It was a very good surprise to hear that Rick and Michelle decided to take the TGV from Paris to Aix to visit us. We picked them up at the TGV station and drove them through town to our house. We pointed out all of our favourite spots on the way to Eguilles and showed them around town. That night,we took Rick and Michelle to the Set Club and then, Donna cooked a great salmon dinner and we had a great time hanging around. The next day we walked through Eguilles, stopped at our favourite bakery - Banette - and decided to go to Club Hippique.
Gabrielle showed them around: " I told Rick and Michelle all about the stable, my recent experiences and introduced them to my instructor - Alain - with whom they had a good conversation. They talked about the differences between having a horse farm in Canada, the climate, and hay prices. The kind of conversation I am always interested in. I was really happy to show Rick and Michelle my stable and to hear what they had to say about horses. It is nice to talk to other horse people once in a while. It was great to see that Rick and Michelle had a great time and really wanted to know what I had to say."
We came back home and Andre went to get some molten hot lava bomb Baguettes for everybody. Samuel was, of course, particulary pleased:"It was really fun having Rick and Michelle over. I liked showing them everything about our town. I was amazed at how many interesting things Rick knows. I enjoyed talking to him. Michelle took great pictures with her super-cool camera and we uploaded them onto our computer. I am glad they came."
Donna, Rick and Michelle went to Aix: "we walked around and stopped for a cool drink. It was a beautiful, hot summer day in Provence. Rick treated Andre and I to some fresh coffee where the beans were roasted on the premises. After 7 weeks in France, I was happy to have a full mug of non-espresso coffee. We were recalling the first time we met and realized that it was likely 18 or so years ago. It is so nice to have long standing friendships like these and it was wonderful to catch up and create new memories for ourselves and our children. The kids were sad to see them go and so were Andre and I."
Everyone got back home where Andre and the kids were waiting for another good evening: "I kept thinking about how amazing it was for all of us to be together in Eguilles of all places! We have such a hard time getting together in Canada but somehow Provence brought us together. The last evening was lots of fun. First, we had to talk about Sophie and how much she loved going to Rick and Michelle. It is comforting to see that she is already a good judge of character. We had so much to talk about - future plans, funny stories, memories, crazy ideas. First thing we knew, it was 1:30 in the morning and Rick and Michelle had to catch a train at 6:18 am. Too bad. I tried my best to convince them to stay until Tuesday (or Wednesday, Thursday) but as always, Rick never listens to my advice... I really appreciated that Rick and Michelle made the long trip to visit us, and we are grateful for their continued friendship."
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