I actually got up today when my alarm went off at 9:30am, instead of re-setting it. The plan was to make the crust for my apple pies before I made pancakes for breakfast. I finished one crust, but by then everyone was up and it was time to make pancakes. They turned out really well (I used a recipe that Chelsea sent me—one that doesn’t have buttermilk!) and everyone liked them.
After lunch I put the apple pie together and while it was baking, Catherine had me listen to some classic Basque songs. The group that was singing was started in Tyrosse and she knows a few of the singers. She says I can make a copy of her CD, so I’ll definitely have to do that!
At 1:30pm, Catherine, Ralf, Margot, and I headed to the beach in Capbreton. It was 74° and very sunny with pretty much no wind, so it was the perfect beach day!
Photo: Margot and I boogie boarding
The water was even colder than last time, but it’s still much warmer than at the Oregon Coast! I went right in and eventually everyone else followed. There weren't many people in the water when we arrived, but over the course of the afternoon, more and more people decided to go swimming.
Photo: Margot rides a wave
Photo: Catherine and I waiting for a good wave...
After about 20 minutes, Alison met up with us and we persuaded her to come swimming as well. We boogie boarded for a while and then headed back to our towels to lie in the sun.
Alison, Margot, and I played a little bit of catch with the frisbee and then around 3:30pm we headed home.
Photo: Alison and I enjoying the sun!
On the drive back, we stopped at the little store that sells the amazing dried fruit. I bought a big back of dried fruit and a bag of marzipan fruits (Catherine and Margot wanted to try them) for the family.
When we got home, Catherine and I made the second pie (she wanted to learn how) and I skyped with Brigid while it baked. At 7:30pm, we headed over to Chantal and Philippe (her long-term boyfriend)’s house for dinner. It turned out to be more like snacks, as opposed to a sit-down dinner. Most of them contained meat, so I just ate a lot of chips and guacamole (yum!!) and then some potato salad. After about an hour or so of chatting and eating, Chantal called the kids down to play the Name Game! There were 14 people there, so we had even teams. We squashed ourselves into their little living room area and commenced the game! It was so fun—lots of laughter and accusations (“You mimed that!!!”)
Overall a really fun evening. I was sitting there (during the game) and it hit me: I am really going to miss these people when I go back to Corvallis. It’s really hard for me to leave people who I’m close with (hence the homesickness), so I know it will be very sad to make all these close friendships and then leave. Especially as it’s not easy (or cheap) to come back to visit. I guess this is “real life.”. After the game, the kids headed back upstairs to play and we enjoyed some apple pie (the kids had eaten theirs earlier). Everyone liked it and Chantal got to keep the leftover pieces.
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