We have been lucky enough to have quite a few visitors come see us in Gap this summer. First up was Andrea alllll the way from Galiano Island. She and I used to teach together at JLS College in Vancouver. She was on a whirlwind trip to France, Italy, and Scotland and managed to arrive in Lyon just in time to meet me for the Leonard Cohen concert. I have never swooned so much in my life! It was beyond fantastic.
The next day we hopped on the train from Lyon to Gap. It takes about three hours to get from one place to the other, and the clickity-clack of the train was all too much for poor jet-lagged Andrea.
Once back in Gap, I was thrilled to show Andrea around my new 'hood. Here we are enjoying the view from chez moi:
François and I also took her to our favourite swimming hole about 45 minutes from Gap, complete with lovely cool fresh water and a stone bridge built by the Romans way back when!
Our second set of visitors were François' sister, Delphine, and brother-in-law, Eloi. They arrived for the Bastille Day long weekend, which we kicked off with a group picnic at Les Gorges de la Méouge, the aforementioned favourite swimming spot. Picnics are always yummy fun, especially in France... with a bottle of rosé!
Later that weekend, Andrea continued on her way towards the south of France and Italy, while we stayed local and rented a boat on the Lac de Serre-Ponçon, which is a huge lake near Gap. It was created when they built what turned out to be Europe's second largest dam back in the 1950s. Artifical or not, it's still a beautiful spot and it was so fun to be out on the water on a beautiful summer day!
Click on the link below to see more photos of our
afternoon out on the lake:
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| Lac de Serre-Ponç |
Moving right along, our most recent visitors were the lovely Florine, Alice, and Emie from Lyon, who came to see us in mid-August. What you need to know: Florine and Alice are sisters who spent a lot of time with Francois and his family while they were growing up, due to the fact that their parents were/are good friends. (Despite this, the girls seem to be pretty much normal! Hee hee...) As for Emie, she is Florine's brand-new daughter (only 3 months old!) and was definitely the star of their visit to Gap.
We had a lot of fun drinking tea and playing with Emie at the apartment, having picnics in the park,
and going out for gelato in the evenings.
It was nice for me to have a good dose of "girl time"... and while François was at work, the girls kept me entertained with stories of how much of a goofy, nerdy kid he was (not much has changed, apparently!)
To see more photos from the girls' visit, click here:
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| Al, Emie, Flo à Gap |
So now you are all up-to-date with the summer visitors to 14, rue de France. Next up to check into the guest room? My Mom and Dad! That's right, my parents arrive in France on September 12th for a three-week visit. I am so excited to see them over here, introduce them to Francois' family, and be tour guide extraordinaire !
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