fiona had no reason to complain - I carried her.
Seth is thrilled as you can see. It was another 'National Lampoon's Vacation' moment. - Wow Dad it is a big hole in the ground. Thanks for making me walk for three hours. - The only person less thrilled was Aimee...
The Creux-du-Van pictures are all here.
We took a quick weekend break in Burgundy - a small town called Givry to be exact. Just a couple hours away from Basel but a nice break from the city. We stayed at a a chambres d'hotes (bed and breakfast) called Cote Park. Please visit the link...not only because it is a great place but you can see the picture that the owner has put up since we visited. It was a relaxing trip with some swimming, castle seeing and great food...
Fiona loved her 'garlic meat' - she has since found out what it is and isn't too bothered. She doesn't like them to be called snails though - escargot sounds much better to her.
Aimee had to sneak around town... I am not wiz zat silly American family...
All of the Givry pictures are here.
Our final trip of the summer took us to Gascony where we met up with some friends from the UK. This was the 'chill out and sit by the pool trip'. We stayed in the minuscule village of Meilhan, not far from Simorre, which is about an hour from Auch. Interesting location not far from the Pyrenees - remote but not without some charm. This part of France does have its tourists but not nearly the crowds of the beach or Provence. There really isn't a whole lot to do except enjoy the local scenery and flavors - which is why we loved it.
This was the main road which ran by the house.
The house was an ancient Gascon farmhouse with tons of character. And no - that is not our dog. The house came with a dog and horses. Oh and dozens of free range silkie chickens. Was an interesting setup. The house was split into two units - basically two separate houses connected by a door. In the winter the Dutch homeowners live in half the house and rent out the other half. In summer they move into a chalet/bunker behind the house and rent out the entire house. So not only did we have a farm we had Dutch farmers. Nice people but I think they dropped off the radar screen for a reason. Nice to have Farmer Dick around to answer questions - but on the other hand I think we served as the weeks entertainment under the watchful eye of the Dutch couple.
It was a fun week - we were able to visit a castle, a few churches, markets in the larger towns, and a cheese producing farm. Of course none of these places had tours in English...so by the time we hit the cheese farm everyone was pretty much done with guided tour option. So we spent the rest of the week by the pool...
One of our great discoveries of the trip was the table d'hotes. We decided to break the 12 hour drive up by stopping overnight on the way to and from Gascony. Knowing that we would be tired I specifically chose bed and breakfasts with a table d'hote - those serving an evening meal for a reasonable price. It was a great experience for us - sitting around the kitchen of our French hosts enjoying two delicious meals rather than scrambling for food after driving all day. On the way home at La Roussiere the kids even had their own outdoor table...
They were served a four course meal (with cheese course) and were expected to use their manners and engage in some small talk. Seriously - they were expected to start practicing the party talk. Seth sat next a girl who had just come back from a summer home stay in suburban Boston where she had studied English..Ok she was a bit older than Seth maybe a tween or early teen. But it worked out - they had plenty to talk about. This allowed the adults to enjoy an aperitif and then a wonderful chicken confit dinner in the kitchen... I would highly recommend this place. Once couple was actually staying at the house for the entire summer. Wonderful attention - amazing hosts. Was a bit surreal like we had been dropped into a set of some French movie. Thankfully my lame French and the excellent English of the owner saved the day.
All of the Gascony pictures are here.
That pretty much brings us up the start of school for he kids. Hopefully I can be better about my blogging and share some of the things that we encounter as we move forward with the new house and moving to France!
Welcome back to blogging! Waiting to hear about the house and see some pictures!
Posted by: Neil & Sue OLeary | 22 September 2009 at 13:41
Blogs are great aren't they!?! I recently started one for LexieJewel and I'm going to try to keep up with that myself if I can...
Sounds like you are really living the life in Europe-that's fantastic!! I can live vicariously through your blog posts as I lead my boring life here. lol.
What is your Flickr acct? Mine is http://www.flickr.com/photos/lexiejewel/
Add me as a contact!!!
Look forward to reading about your adventures in Europe.
p.s-great photography!!! That second shot of your daughter against the pink wall is amazing!! It just really caught my eye..the composition, the colors, etc!!
Kim
Posted by: lexiejewel.blogspot.com | 22 September 2009 at 14:15