Pirates, Market and a three hour drive to a grocery store

Yesterday, we had a pretty low key day.  We went downtown in the morning and wondered around some stores.  After nap we headed to a little nearby town and had a Lleyton afternoon!  We went to this amusement park that had Pirate mini golf (Lleyton is pretty into pirates right now)  and bouncy castles.  It was here he that he met his little french girl “friend” Allejandre who has also three.  They didn’t speak the same language but boy did they have fun on the jumpy castle obstacle course!

This morning we went downtown to the market (Wednesday is the big market!) and it was so awesome!!!!!!  We got yummy sausage, a few different cheeses, a baguette, fresh fruit and veggies, nougat, tapenades, macaronad, paella, dresses for Adalynn (shhh a bday gift for Marley) a jouster shirt for Lletyon and Jarett got three or four cookies/pastries.  

The kids are doing great overall.  Adalynn is using her legs but not for walking.  She had taken to hoarding.  When we give her carbs (which is all she wants to eat and there are no shortage of in France) she hides some under her chubby thighs and asks for “Mo!”  If we eventually say no, she reverts to her stash 🙂

This afternoon, we had a great plan!!!  We set out to visit the city of Narbonne which is about an hour away.  It was the capital of Gaul, as France was known during the Roman period.  We wanted to check out the cathedral and walk around the city for a little bit and head back to eat our paella for dinner.  We were about 2km out of Narbonne when we hit a traffic jam.  Lletyon woke up from a nap and started freaking out as he sometimes does after a nap.  We were at a standstill………for over two and a half hours………..about 2km or one minute from our exit.  It was good times.  I was in the backseat with the two kids.  We listened to the reports on the radio.  There was a forest fire ahead and the highway was closed up ahead.  We eventually got off and turned into Narbonne.  At this point, all we wanted to do was go back to Sete but the kids were hungry so we knew we needed to stop.  We went to the Carrefour a major supermarkety and got some sushi and a lot of snacks, had a little break and then headed back to Sete.  We weren’t sure if the way back would be back up or not but luckily it wasn’t too bad.  The kids were actually really good on the way back.  Lleyton and I played games with ripped up cardboard from the snacks that Adalynn inhaled and sang silly songs.

We got home lateish and put the kids down and poured some wine and put some snacks out on the deck and have been enjoying the evening.  The internet has been spotty so I am catching up on these blog posts but am glad to have got things down while I remember them.  

Tomorrow we may do the beach, a winery, or perhaps another drive to do nothing…who knows 🙂 But, we’ll be smiling at the end of it!

 

Wine Tasting on Our Deck!!!!!!

On Sunday night we had a private wine tasting on our deck!!!!  It was better than we had even hoped .  Being the wine lovers that we are, we couldn’t spend time in France without some wine time but with Lleyton and Adalynn we knew we wouldn’t be able to do vineyard tours the way that we would without kids.  

So….instead of going to the wine, we had the wine come to us!!  We had arranged to have an english speaking wine expert (who has written a book about wines in this region) come to our apartment after the kids were in bed.  

It worked out so so well!  The kids didn’t make a peep and we had the best time.  Wendy (our wine expert) arrived with her son (who lives in London and just graduated with a degree in music and pursuing a degree in commercial music and visiting her right now) at 8:00.  She came with 6 wines; 2 whites, 3 reds and 1 sweet white.  She gave us tips about tasting, taught us about how French wines are labelled their terroir (where they are grown; the soil, heat, techniques used etc) rather than the grape.  She talked about wine history of the region that we are in and how it is the largest wine producing region in France but used to be quantity not quality but how the quality is getting so good.  

She was fantastic!  So knowledgeable but down to earth and the wines were so good!  We’ve been drinking a good mix of reds, whites, rose, and even a little bit of champagne.  That night (and many nights on our deck actually) we had a nice spread of cheeses and charcuterie and fresh baguette.  So awesome.  

some pictures

More to come, but here are a few pictures from our trip so far.  The water jousting pics are on Jarett’s phone and I don’t think we’ve taken a camera to the beach yet so those are missing but this is a start 🙂

The Market!!!

Fresh Food at “Home”

This morning we decided to hit up the market!  

We went downtown and decided to divide and conquer.  Jarett and Lleyton went on their way to buy Tielle (octopus pie) for lunch and hit up the pastry shop to get dessert for dinner.  

Meanwhile Mom, Adalynn and I went to the market.  We bought fresh shrimp, mussels, tuna, pasta, peppers, cauliflower and baguette for this evenings meal and some charcuterie meats and cheeses for tomorrow’s wine tasting.  

Lunch was awesome!  We had sampled the octopus pie on the tour one Wednesday but we absolutely loved it for lunch today.  Both kids tried it and liked it!!!!  So, so yummy!  We also had market strawberries for dessert which were awesome.

In the afternoon today Mom and I headed downtown on the bus for some shopping time and Jarett stayed in for Adalynn’s nap and Lleyton’s quiet time.  Our bus ride there was fast and easy and we got downtown quickly…only to realize that of course most of the shops were closed from 12-2 for lunch!  Oh well, beer and fries in the square listening to an accordion band play wasn’t a bad second 🙂 Then on our walk back we found open stores!  Saw a cute dress on sale but didn’t end up buying it.  We did however buy from the wine store before getting to the bus stop.  The bus on the way back was more of an adventure.  The scheduled one didn’t come so we waited for the next one which was then crowded with everyone headed for the beach.  In an effort to save time we decided to stay on one past the stop we knew so that we would get a bit closer to home….but ended up going further.  In the end we got home just fine and in time to have a nice skype chat with Jarett’s parents.  Lleyton was so excited to tell Nana and Grandad about France and figured they should just hop on a planed and come join us.

After that, Mom and I got to work in the kitchen while Jarett took the kids to get some more bottled water and a few odds and ends.  We had so much fun!!!!!  We made Tuna Ceviche as an appetizer, Seared tuna steak as a first course followed by Fresh ravioli pasta stuffed with chorizo and then tossed with fresh fresh shrimp.  We steamed mussels in a white wine and garlic sauce to have on the side and roasted cauliflower and cut up a baguette…and of course poured some great wine.  Dessert was amazing pastries from the shop Jarett and Lleyton visited earlier in the day.

I would have to say it was one of the best seafood meals I have ever had.  The shrimp was so fresh and flavorful – Jarett couldn’t get over it.  Mom kept talking about how the tuna melted in her mouth, and I think I had third helpings of mussels.  Lleyton tried a little bit of everything (and of course and seconds of chocolate cake) and Adalynn…well she really likes baguette 🙂  It as so fun to cook with such great seafood with my mom and to enjoy this meal with my family overlooking an absolutely stunning view on our deck here in France.   Such an awesome day!  Jarett and I took the kids on an after dinner walk down by the beach and back and now they are tucked in quietly (we hope) and we are going to enjoy the view from our deck.  Needless to say, we are having an awesome time here!  

I’m just loving sinking my teeth into Sete and really loving were we are.  There is the travel bug part of me that feels like we are so close to many places in Europe or even France and could get there in a hop skip and a jump, but most of me is content to sit and wander and practice my french and to eat and drink wine and play in the sand.  Tomorrow we may visit a nearby abbey or watch water jousting or go to the beach.  We have tentative plans for lots of things we could do next week but no musts.  It’s fantastic.  I am feeling so blessed to be having such amazing experiences!  

 

Gourmet Walking Tour, Beach Day and Water Jousting and Carcassone!

I can’t even believe what a great time we’re having!  The weather has been beautiful.  Hot but not crazy and a nice sea breeze.  The first few days were quite windy and there was kite surfing right outside of our apartment.

On Wednesday we had our Gourmet Walking Tour and it was incredible!  Our guide was Canadian (but moved to France 30 years ago) and she was friendly, knowledgeable and so so good.  We were the only people on the tour that day which was great and we had bought an extra umbrella stroller for Lleyton so that he didn’t have to walk the whole way.  The kids did so well!  

The Wednesday market is huge and awesome so it was neat to see and then we went into the indoor market that happens every day.  She introduced us to specific vendors and we sampled sausage, oysters (learning the proper way to shuck them and about how they are farmed etc.), fresh cherries, an octopus tart that tasted kinda like lasagna, fish soup that was awesome, Roquefort cheese from you know an hour away or so in Roquefort.  We heard the stories of the vendors and the relations to the original family members who started the recipe or business generations ago.  Everything was awesome!

Thursday morning was a beach day for Jarett the kids and I and a book morning on the deck for my mom.  The kids had so much fun splashing around and building sand castles 🙂

Last night we went to check out the water jousting!!!!  Lleyton absolutely loved it.  There are two boats on the canal with ladders and rowers.  They row toward eachother and the two guys on the platforms carry long sticks and try to knock eachother off.  All the while there is a flute player and a drummer in each boat and a drummer in the stands etc.  So so fun.  

Today we headed to check out Carcassone!  It was amazing to see that big huge castle.  The size of it was incredible.  We wondered around looked down the little streets.  The inside now is set up like a little city and is neat but somewhat toursity.  Still, so cool to see the buiilding.  The countryside was beautiful too with miles of vineyards.

Other fun things have been wine on the patio, runs along the boardwalk and lots of laughs.  The kids have had a couple times where they’ve had crying or tantrums but really not too too different than home and they have settled into sleeping better (though we have now moved them into separate rooms as they were waking eachother up).  

Hope everyone is doing well at home.  Love you all!

 

Bonjour!

We’ve arrived safe and sound!  I just finished having cheese and baguette and champagne on the deck so thought I should maybe muster up some energy to share what we’ve been up to so far!

The flights went pretty well overall.  It took Adalynn a while to go to sleep on the “overnight” flight but she wasn’t too fussy.  The overnight flight from Toronto to Paris was only 7.5 hours though so they definitely only got about 4-5 hours sleep if that on that flight and both slept for an hour or two from Edmonton to Toronto.  Considering that the five hour layover in Paris wasn’t too bad.  We had great luck with security, customs, luggage. and car rental and didn’t have to wait for anything for long.  Our car fit all of us and our luggage which was great!

Our place is amazing!  It is huge and modern and so so nice with a few out over the lagoon where we watch the kite surfers.  We are about a 15 minute walk to the beach which is great too.  We’ve only spent about 20 minutes two times at the beach so far as the first time was a little chilly and the second so so windy!  It was hilarious actually.  Jarett was at the store with the car exchanging a stroller for Lleyton (as we figure we may need one for the tour we’re doing tomorrow) and mom and I were at the beach with the kids and Jarett was meeting us there.  I was out in the water with Lleyton and noticed the wind picking up.  When I looked at the beach, Mom was literally sheltering Adalynn form a sand storm as it was pelleting them.  We went back to shore and got Mom and Adalynn up to the parking lot and Lleyton and I hung out in the water until Jarett came back with the car. 

Yesterday we went for a drive to nearby Agde.  Our GPS took us to the centre of Agde….the actual centre!  We some very nice little back alley lol.  We walked around and had a yummy lunch of mussels and Adalynn practiced walking and crashing on cobblestone streets (she’s ok).  

This morning we went to visit Arles, which is one of the largest collection of Roman buildings outside of Rome, many being in better shape than Rome.  The amphitheater was incredible!  The whole city was super cute and awesome with it’s small winding streets.  We actually got a close up view of those small streets as we accidentally turned onto them off of the main road and weren’t sure if our big car would get stuck trying to find our way out of them.  Superstar driver Jarett figured it out thought and all was well.  

Tomorrow we have our gourmet walking tour which we are super excited for!  Jarett has all of our camera so I will try to get him to add some soon.  

A Bientot!