Nantes

Nantes has greeted us with 3 days of sunshine. The wind has been blowing but it has taken the clouds and rain away. The sun is strong enough to produce a little sunburn but not strong enough to bring out the full summer wardrobe.

Marion and Thomas are in the process of moving to their new house in Indre. It needs some work before they move in including a new kitchen added onto the back. It is a 3 storey building on a long narrow block extending back towards the Loire. It will give them more bedrooms inside and out as well as a close proximity to Nantes city centre. Nantes is further down the Loire from St Clement, about 50km from the Atlantic. It is the 6^th biggest city in France at about 800 000 people.

This is Brittany. The land of gallette and cider. Gallette is the darker, denser and savoury brother of the crepe (reminds me alot of my brother CJ). It is made with buckwheat flour and water and is served with butter, cheese, eggs, ham, sausage in different combinations. Yesterday at the market in Indre we enjoyed some galette saucisse and crepe sucre. We started the day with a trip to the “Vide Grenier” which roughly translates to: “Let’s clear the junk from the attic”. Lissa was on the hunt for some clothes and she was not disappointed. Lissa’s cousin Samuel and wife Stephanie and children Hugo and Laura (10 and 6) joined us for a visit to a local amusement park. All 7 children cut loose on the jumping castles, slides, bikes, cars, paddle boats, rope courses and ball pits.

On our first day we headed to the coast near Pornic. The kids were content to collect shells and rocks and little creatures from the rock pools. The afternoons have been long and pleasant so we decided to stop for dinner and some famous Strawberry sorbet. It was here that little Omi took a hard fall on the cobblestone road. Her face was grazed and bruised pretty badly on one side. There was plenty of blood and tears. Being a Dad ain’t easy when your little girl is in pain but Naomi is a tough little chicken. She is healing nicely under the supervision of Nurse Marion.

School is back on today. As the big kids work, Eva is in heaven with the attention of Marion. Imaginary play (and Playmobile) is the key to her heart.