French Exchange

Wednesday 4 April 2007

Today it was all change. The sun rose one last time over the tomato field behind Bob and Lin's house as we prepared to say hasta luego to Spain and bonjour to France.We had a mid-day flight out of Alicante to Geneva and then a two hour train ride to our next destination, Vero's parents place in Ruy, near Bourgoin-Jallieu, France. The flight was uneventful except for the first and last 20 minutes. We had some great views of the Costa Blanca, including the Gibraltar-like Penon de Ifach, a rocky prominence in the town of Calpe, before everything disappeared under cloud.

As we descended towards Geneva the Alps rose gracefully from the sea of cloud and shimmered magnificently in the sunshine. Snowfalls had obviously been good. The descent was fun as the Alpine winds whistled up the Rhone valley throwing the plane around like a paper bag. Some screams came from the back of the plane but I was more worried about my final loaded meat and cheese baguette which I had just savoured. A local lady sat next to me was completely unperturbed by the roller coaster ride and with he limited English said 'it's winter, it's Geneva' and carried on reading her book as if she were sat on one of the beaches we had left behind. Luckily my lunch stayed down and we touched down safely.

It was freezing waiting for our train to France at Geneva station - 7 degrees apparently. We were glad to get into the comfort of the SNCF and enjoyed our cruise alongside the Rhone before arriving safely (and promptly) in Bourgoin.

Thursday 5 April 2007

This stay in France was never going to be all out tourist action as we were not really near anything too touristic. Thursday morning was spent at the local market watching Vero and her mum go through the usual ritual of fighting with several other grannies over cheap clothes. One good point was a trip to the local chocolatier/patisserie mmmm.

Lunch was typical Mallau fare at home - we are always so well fed there, before we took a walk in the countryside above the village. Always plenty to see and a nice way to spend the afternoon.

The sun came out and it was getting very warm, as warm if not warmer than Spain. The evening sunshine really put an accent on the garden, where spring had well and truly sprung.

Friday 5 April 2007

After a lazy morning chilling around the house and a very nice Good Friday lunch, we headed out with Vero's friend, Carine and met up with her sister and family at their place. We spent the late afternoon playing rugby with Joris, who's nearly two and already in training to beat les Rosbifs at Twickenham in 20 years time.

That evening we met with more friends at a restaurant in a village in the hills. 15 euros for 3 course can't be bad, especially when you see the quality of the food.