And now the hard part - living.

So, three weeks in and I'm getting the feeling that: "Yes, I could get used to this. After all, it's not so different from Calgary." I will learn not to set myself up for these fate-tempters in the future. Needless to say, Ann and I decided to go for a nice walk along the beach yesterday. Lo and behold, the tide was going out with a vengeance. Locally, this means the huge sand spit just offshore becomes visible and accessible for non-swimmers. So Ann and I decided to wander along to see what we could see at low tide and began to understand the occasional bag of something being carried back to shore contained clams. Yummy. I like fresh clams fried up in butter and garlic served on a nice fresh baguette as much as the next person. Sure enough, we realized the next time we came for a walk at low tide would require a small digging device and a plastic bag. Then things got interesting. Ann remarked "Oh. That's sad. A garbage bag washed up on shore". And, I'll admit, being from Saskatchewan, and not a marine biologist (not even a pretend one to impress women), it looked to me a bit like a garbage bag. However, as we got closer it became obvious that this particular garbage bag was alive, and squishy, and, and, I'm not really sure what else. I regret not having my camera this once as a picture might have helped. That being said, I know I'm not in Kansas anymore when there is something about the size of a shoebox sitting in front of me that defies definition (a mutant sea cucumber?). In Canada, at least the part I'm familiar with, anything that big or bigger, when alive, can usually be identified within a moment or two. I guess I shouldn't get too comfortable just yet. A trip to the local supermarket seafood section helped secure that feeling as there were many unidentifiable objects available to purchase and consume.

I threw in this picture because we've been riding past it each day on the way to Perri's sailing school. It made kind of a nice shot but doesn't represent any historically significant church (as far as I know). Also, by French standards, it's really quite new. We can here the bells when they chime on the half hour, if we're sitting out front.

And, speaking of sailing school. We browbeat Perri into attending for a week so she'd stop watching old tv episodes of 'The Office' on the internet. Sadly, the classes were all full, but we put her on the alternate list. Once the weather forecast for the week hit the local papers, the phone rang immediately. Apparently, people on vacation aren't interested in having their kids learn to sail in hurricane conditions. Well in Canada, we don't care how dangerous it is for our kids. True to form, the wind was howling through the rigging on the boats as I dropped Perri off. It did not go unnoticed by Perri that every kid was wearing a wet suit, except her. Luckily, the weather improved as the week wore on (she still got a wet suit).

She'll be the one standing up on the catamaran approaching shore.

The weather is getting more summery with every passing day, although I've been impressed with French's 'c'est la vie' attitude toward the weather. Even on the foulest rainy days, you could always find families outside doing...  stuff. It wasn't until after we finally got the local cable feed that I began to understand. The television here is so awful that nothing short of a real hurricane would encourage anyone to stay inside and watch. I think we have 120 channels - the basic cable feed - and, with the exception of the occasional sporting event, nothing to my tastes. To be fair, I haven't checked out late night programming to confirm rumours of less family-friendly viewing. Stay tuned, I may devote an entire commentary should I find something interesting.

I have alluded to car-hunting expeditions: some successful, some not. The following is a representation of our success:

I know! I thought the hood ornament was the Ferrari thing too. But after further investigation and a re-examination of the list price, I remembered we'd been to a Peugeot dealership. Still, I'm happy with it and the fuel consumption is unbelievable. Also, never let it be said the French are inefficient. Our salesguy knew we would be by to pick up the car at 2:00 p.m. sharp. Perri and I arrived a little past 2:30 and the car was ready promptly at ten past 5. Fortunately I knew there was no way it was going to be ready to go at the appointed time, so Perri and I were able to do some exploring on our bikes while we waited. We were able to find the local manifestation of blackberries, growing in volume along one of the little country roads nearby. In a few weeks, we will return with buckets.

We had also considered a used Peugeot crossover that had been used by its previous owner as a giant ashtray. Sadly, after a serious steam cleaning, the vehicle now smelled like an industrial cleaning agent facility... which had been used as a giant ashtray. Plan B was immediately put into effect and thus we are the proud owners of another brand new Peugeot 3008, which will be ready to go perhaps next week, or certainly the week after that.

As the weather is now cooperating, I expect to give our shiny new kayak a try this weekend, in spite of the treacherous currents awaiting me just off shore. This may be the last post on this blog. Also, Perri and I will be checking out the "U pick 'em" blueberry place tomorrow. Everybody loves blueberries!