A Relaxing Sunday

Because of the long holiday weekend, Thierry and Nathalie told us that the return to Paris on Sunday would be "black," even worse than red, perhaps double the time we had planned. So we decide to stay an extra day, change our dinner with Alexandra and our airbnb and car rental, and spend a lovely relaxing day in Échiré. First we go to see Benjamin who is playing in a football (soccer) tournament that day, 6-8 15-minute games in sweltering heat. Kids are amazing to handle all this. Watching them brings back memories of Madeleine's soccer days and Barney's coaching. We go back to the house, eat a simple salad lunch, and then Benjamin comes home later, his team finished 8th of 16, and he had a nice trophy. I do some laundry - it dries almost immediately outside on the laundry line - and just hang out and relax.

Then we walk to a local park for some pétanque, and tings get serious very quickly, Benjamin in squire competitive, and Margaux is not thrilled when she loses a point , so the whole thing is quite interesting. I even played a bit during out US vs. France team thing, and of course we lost. This makes we want to do this at home even more. Then Nathalie makes a lovely dinner, radishes and pate, then a seafood salad, and the leftover chocolate mousse and creme Brûlée from the first night we were here. We eat outside on the front porch at the table, and it is quite nice. After such a lovely weekend, we pack up and prepare to depart early the next day.