Fall Vacations

oct 25 i left with the kids for fall vacation. we went to catherine's parents' house in la feriere. catherine and emmanuel stayed the first night after they dropped us off but then they went back to thoiry and left us at dad and mamooshka's for the week. it was pretty good with two exceptions: myriam crying in the middle of night waking me up and not having the internet! the days were cool at first, i got some time in the afternoons and i explored the forest with the boys and we crossed rivers and built forts. we also fed the neighbor's sheep and horses. they have a little hydroelectric plant nearby that takes all of the rainwater from the top of the mountain down to the village through these huge tubes. it's really cool to put your head right up to it and hear the hundreds of gallons of water rushing down (and even the vibration of it). one of the other afternoons i went by myself for a hike into the mountains (and mostly to scope out the bike paths). the following day i got up enough courage to try it, and it was awesome. mountain biking is a much cooler sport than i thought... also much harder. i didn't realize what a tremendous hazard a couple of misplaced rocks and a few piles of leaves can be. dangerous lol, but it was fun, i can't wait to go again sometime.
i think it was the fourth morning i woke up in la feriere that it had snowed! i'd say by that evening we had almost a foot of snow! the kids went sledding while i went for a walk with two of catherine's sisters and one of her nieces (who is about my age). oh yeah... all of her family owns houses right around the same area, so i got to see a bunch of aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. it was great! sometimes i wish my family could have houses so close for vacations like that :)
anyway, enough of la feriere.
oct 30 catherine and emmanuel came back to pick us up and we left the following day after lunch for the south of france (thank goodness they brought my bathing suit which no one told me i needed)! we arrived in port camargue that evening (it was about a 4 hour drive i think). it is the biggest harbor in europe i think emmanuel said. you're surrounded on 3 sides by the Mediterranean Sea and more boats/yachts than i've ever seen at one time in my whole life! it's beautiful there. of all the places i've seen (so far) i think i would recommend that one the most. it's famous for it's bird observatories. they have wild flamingos there too! and wild bulls and horses. it's a really cool place.
one of the days we were in port camargue emmanuel, cyril, jb and i went horseback riding. another day, we took drove about an hour to see chateau des baux (a medieval fortress of a castle built in the 10th century) in provence. it rained during our entire visit though!!
another day, we went to a huge aquarium. we walked through the "shark tunnel" and saw the sea lions and things. i forgot take pictures here though, but i suppose everyone's been to sea world at one time or another... (it was just like that except more authentic in the sense that it was less "the show starts at this time" commercially entertaining)
hmmm what else? it seems so long ago... i really have to start writing everything down so i don't forget.
ah yes! we went to this 'cathedrale d'images' and saw a wonderful Van Gogh exhibition in what used to be an old limestone quarry. it was awesome. they projected van gogh paintings/drawings all through the "building" on 50 ft high "walls" of limestone (even on ceilings and floors) all accompanied to music. the best part was the kids even enjoyed it too (probably because of the music and all the bright moving colors) anyway, it was exceptional and it made me even more excited to see the real thing this weekend! did i tell you all i'm leaving tomorrow morning to go to amsterdam? they have the best van gogh museum in the world there (he was from the netherlands) so i get to see the originals! i am unbelievably excited about that. anne frank's annex too. i have dreamed about going there since i was a little girl. i get goosebumps even thinking about being in the actual annex, the actual room she wrote most of her diary in.
back to last week... what else? you'll have to let me think. i'll write more tonight when i will post pictures from all these places!
oh yeah, and i couldn't be happier that our president is Obama. it seems the american people really do have some sense afterall :)
alisha