L'Ile Verte

This past Saturday we decided to bypass the camping so we could actually be awake for our activities and visited a little island near Marseille, L'Ile Verte. It was pretty small, it only took about an hour to hike around, but it is amazing how quickly a day at an island beach can go by...

Maybe someday they will get tired of the beach, but they haven't shown any signs of it yet.

One highlight, Jaxon found a little crab to be his pet for about an hour

Another highlight? Someone gave Jaxon a dead bait fish to play with. A little disgusting, but he loved it.

Isn't he adorable? Daniel is about to make me cut his hair short...

And why not top it off with a little bit of ice cream.

Not too much to say; just one of those days that left us wondering how anyone would be able to leave the south of France. The answer, I think, is that most people don't.

As for other news, Jaxon just started speaking French. It was all very sudden. Eight months of words here and there and lots of reluctance (I had given up on the "kids are sponges" theory for him) and all of the sudden last week he just starts speaking French in sentences. Wow, I guess he was saving it all up for shock and awe. Unfortunately this development is just as the school year is about to come to its end and his English speaking cousins will be here for the summer...

A Not So Rustic Camping Experience

Daniel took last Friday off of work and following a morning of bumming out on one of the beaches in the calanques, we decided it was high time for Jonas to experience camping for his first time (okay, I decided), so why not that night? Although we had already given it a couple of perfunctory attemps, I was finally motivated to figure out the French system of camping. Searching online, we had been surprised to discover that camping in France appeared to be quite a classy experience, with camp sites rated on a 1-4 star scale, many offering ornate water parks, television, many leisures activities and high class restuarants. Our first challenge was to find the least frills site possible, leaving us a total of two 1-star sites to choose from in our region. The check in time at one ended at 6:00, well before we could be there, so by default we were really left with one. Scambling to pack the gear and the kids in the car, we headed for a site in a little town called Eygaliers in the early evening.We discovered a cute little campsite located right in centre-ville. We also soon discovered that campfires were forbidden, and apparently this rule applies to all of France. So instead of tin foil dinners and smores, we sought out a pizza truck. Not the kind of camping meal we are used to, but still delicious.

The kids enjoyed the simple playground.

Picture of the campground. There were plenty of olive trees and flowers. Kind of like a glorified backyard; but, hey, it can be fun to sleep in a backyard.

Jonas loved playing in the tent. However, with the sleeping bags all over the ground I think that he expected the floor of the tent to feel like a matress all over when he would fall over head first. He had a few rude awakenings.

Jonas following he first night in a tent: very tired and lots of static in the hair.

The area of our "campout" was that of the Alpilles, or "little Alps." Yes--the very little Alps.

We spent the morning exploring Eygaliers, a thus far unspoilt Provencal hill town. It was absolutely beautiful, even after a night of sub-par sleep.

Jonas was especially fond of chilling out in the shade.

Isn't he adorable?

In the early afternoon we headed over the St-Remy de Provence, another hill town, but of the more touristy variety. The highlight? Jaxon got to play in this fountain for about an hour.

So I think that we have changed our expectations of camping here. More than anything, it is a (possibly) cheap place to stay where you bring your own bed. Which we can appreciate. Even if we miss the overwhelming smell of smoke, fingers sticky with marshmallows and having to find our own toilets...

Pen Pals

So, I'm not usually big on making friends on the internet. However, a couple of months ago I felt like I had hit a wall in my study of the French language. I had found quite a few resources online and obviously had a lot of opportunities to practice speaking, but was starting to get bored and lacked real feedback. Long story short, I found a post of a French woman online who was looking for an Anglophone to correspond with. She was 30 years old and mentioned wanting to write about subjects that I was interested in, such as literature, current events, and our cultures. The post was kind of old, but I figured I would give it a try since she seemed so perfect. I was thrilled when she, Aurélie, responded and we have been writing back and forth ever since, correcting each other’s emails. It turns out that we actually have a lot in common: we both have two young boys with our oldest ones being the same age, a shared disgust for George W. Bush (okay, well, us and most of the world), and a shared perplexity regarding the popularity of the Twilight series. It also so happens that we both live in the south of France, just 2 hours away from each other, what luck! She invited us over to her house in Jacou, right near Montpellier, and we had a great time with her, her husband Olivier, and her boys Titouan and Aubin.
We spent a morning at the "Amazonian forest" near their house. We enjoyed all sorts of jungle animals and the kids had a blast. Jonas' favorite were the monkeys; he shrieked in contest with them as they jumped through the trees. Maybe he would have preferred a monkey raising him.

Jaxon and Titouan on the "Adventurer's Bridge". They spent a whole lot of time right here, but it was amazingly difficult to get of picture of them standing even relatively still.

Just a "me and Jonas were there" picture...

A visit to the zoo.

Daniel showing off his bubble blowing skills. We had a lot of fun just hanging out in their backyard, something we don't take for granted anymore. They live in a very cute French town, a nice contrast to the urban environment that we are used to in Marseille!

Seriously, if we had a backyard we wouldn't even need a bedroom for Jaxon; he would definitely prefer to sleep in a sandbox. I love Titouan's smile in this picture; he humored me much more than Jaxon does for pictures.

We spent an afternoon in Aigues-Morte, a quaint French village surrounded by a wall built in the 12th century. Of course, ice cream was essential.

Hmmm, maybe we could have avoided some problems if Jaxon had had a cup rather than a cone.

These two boys had a whole lot of fun playing on this ancient wall. However, Jaxon was a little out of control... And one of their favorite parts? Collecting dry leaves. It is always amazing when they find something entertaining to do that isn't really mischievous...

Just enjoying ourselves

In addition, we enjoyed a whole lot of one of my very favorite French pastimes: eating! For those who have never experienced this, eating a French meal really is a pastime, an art. It is meticulous and it takes a lot of time. Although there are different variations that we have experienced, a French meal seems to include at least a main course, followed by cheese, followed by dessert, and there my be appetizers and drinks as part of the procession. One eats slowly (okay, so I always seem to be the slowest) and deliberately and before you know it, 2 or 3 hours or more have passed! I totally love it. Anyway, it was so fun eating with them and we had some new delicious discoveries: duck steaks, Petit Basque cheese with homemade cherry jam, and homemade foie gras with fresh figs. Amazing! I have no idea how to even try to follow this when they come to our place this fall.

Well, I guess good things can come from meeting people on the internet. Thanks for the great weekend, Aurélie and Olivier!