I left in a taxi from rue Fontaine Friday around 4:30 pm with a sick, feverish little girl in my arms. We picked up Chloé at her office in the chic district of Place Vendôme, then out to Levallois to get in the car with papa Franck. The ride to the Cotentin was expected to be about 4 hours, with traffic out of Paris on a Friday evening it took about 4 1/2. Gaspard did not join us, which made for a much better ride in the backseat. Except for the fact that I get very carsick if I don't keep my eyes on the road, and a sick Marie-Césare needed a lot of attention that evening. Franck was driving as quickly as possible, I mean, who needs the German Autobahn? You can just drive anywhere in Europe as fast as you want and its pretty much not a problem. We arrived around 10, had a quick dinner and went off to bed.
The next morning we had the pleasure of meeting one of Chloé's friends who she worked with at L'Oréal, Katy. She had a sweet yet fiesty just-turned-3 year old and Marie-Césare and Anushka played very well together.....
for the most part.
Chloé and Marie-Césare went to the doctor early, got some meds-you know, can't just chock it up to a good ole fashioned change-of-the-weather cold. Gotta be something else. Franck left at 8 am to go fishing, and I slept until around 9. Chloé and Katy visited with the girls and I took a little walk. We stayed in a small village called La Rogue, and I honestly couldn't tell you what the nearest big city was. I walked around the village and down some side streets, which didn't take long! The countryside backed up just near the sea which was incredible.
I returned from my walk on a beautiful, sunny day on the French coastline and we set off for another small village to have lunch. The restaurant was full but it was the only one around so we had no choice. At 1:00 pm with 2 very tired girls the server told us it would be very long to wait for fish and if we wanted to get in and out quickly we should just order off the kids menu or have a vegetarian plate. Since we didn't want steak haché or fish sticks we ordered veggie plates. It was actually very good but we didn't have time to enjoy it because we were busy keeping the 2 little ones occupied. Anushka took a nap on the way to the beach, and Marie-Césare sung songs the entire way there. It was a good 30 minutes. We were meeting some of the other girls that Chloé worked with at L'Oréal, and their husbands who had gone fishing. The women arrived by car and the men by boat. Turns out it wasn't just a quick jaunt down to the beach, but more of a randonnée through the cliffs. The water against the rocks and cliffs was absolutely beautiful so the hike wasn't so bad.
We descended into a small pebble beach area by a rope. I felt a bit as if I was at Turtleback Falls in North Carolina. It was quite dangerous for the little ones, but of course, we all made it, safe and sound. A few knicks on a prickly bush along the way but nothing catastrophic. Everyone perched upon a rock and the girls undressed and played in the sand. The weather was actually very warm, and I was sweating in my jeans and turtleneck.
The beach was a beautiful color bright blue, and every time the water hit the cliffs and rocks it was like a sleep machine. I could hear the faint giggle of girls in the distance and friends mumbling French to each other, drinking wine and having cheese. And Franck? Well, Franck...he heard nothing.
I wasted away the afternoon in between two very comfortable rocks and my booty in the sand. We left at sundown, reluctantly, because no one wanted to climb back up the cliff. The men left in the boat with their daily catch (Franck caught nothing) and a couple of the kids tagging along.
Saturday night I (inevitably) babysat Anushka and Marie-Césare which ended up with me sleeping in a lounge chair bouncing Anushka to keep her from crying until her mother came home at 1 am. Its really hard for me to believe that Marie-Césare was just a little older than that when I arrived last fall. She has certainly grown up this year! (Thank goodness...its no wonder Marie-Césare and I didn't get along at first, I was SO ready to hand Anushka baby back to her mother!)
We had lunch today at one of Chloé's friends houses, and we ate a typical French picnic type meal on such a typical French table. There was a simple yet beautiful garden, lined with hydrangea's and all sorts of flowers. On the "patio" if you will was a long picnic table which was draped with a turquoise blue tablecloth, a tall jar with fresh cut flowers, paté, rillettes au poulet, a slew of cheeses, quiche lorraine, baguette, and ham. The plates were a blue and white toile pattern, which looked as if they had been passed down for generations. A couple of strings of lantern lights were hung over the table, and each person had a wine glass in hand. It looked like a photo out of a magazine which had been carefully planned out for a month. But, turns out - simple French country living really does exist.
The drive home wasn't so bad as Marie-Césare was feeling better yet we were all tired. I slept for 2 hours, Marie-Césare for 3, and Chloé even drifted off every now and then. We picked up Gaspard from his friends house on our way in, and since there was a traffic jam on the autoroute, we took a different road. We slowly drifted under the famous bridges in Paris, Pont d'Alma, Pont des Arts, Pont Neuf. We were just tootin' along - my French family and I - watching the Eiffel Tower come closer and closer into view. Marie-Césare was busy playing talking Santa with the iPad when Chloé asks, "Tu as vu la Tour Eiffel, Marie-Césare?" "Non." she replied. She lifted her head quickly and said, "Ah, oui." And went right back to saying inane things to her talking Santa like the Eiffel Tower wasn't one of the most recognizable monuments in the world. We all died out laughing.
Probably one of my favorite moments of the trip! I loved being all squished up with the Lachaize family passing la Tour Eiffel, Place de la Concorde, le Champs Élysées, and l'Opéra. It reminds me that oh-hey! I live in Paris. And oh-hey! I am practically French.
Okay, not really....but one day.
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