The Brown Family Vacations

Happy 4^th…wait…I mean 14^th of July! That is right, Bastille Day in France! No poolside barbequed hamburgers and hotdogs, cool slushy drinks, or apple pie but they do have fireworks! And what a firework show it was! We wondered what time we would need to get there in order to secure a place to watch the pyromaniacs set of all of the explosives. The answer that we received was that we would not need to leave too early, but just at sunset. So, we left the house at 10 pm and walked downtown. Total city life! We arrived at the spot that afforded us the best view of the fireworks along with 20,000 other people! There was a “city dance” going on in them middle of all of this with plenty of loud music…but no “Star Spangled Banner.”

The fireworks were set off from a boat in the river with the full moon and the bridge as the backdrop. The reflection of the fireworks in the water was almost as good as what we saw in the sky! It reminded me of many 4^th of July’s that we have spent up at the cabin, watching the fireworks over Lake Arrowhead or Big Bear Lake. It was beautiful, and it definitely filled our 4^th of July void. (Minus the BBQ and the pool, family and friends!)

Bordeaux at night under a full moon

Full moon on the right middle and bridge in the background

Bordeaux at night

As soon as the fireworks were done, we walked back home so that we could all get in bed early. (Ha ha! This is crazy!) The next day we were to visit Cap Ferret, where Pierre’s Mom has a summer home. To really see and know Cap Ferret, Pierre felt that we should have a boat. So, he rented a pontoon boat for us to and showed us one of their favorite places to spend time away from the city. Piere had been coming to this vacation home his entire life. Lots of great memories. This was very similar to our experience and memories with the Cain in Green Valley Lake.

It turned out to be a beautiful day to be out on the boat in the bay. We saw the Dune du Pyla from the ocean side (where the kids had climbed up one side and then run down the other), several very cute “sea villages” and a beautiful beach with sand that felt more like powder! We picnicked on the beach, cruised the coastline and viewed the oyster farms for several hours before returning the boat and relaxing in the sun at Pierre’s Mom’s house.

Pierre's Mom's house in Cap Ferret

Rachel, Caroline and Astrid

Astrid's boyfriend Louis, Jeff and Soren

Soren, Makenna, Rachel and Caroline hanging out on the boat

Dune du Pyla from the water. We had been standing on the top just a few days before!

As is what seems to be the custom, we would not be taking our tired children home until we were served a very typical, and meant to be refreshing, French drink. You know what they say…when in Rome, do as the Romans do. This has been one of our mottos for this trip! The hostess brings out a very cute “cup holder” with 6 glass cups, a pitcher of water (room temp) and 2 bottles of syrup. One is grenadine and one is mint. The mint is by far more popular. You add a small amount of syrup to your glass, and then fill it with the room temperature water. NO ice cubes to be seen. (Typical France as well) Voila. Refreshing drink. Although the drink is ok, it is not one of the customs that I will be bringing home with me. What I will be bringing home with me however, is the notion that you are not in a hurry, and that you just relax, talk, sip your drink and enjoy life. C’est la vie!

Normally we would have taken the next day to relax a bit, but weather does have to dictate some of our decisions. One of the things that was on the top of our list of things to see while in Bordeaux was the Dordogne region. This region is known for it’s rock sculpted villages, pre-historic artifacts and caves and lazy canoe rides. Seeing this region is best done by a 9 mile canoe ride that we were all really looking forward to doing. Although this can be done in the rain, it just didn’t seem like it would be as much fun.

With heavy heavy rain in the forecast, Saturday was going to be our best bet. Even that day, there was a 50% chance of showers. That may not seem like great odds, but it was the beginning of the storm and felt better than 80% and 90% for the next several days!

On the drive there we drove right into what we assumed was the storm. Again, we held our breath. We all had rain jackets…”Oh shoot. I forgot mine!” (Makenna) “Me too!” Rachel. This could be bad. Well, we were going either way.

Once again, it seemed that God was open to answering our prayers! The weather was 27 degrees Celsius (about 78 F), mostly cloudy, but not a single drop of rain all day! Whew!

We were to be on 2 canoes. One canoe had Jeff, Rachel, and Soren, and the other for Makenna and I. Although this is a very calm river, it is deceiving. Well, for Makenna and I anyway. Easier said than done became our motto for the afternoon! Behind (usually) the strait path that Jeff and his 2 workers laid out in the water, Makenna and I zig zagged our way down. You could often find us in the trees along the sides of the river, or turning in 360 degree circles laughing hysterically! Clearly one of us must have had more strength than the other, but we dare not discuss who that might be.

Whether going strait, or more like a zipper pattern the views were unbelievable. There were so many “can this be real?” moments, but I will only mention a few of my favorites here! First of all, I felt enveloped into nature as we dropped our canoes onto the Dordogne river. It is a wide, clean, smooth and serene river. It is flanked by full, green trees and steep, white cliffs. It was so peaceful that loud voices would have felt like grafitti to me. We just floated at first. Looking down river, and then turning around and floating backwards. We all just wanted to take it all in.

As we looked up we saw pre-historic caves. Oh to imagine how long those have been there, and who might have lived there. I imagine that the river below these caves would not have looked much different than it does today.

As we approached the first rock sculpted village, La Roque-Gageac (The Rock Gageac) we had a movie déjà-vu moment as we saw the gabarres. These are the boats that are shown in the movie “Chocolate” which was filmed here! Originally they were built to take oak barrels filled with wine down to Bordeaux. Now, they just cart tourists around who would rather not paddle. At this point, Makenna and I could start to understand why one might choose this option. Nah. We still preferred our ride!

We disembarked here to have some lunch and some views of the river from above water level! The town is carved into the rock mountain with one street and no sidewalks! Every winter, when central France receives a lot of rain, this town is flooded two days later, and the first floor of all of the buildings are under water! This, I would not want to see or experience! Still, with all the rain that we have been having, we chose to eat on a terrace of a second floor restaurant! After a bananna split that would put Baskin and Robbins to the test, we re-embarked.

As we floated around corners, (or paddled like mad as was the case for Makenna and I), we would catch glimpses of more towns carved into the mountain and castles towering above them. Chateau de Castelnaud built in medieval times, and across the river and down just a bit Chateau de Beynac 500 feet above the river…built to keep on eye on Castlenaud! During the Hundred Year’s War, the castle of Beynac housed the French, while the British set up camp across the river at Castelnaud. Great history and both were breathtaking to see from below!

Chateau Beynac in the background

Chateau Castelnaud and a family of Swans. Really???

9 miles and 4 hours after we started our canoe ride, we were in Beynac. From there, we were able to drive up to both castles and take some time to explore. The towns themselves are enough as they make you feel as if you have stepped backwards into medieval times! Seeing the castles up close and personal was surreal, and the views from them were beautiful! Everywhere you looked, you could see castles. Apparently the Dordogne region is known as the “Region of 1000 castles.” Beautiful! It made the long, tired drive home worth it!

"Are you serious? Another castle?"
"Yep...just trying to decide which one."

Chateau Beynac up close

View from the back of Chateau Beynac

Sunset from Castle Beynac

Soren and Rachel jumping into the sunset

Ahhh. The Dorgdogne region is definitely someplace we would like to come back to. Castles, rivers, and rock cities. Oh yea...the wine too.

The next day we caught up on some sleep and then met up with the Glotins. They were very excited to take us to a region in Bordeaux called Medoc. Medoc is a region of vineyards and “Chateau du vins” that make your mouth water. So, we couldn’t help ourselves. We just had to have one…

We drove through miles…wait, kilometers and kilometers of vineyards. We stopped at a chateau that produces some of the regions best wine, and is owned by Pierre and Sandrine’s good friend Denis. Unfortunately it was closed. Nothing a little call from a "telephone portable" can’t take care of.

5 minutes later, their good friend Denis shows up at his Chateau. At the same time as another group of people had pulled up and gotten out of their car. Denis warmly greeted Pierre (a childhood friend from the time that they were 9 years old) and Sandrine, before acknowledging the other people. As it turns out, this other group of people had seen the gates open and just pulled in hoping to see the winery, get a tour and taste. Denis greeted them warmly and stated “I am sorry, but we are closed today to the public. We are only open to this private party.” He said this with a smile, waved good bye and strolled over to us with key in hand and said "lets take a look around" and proceeded to let us in for a Private tour. By the owner of the Chateau...Wow.

Interesting and Pristine. This is the word that I would use to describe the inside of this winery. It was hard for me to imagine that in a few months, this beautiful area would be bustling with people are working to produce the juice of the berry that France is so well known for.

Pierre, Sandrine, Jennifer, Jeff and an Oak vat

Wine tasting with Denis

Kids actually enjoying the tour

The grapes are picked by hand. They are sorted out by hand, and then they are put in a series of vats and barrels and watched carefully by scientists, tasters and ultimately Denis until they are ready to go to bottle. What I would do to be able to be there for their harvest time!

We spent the rest of the afternoon seeing some of the most beautiful "Chateaux du Vins" in the Medoc area. Everywhere we drove, there was one chateau after another. Just dotted in and amongst the vineyards. It was beautiful! We were getting inspired...

Wow!

Wow

Check out the raked driveway of this one

Oh yes. I think that some of you know that we had been thinking of buying a little place in France...
Now let the record state that we had been wine tasting and feeling rather risky and a little tipsy. Sooo we bought a little Chateau in the Medoc region of France. It's got a little fixing up for us to do but it should work out just fine. We have already named it. Chateau Cantenac Brown. You will all be invited to the grand opening Ball at Harvest time. Here are a couple of pics...It is just a little modest place.

Entrance sign amongst 35 acres of grape vines

Chateau Cantenac Brown

The next day was the only day left for us to be able to see Spain. Spain was one of Jeff’s top requests and we were happy to take the 2.5 hour drive down there…especially because it was pouring rain in Bordeaux!

In Spain, the sun was shining, the water was sparkling and the streets were bustling. We were in San Sebastian…heart of the Basque Region. This region is very interesting because it actually straddles France and Spain. So, there are some cities in France and some in Spain…all considered to be the Basque Region. In France, they speak primarily French and in Spain Spanish. But, in both they also have a large percentage of the population that speaks a very unusual and difficult language. Basque.

All of the signs in the area were in both Spanish (or French in France) and underneath was in Basque. If I did not know any better I would have thought that I was in Greece!

When we arrived in Spain, Jeff's spanish kicked in and was our translator for the day. We started by climbing to the monument which overlooks all of San Sebastian. Jesus Christ. The view at the top was beautiful. We could clearly see the Port, the sandy beach slowly filling with people, and on the opposite hillside, the castle.

Monument overlooking the city

Hilltop 50' Statue of Jesus

View from the statue

At the bottom, we poured out and into the streets of the “Old Town.” This area is mostly known for it’s tapas. There is literally one restaurant after another spilling over with tapas and local beers. We had read that you might enjoy trying several different places and sampling different local flavors.

This was as close to Mexican food as Jeff was going to get, and so he took full advantage of it! He hopped into one place to sample…out and then right into another! There were a lot of fish varieties, and so the kids liked some of the tapas, but none as much as Jeff! I think that his favorite was a potato dish with hot sauce and a special locally made mayonnaise.

mmmmm...Tapas and Beer

Before leaving Spain, the girls and I shopped around a bit while Jeff and Soren got themselves onto the sand and into the ocean! Of course, not wanting to miss out on anything, the girls and I did meet up with them and spend the last ½ hour of our time there laying on the sand and trying to soak in the last of the day’s warmth!

We stopped in a French Basque city for dinner on the other side of the Border- St Jean de Luz. The houses and buildings looked the same…white with red or green shutters, but we were able to communicate again. Well, at least I was. Jeff was doing quite well in Spain once he transitioned fully from French, to English and then to Spanish! He now considers himself tri-lingual!

Boardwalk - St Jean de Luz

Tomorrow is our last day in Bordeaux. We have loved getting to see this side of the country and spend time with some new friends. We will be sad to leave I am sure. For me, it is also difficult to say good bye to another chapter of this incredible journey! Sigh.

The last several days (minus one where Makenna was sick with a stomach flu) have been quite full. The Glotins have been very generous with their time and their willingness to show us Bordeaux! They were very excited to show us the tallest sand dune (115 meters high) in all of Europe. La Dune du Pyla. It is 500 meters wide from the forest of pine trees to the beach! It was quite a sight, and a climb! You get the choice…you can go up a recently erected staircase or challenge yourself by foraging through the sand. It is as you are picturing! The parents chose the staircase and the kids chose the sand! After the climb up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, the stairs were no big deal! At the top, we were provided with a 360 degree view. To our back were pine forests, as far as the eye could see. (Also the biggest in Europe…at least I think that is what they said???) To the front was azure blue Atlantic Ocean. In the distance they pointed out a lighthouse that is located in Cap Ferret…a town that we were to visit a few days later.

Telling a child that they cannot run down from the top of a 115 meter sand dune would be like showing me a beach on a sunny day with a chair, an umbrella and a great new novel and telling me that I cannot sit down and read! So, of course, they ran down! Well, most of them did…most of the way. Soren’s 9 year old legs just couldn’t keep up with those long legs of his sister’s, AKA the gazelles! However, you cannot keep a boy like Soren down. Eventually they all mastered the hill! Evidence of which was very clear the next day when all of the kids woke up and complaining of sore legs, backs and necks!

After the kids had covered most of their bodies with sand, including scalps and ears we left and went to a beach called Petit Nice Beach. It was a beach very similar to the beaches that we know with long stretches of sand, waves and plenty of people! More topless sunbathers perhaps than we have at home. I think that we were seated such that poor Soren did not have to suffer from the same kind of distraction as he had to in Les Calanques. Thank goodness that he did not go on the walk down the beach with Makenna, Jeff and I, where Makenna was given a live viewing of what she might see in a health film in college. Full nudity…of all ages. (I know that you all wanted to know!) It was like driving down the freeway and seeing a traffic accident. You don’t really want to look, but you just can’t help it. At one point, as Makenna and I were “studying the sand” (well I thought that it was Makenna and I) Jeff told us that it was just a bunch of old men. To which Makenna replied “not that one!” I looked up to see a young and very muscular man of about 25 or 30 getting out of the water. OK. Walk over. J

Still, the afternoon was nice and the kids fully enjoyed swimming and bodysurfing like they would at home. Although I did not have an umbrella, a chair and a book I did enjoy laying on the soft sand and just relaxing to the sound of the waves.

That evening we had to be back to clean up and go over to Sandrine’s parents house for a graduation celebration for their daughter Marie who just graduated what we would call high school, and for their nephew Paul who just graduated what we would call middle school. We were there with Sandrine’s two sisters and their families. We felt very privileged to be there, and they truly made us to feel like family. This too was so nice for the kids, because aside from the food (BBQ duck and sausages on baguettes) and the fact that they all speak French, it felt like a family gathering at home. The kids all played in the pool, on the trampoline, arm wrestling and “ninja.” To some things there is just no language barrier!

For Jeff and I, we were made to sit with the “grown ups.” I was able to hold my own with French, for which Sandrine’s parents seemed very appreciative of. I felt as if I had passed their test. The French are definitely a very proud people, and genuinely appreciate it when you even attempt to speak their language. For the ones that want to practice their English, they are happy to speak to you in English. For others, mostly in the older generation, they are only happy when they can see that you have studied some of their language (the more the better) and that you can show that you appreciate their culture and traditions. Sandrine’s father asked me if I like the champagne in California. Ahah. I knew it! Another test…for which I had the answer! My research was paying off! “We make some nice sparkling wines in California. True champagne can only come from Reims in France monsieur.” To this answer, the entire family laughed and applauded. We were in! Whew. It was a close one! There were more test questions throughout the night, but let is suffice to say that we passed. Jeff was with the “men” and as usual had no problem holding his own! His French, and of course his French accent were in full swing! A few of the men did speak some English and enjoyed talking to Jeff as he enjoyed talking to them. It was a very nice evening for us to be with such a nice family and get a true feel for the family life in France!

The next day, Jeff, the kids (including Caroline who wanted very much to spend time with our kids) and myself went to St. Emillion. This is a beautiful little village with cobblestone streets, a huge bell tower, and all stone buildings dating back to as early as 1224. All of this is nestled in and amongst some of France’s most famous vineyards. It was a beautiful day and we fully enjoyed exploring this little town! We walked to the top of the King’s Castle where we had a 360 degree view of the area and town that surrounded us. It is so funny to us that you drive for miles and miles with nothing but vineyards or pastures, and then out of nowhere you arrive in this very well known quaint little town, bustling with activity! This town is very well known not only for it’s fine wines, but also it’s macaroon cookies! True! Pierre and Sandrine told us about them, and I had also read about them! Well, these little babies were served hot out of the oven. People bought them as quickly as they came out and we must have passed 10 stores that were all doing the same thing! Needless to say, the little confections melted in your mouth. Two boxes later, we were on our way back!