Summer Review Part 1

So I wanted to fill everyone in on some of the details of my 5 weeks on the coast of France. On Friday, July 13th we all got into the Citroen for a 5 hour drive from Paris to Pyla sur Mer. We drove in the evening for the sole purpose that the kids would sleep during the drive. What a great idea it was. They slept most of the way, and otherwise watched a DVD in the car, which let me relax and enjoy the scenery. It was great to see the countryside of France. We drove on a ‘freeway’ basically so it wasn’t a bad drive. I saw fields of sunflowers, rolling hills, and beautiful old farm houses. There were chateaus in the middle of the fields and darling cottages. I pretty much looked out the window the whole way. And twice we stopped at a big gas station, similar to Zip Trip or something like that in the States….so there WAS modern civilization along the way to purchase a drink and use the restroom. Jerome, Virginie and I had good conversation too. We laughed and told stories, both in French and English. So the trip was good. Virginie’s parents, Monsieur & Madame de Bourayne, (Patrice & Brigitte), own a summer house in Pyla. It is new, with 6 bedrooms, 3 salle de bains, and 4 or 5 showers. At the most, 14 people stayed in the house at one time. The kids’ room is adorable, like in the film “Finding Neverland”, with 5 twin beds all lined up so the kids sleep next to each other, and a big floor and closets for their toys. We have 3 kids, and there are 3 other cousins almost all the same age. One night I videotaped the children jumping and singing on the beds. The house has simple bedrooms and simple but modern bathrooms. The living room and kitchen are large and fancier. There was plenty of room, with a large wrap-around deck outside and large backyard. Each morning we ate breakfast on one end of the deck, and moved the table to the other end of the deck at night for dinner (to accommodate with the shade/sun). Sometimes we ate dinner in the big kitchen. There are always long tables for everyone to sit at. The children eat dinner first, and often times they eat less and more simple meals. And then the adults (including myself) eat after the children. The kids would play quietly, knowing it was our turn to eat. Sometimes we ate dinner so late that the kids would go to bed before we finished our meal.

A typical day during my stay at Monsieur & Madame’s house:
I wake up at 7:30 to shower or get ready quickly, sometimes 8 if I was lucky
The kids wake up around 8
Petit-Dejeuner: du pain, confiture, du beurre, du lait, jus d’orange, café, yoaurt
Dress the children, brush teeth, brush hair
Play with the kids in the yard, go for a walk or start laundry
Begin prep for le dejeuner: peel the vegetables and cook, or prep for a cake or pie, or prep for a picnic
Spend a couple hours on the beach with kids, or take picnic to beach for the kids
Spend 2 hours preparing/eating le dejeuner
By 3:00 I’d get a break to take a nap (faire la cieste) or go to the poste to mail postcards or beach by myself or with Janeta (another au pair for V’s sister)
Possibly returning to the beach for a couple hours with the kids before dinner
Prep dinner, set the table
Give the kids a bath or shower, put on pajamas and Matthieu’s couche (diaper)
Dinner for kids, then adults (dinner for adults occurred between 8:30 and 10pm)
Take coffee perhaps, then a small walk
Go to bed
Some nights I’d go out with Janeta for a drink before bed

One day a week I got a “free day”…sometimes the same day as Janeta so we could spend the day together
I often went to Arcachon, 5 miles away, to use the internet café and maybe stop at the Monoprix (similar to Target but not as large) to purchase items I’d need. I usually went for a jog or slept in, and went to the beach to tan in the afternoons.

I went on Monsieur’s sailboat once, and enjoyed it. That day the wind was calm and we only went to a dune nearby, and had a picnic with the kids. I prefer Jerome’s motor boat because I don’t like the feeling of a rocking boat. Pyla and Arcachon are in a ‘bassin’ of the ocean, so it’s not the complete open sea. So there are a lot of motor boats but there are still large waves and once the wind comes the boats will rock. It is easy to go from one side of the basin to another side, however. I enjoyed a little village called “L’Herbe.” The French eat oysters, fresh and live out of the water. They are very slimey, and I had a hard time watching them eat. Haha. But L’Herbe had cute, quaint little houses right on the beach. It was adorable. Otherwise I went in Jerome’s boat a few times.

On the beach I met a guy named Julian. He worked with kids every afternoon basically at the exact spot we sat on the beach each day. I often went to this spot because it was close in walking distance from the house and Le Moulleau (the center) where there are a lot of shops, etc. Julian was really nice and we talked almost every day. He was older than me, maybe close to 30, I didn’t ask. He was very athletic looking and dressed more like an American and was very tan. I was nervous to talk to him at first because of the language barrier, but he was so easy to talk to in French and he spoke a little English as well. I looked forward to seeing him each day…haha. But nothing came of it other than making a friend at the beach.

Some meals we ate:
Lunch is the main meal of the day, so it would be like a dinner we eat in the States.
Entree: Melon (cantelope) slices, or maybe a veggie salad like slices of cucumbers and tomatoes with vinaigrette dressing
Plat: la viande (meat), like steak or chicken, or perhaps fish…with rice or cuscus maybe
Dessert: du pain avec le fromage (cheeses: brie, camembert (my personal preference), etc)…there is ALWAYS baguette bread with the meal, sometimes throughout the whole meal or just for dessert with DELICIOUS cheese, and/or:
Des fruits
Des glaces (ice cream)
Des gateau (cake or pie)

In the summer: du vin rosee (pink wine, like White Zin but better)
Or white wine with fish (vin blanc ---sec is ‘dry’ or one can have it sweet, I prefer sec)

Then always red wine for the rest of the year (I had Merdoc with Thomas, Virginie’s brother and it was tasty)

These longer, late meals are customary for the summer holiday. It is accepted that one eats a lot more during the summer and much later at night. Once we return to the city it changes. We won’t be making large meals daily as we’ll be busier with different schedules. I basically accepted the fact that I had to indulge in these long meals with wine and bread just for the summer. That I’d probably gain a few pounds (kilos) or at least not LOSE the weight I wanted to this summer. Upon our arrival back to Paris, I will eat less and have my time at night for jogging.