As I mentioned in my last blog post, today was an official family day. We took the train to my husband’s hometown, Thomery, to visit with his uncle and cousin’s family, my sister-in-law and her husband, and one of my brothers-in-law.
In France, a visit with family on a Sunday would not be complete without a very long, delicious meal. More than three hours of eating to be exact. Copious amounts of entrees, a paella for the main course, cheese and dessert. And no meal would be complete without aperitifs and wine. Considering the duration of the meal, the girls did pretty well, and for the most part waited patiently for dessert.
Sophie became friendly with her distant cousins, Manon (7 1/2 years old) and Ambre (5 years old), despite the language barrier. She was interested enough in communicating with them that she often asked me how to say things in French. And she actually has a pretty authentic French accent, considering she rarely speaks the language. After breaking the ice by drawing different pictures for one another, Sophie and Ambre finally found something to share when they went chasing after ladybugs in the garden.
We were all fairly wiped after our day in the country, and decided to come back to the apartment and save our energy for the start of our Parisian adventure tomorrow. After the huge meal we had earlier today we’re not particularly hungry, but just in case we decide to have a little nosh before bedtime, we absolutely had to buy some bread. And one of the best things about my brother-in-law’s apartment is the boulangerie right across the street that’s open daily, even on Sundays, until 8 pm.Chloe taught our cousin, Sandra, and her oldest daughter Manon how to play the card game Spit. And they played a game of Skip-Bo as well. Manon is just as competitive as Chloe, which was a little difficult for Chloe to take, but quite amusing for us adults to watch!
We were ready to buy a plain old baguette, but Chloe caught site of a baguette “d’epis” (loosely translated into “thorns”). So we splurged (it cost 25 centimes more), because what would a visit to France be without some thorny bread?
