My Francophile Year: We Are Wired for Now

Oh, I have so much to tell you! Internet capabilities have been intermittent at our house for the past several days. A repair man promptly came out the first day of trouble and got things up and running for a few hours. Then, it went off again. A storm passed through with lots of wind(could that be the mistral Southern France is so famous for???) so I blamed the lack of modern technology on that. Give it a little time, I told the kids..and myself. A reprieve from the web would do us all good.
Unfortunately, the kids had a Skype date wit their Dad that they did not want to miss, so I found a cafe in town with wireless-there is one- and off we went for an appertif and Skype. While waiting to contact their dad, the kids Skyped another family friend and it was fun to see their faces. Big Sis abruptly ended that Skype as it was time for their Dad Skype, then the internet in town went out, too!!!! A very expensive phone call followed, but at least they got to hear each other's voices, if only for a few minutes.
We came home, the kids hanging their heads low with missing their Pa and the internet was back on- a quick Skype arrangement and everyone got to visit electronically and a happy end of the day ensued. We woke up the next day to no internet again, though. Now, hours later and a fun day behind us, it is back on. I am typing fast....

2 green lights=good

As I mentioned earlier, we love a couple of quiet days, but I vowed to not let it go too long, as we all start to irritate each other and it just gets ugly so I cracked the whip this morning with a plan in hand and fun to be had. We went for a long walk along a nearly lake, picking enough ripe blackberries to make dessert later in the evening. The temperatures have cooled dramatically, making a hike, even in the sun, thoroughly enjoyable. Afterwards, we heading in an unknown direction, and came to a village called Cabasse. It is another small, ancient village with wandering, narrow streets and hidden passageways under stone arches. Beautiful fountains appeared after turning a corner, the best one was dripping with mosses under the flowing water. We had a rather formal lunch- it was the only place we found open- that served classic French fare with Alsatian specials. Molly and CLay both had Daube Provencale. I described it as Pot Roast- it was delicious and Molly has not eaten that much in the past fews days combined. Emma had a Gallette de Pomme de Terre avec Salmon Fume- a fried potato cake with smoked salmon- very nice. I had a Salade Nicoise as I new if anyone did not like their meal, they will always eat salad. Everyone shared and were rewarded with a delicious Apple Streudel.

We all agreed that our outing was a great success and every second was worth leaving the house for. Next stop-Marseille.