Walls in France: Our weekend in Eygalieres

It has taken me a few days to get back to blogging after a busy weekend away, but here I am! The last time I really wrote was before we went to get our rental car...Well, that seems like eons ago! Getting to the car rental place was pretty uneventful - just a few packed metro cars and a long wait for a very crowded bus, but otherwise, surprisingly easy.

I was the navigator, and as we pulled out of the rental place, I suggested we try taking the Tunnel Croix-Rousse that would take us under Croix-Rousse and get us right on track to go to the Defaixs. (We had to go to Couzon to pick up luggage we had stored there. Plus, we wanted to visit with our friends before heading out for the weekend.) We found our way to the tunnel and were so proud...until we saw that the tunnel was CLOSED! So we followed the "deviation" or detour and got totally bogged down in traffic. We inched along through the city streets (it was Friday evening afterall) while I griped about the fact that there was no sign indicating that the tunnel was closed and Bucky tried to keep his cool. Two and a half hours later we arrived at Chateau Defaix. It was a trip that should have taken us about 30 minutes! We were thrilled to be there and enjoyed a nice dinner with friends.

The next morning we headed out for our real trip to Eygalieres. It took about 3 1/2 hours. Myriam was waiting for us with a lovely lunch...roasted chicken, hearts of palm and a provencale salad. She even had cherry ice cream for dessert for the girls. We sat in the front yard listening to stories about her life growing up in Eygalieres and reminiscing about our visits there. Bucky got briefed on how to prepare snails (which are aplenty in the front yard) and how to harvest and season the olives from the trees in the back yard. He added those two tasks to many that he already has for getting settled. He also started a list of things he needs help with from my dad who arrives October 9 (we are counting the days until he and Tutu arrive with the cats)!

We were busy the rest of the weekend getting information about the house, fitting keys, meeting neighbors and family, and being given insight on the places to shop, etc. around Eygalieres. When we had a chance to relax, we talked about the year to come and what we should expect...planting broccoli and beets in October, checking the olives for harvest in November, midnight mass with a live lamb walking down the church aisle on Christmas Eve, the mistral throughout the winter, and lilac and wisteria in the spring. We also learned about the tradition of giving lily of the valley to each other on May 1st to ensure luck and the places where all of the good markets are during the week.

On Monday morning, we stopped by the town hall to get paperwork for activities for the girls and then dropped Myriam at the TGV station in Avignon. As she headed to Brittany on the train to visit an aunt, we tried to find our way to A7 (the autoroute to Lyon). That task proved tougher than expected and we were late getting into the city. Bucky and the girls had to miss their French lesson, but Lucy and Kathleen didn't complain. We considered it "their labor day" off. We head back to Eygalieres for good on September 30. We are very excited to make it our home!