Andre - Ma Soeur et Francis

Anybody who knows my sister will realize what a momentous event it was for her to come visit us. But her visit to Eguilles was the last stop on a fantastic journey through France. First, she went to Nantes to visit her penpal. Helene has been corresponding with her for 34 years - no this is not a typo - and they met for the first time. That must have been something. And next, Paris!

After five days in Paris, visiting all the great spots; Le Louvre, The Eiffel Tower -which was Francis' favorite - La Seine, Les Champs-Elysees, it was time for le TGV en route towards Eguilles. I finally realized I was not dreaming when I saw my sister and Francis get off the train. I was happy to see them and quite proud of my little sister (actually she is my older sister).

While Eguilles is not Paris, my sister and Francis got the Grand Tour - La Mairie and its amazing view of Provence, the village, Samuel's patisseries, the local stores. New on our list was a visit to the local doctor and the 2 local pharmacies - Francis got some kind of infection in Paris. Helene also visited Gabrielle's Club Hippique.

My sister and Francis also went to Aix-en-Provence. My highlight was to take both of them to Lourmarin and then drive up the mountains. We also went to Cassis.

When my friend Robert left, I was a little bit worried about the local merchants. I thought his departure would hurt the local economy. Little did I know that Francis eats even more! I expect the owner of our favorite patisserie to buy himself a house in Cannes or Nice within the next few days. Francis will also be happy to realize that despite all his efforts to avoid being photographed, his picture is now on our blog for everyone to see - and this, for eternity!



But it was time to go. Too bad, but I knew my sister and her son were in good hands with my cousin Monique and Celine waiting for them at the airport in Dorval.

Andre, Gabrielle, Samuel - Robert et Nadine

At the end of July and for the first few days in August, we had special visitors from Montreal - Robert and Nadine. We have come up with the 10 best things about their visit:

1. While we can't manage to see each other in Canada, I got to spend some time with my best and longtime friend Robert.


2. Finally meeting Nadine and finding out what a great and nice person she is.


3. Going to Chateauneuf-du-Pape


4. Going to see the Roman ruins of Glanum


5. Realizing that Robert no longer sleeps until 2 pm, he is down to 11 am now.

6. Realizing that Robert needs a nap before dinner

7. Gabrielle and Samuel got to show off their new French-speaking abilities

8. Showing them around Eguilles, especially the patisseries and the Set Club.

9. Seeing how much they love France

10. Having fun in the pool with Robert and Nadine.

Now, since this was such a special visit, we could not stop at 10.

The 11th best thing about their visit - and maybe the most unforgettable - was watching Robert eat a gigantic piece of a cake called Tropezienne!
(we wish we had a picture but the piece was too big for our camera)

All - Tour De France

On July 27th, we all got up early and jumped on the train to Paris to watch the last stage of the Tour de France. We got to Paris early, had lunch and found the perfect spot to watch the cyclists go up and down the Champs-Elysees eight times. Although we have watched the Tour on TV for many years - it is impossible to appreciate how fast those guys ride until you see it live. We were all amazed to see that after 21 days and over 3000 kilometers, each rider was still going all out, riding at over 50 km/h on the cobblestones of the Champ-Elysees. We saw all of our favorites - Carlos Sastre in the Yellow Jersey, Valverde, Voigt, the two Schleck brothers, Hincapie... A great day we will never forget. (Click on the videos below)