We all started getting sick about two days before Gamma & Gampa arrived - it was BAD - but 24a managed to rally the rabble and to get to the Nancy station on time. Baleful weather greeted us, and as we stepped off of the train, a crashing of hail began - to Jean-Philippe & my delight, though the wee ones weren't so sure how they felt about it, themselves. When we met up with G&G (who'd arrived about two minutes before we did) at the arrivals/departures sign, the boys smiled in delight and murmured their happy little greetings. I don't think they could quite believe that Gamma-Gampa were actually there, in front of them, in this stranger-to-them train station. We found our hotel with little effort, ate at a fake Alsatian restaurant, and turned in early, the better to be able to enjoy the sights of Nancy the next day:
heh! heh! The above are two of the most un-Nancy sights we could have seen there, but see them we did... & here are a couple from the archaeological museum - a real treasure:
The next day was spent getting to Saales by way of Épinal, where we took in the Musée de l'image. For those of you unaquainted with the images of Épinal, I strongly recommend a library- or Google-search...! And for those of you who have heard of Épinal's bad tourist rep, I recommend you make a stop the next time you're able, and decide for yourself.
By the time we got to Saales, the sun had set and we were VERY hungry. We settled for the first sign of eats we found, which made for three nights running of not-up-to par food - though the evening itself was a really lovely one. Here are the other five of us, on the way back to our digs. Speaking of which word: if Tomi'd seen the monkey paws we made of his feet, I'm sure he'd've dug it...:
The next day was a romantic, dark green and blue-grey one, with a lovely, wet walk and a night spent in, with homemade fixins, films and cards (Fluxx! at last!)...
The next day was like something from your memories of spring (in that way that you have to ask yourself, "Can it really be/have been that beautiful?!" Oh, but it certainly was!): luscious colours, sunlight streaming, shoes kicked off; lunch in the garden; a long, lazy walk through fields & foothills; the feeding of horses... there were tired boys, as well, of course... but we made it to the micro-brewery nonetheless that evening, well worn-out, hungry and THIRSTY! And THAT was our first fine meal "out" of the trip, I'd say. Oh, and the Big 'Uns tried to play cards after the L'il 'Uns got to sleep, but we only just barely made it...
Back in Strasbourg, we were ALL quite sick by now, but managed to do a bunch of things, including but not limited to an apéritif with friends on Monday; a delicious dinner at Caroline & Fred's on Tuesday; swimming at the municpal baths on Wednesday; a lovely dinner with the Jernites on Thursday (still minus Yacine!); and Friday's family dinner, at which we began draining the 5 litre bottle of DELICIOUS wine that Mr. Chavy had gifted us after our afternoon of tasting at his place near Beaune last September. Not only was the wine delicious, but quite frankly, this was one of the most delicious meals I've participated in in absolutely ages. We began with Renée's homemade kugelhopf, Dad's fresh-baked bread and artisanal sausage from the market and a Ruhlman Muscat; moved on to marinated fish carpaccio, baked cauliflower and Thai-inspired veggies and rice with cashew nuts, as well as the aforementioned Chavy white; then on to the shockingly good artisanal cheeses we'd found at the market that day; finishing it all off with (Dad's? Mom's? that's another story, actually...) Famous Peach Kuchen. My stomach is crying out, just thinking of it all... The boys had eaten so much all day, that they didn't participate much until the (Grampa's? Gramma's?) Kuchen came out, when they dug in like little feinds, exclaiming all the while, "Mmmm! Dis is GOOD! Mmmm! Mommy? More? Hhu-khen?"
Last but most definately not least, we took off for a couple of days in Germany, where my cousin Krista and her husband, Brian live (and work at two different AF bases, one of them at Ramstein, the other not far away). They were coming back from skiing further south on the day we arrived, but we'd found a lovely perch called the Bremerhof where we could rest and relax Saturday away, and await their arrival on Sunday. The grounds were beautiful, hilly, woodsy; the Biergarten was flowing and was full of things to keep boys happily busy; the food was good AND copious; the atmosphere was SO relaxing. We were well-rested by the time Krista & Brian arrived in time for a lazy lunch on the terrace the next day. We visited their lovely home; got to know "the girls" (who you can see below, wagging their tails); went for a gorgeous walk in the romantic hills around their village, and ate at a wonderful place called the Alt Landstuhl before saying our good-byes and returning to Strasbourg. It was really good to see their smiling faces and to hear their tales of the good life on their side of the borders. We're hoping it won't take a full 15 months until the next time around!
It was "Very. Sad," (as the boys kept explaining to me, as we walked away from the train station) to see Barb & Larry off the next day. But we've already got plans afoot for some time together in the Vosges at the end of summer - which carrot I keep holding out, every time the boys ask if they can go to Gamma & Gampa's house today, or any of the other versions of their asking to see them...
A LOT of various & sundry bloggable stuff has happened since Mom & Dad (a.k.a, Gamma & Gampa, Barb & Larry, Babs & Lars...) left on the Paris-bound train almost exactly two weeks ago. & blogging about even a feeble percentage of it is on my red list of things to do, though when and how much of it are questions that will only be answered when... they're answered. I hope you're all doing well and keeping happy. And if you're not at the moment, then I hope you will be, and a.s.a.p!
