I didn’t take many pictures on Monday, but here is a brief rundown.
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Even before our luggage got delayed, we had planned to make a trip down the valley to the big sporting goods store, to buy some fleeces and jackets and shoes that we would take home. So, after coffee and breakfast (cereal for kids; plain yogurt with apples for me) we piled into our rented Citroën Picasso and hit the road.
The Decathlon is like an REI, except that the selection is a little smaller and the stuff is more affordable, though still well made. No fancy American brands like Patagonia or North Face; instead it is Quechua and XPM. Great kids’ clothes. We bought something for everyone: climbing shoes, fleeces, soft-shells, approach shoes, neck gaiters, water bottles.
I bought underwear.
And then we were hungry, so we ate in the little cafeteria that was attached. Panini with eggplant, tomato, pesto, and a couple different kinds of cheese for me and my 17yo, plus salads of cucumber, haricots, and tender lettuces. A thick, bready pizza with tomato and potato slices for Mark. The smaller kids were alarmed by the strange food; but there were Babybels in the grab-and-go case, along with mini baguettes. So they ate bread, familiar cheese, and fruit.
The next stop was to be a sizable grocery store to stock up for the week. Mark suggested an Aldi, thinking that here in France it would be more like a normal grocery store; but no, it was as haphazardly laid out and oddly stocked as any Aldi at home. So I couldn’t get quite everything I needed, but I got most of it: milk, butter, cream, olive oil, cheese, cured meats, bread, onions, little yogurts, cereal, a cold rotisserie chicken, pasta, fresh pork cutlets, coffee, flour.
Then after we got back to the apartment, Mark and I walked together to the Super U in town to buy a few remaining items. Carrots and celery, wine, fresh vegetables, little golden potatoes, parsley, mustard.
We rested awhile and I finished my blog posts while Mark tried to get information about our suitcases (no luck) and tried to get our guided climbing rescheduled for later in the week (we were lucky there; another client wanted to climb in our prepaid slot, so the guide was willing to move us). Then I settled in to make dinner.
After dinner, well after sundown, Mark and I went out for a walk around town, looking in the shop windows, people-watching. We stopped in a wine bar called Bar des Sports, and indeed there was a television above the bar displaying a soccer match, England vs. Slovakia. I had the house Bourgogne, Mark tried the Rasteau (I didn’t know it; it turned out to be a slightly sweet, fortified red wine from the southern Rhône valley; mine was better) and we talked about soccer, and about the articles on the front page of the well-used newspaper lying there on the bar. Special edition for the rentrée scolaire (back to school): should the French copy these educational practices from other countries? The highlighted American was a high school student who said the most useful thing about his school was that he met with his guidance counselor every week. I am skeptical that this is representative.
Back to the apartment, and back to bed. Clean in the morning,
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