Pitanque and My New Family

I woke up at 3am again today. Not really sure what is going on, but I was able to fall back asleep tonight without much of a problem. I got out of bed at 7:45 and showered. I headed downstairs but the door was locked. The lights were on so I figured Alain went to get some croissants. I went back into my room to pack a bit. I went back down about 30 minutes later, nothing. I finally heard something stirring down there about 8:15 (I have no idea to be honest). Alain just woke up and was about to head out to get some croissants. I was glad that they were not locking me out early! I headed back up to pack until he had arrived back and then missed everyone for breakfast. Ann joined me and then Auriane.

After breakfast Alain and I headed out to play some Pitanque. I lost three games to him and I worked a lot on my throwing. Even though I was not a great bowler, I bowled long enough where my wrist is trained to throw in a certain way. When I released my balls 1) I was throwing wrong 2) I was curving the ball. Alain was very patient and kept letting me redo the throws but it was not necessary, I still lost 

I knew that I was supposed to be meeting up with my new family around 11 but I was not sure the exact time or the place. I quickly realized when I got back, that I would be picked up here, at the house. Sitting in the kitchen with Ann, waiting, made me nervous. I had no idea what to expect, even though I had been in communication with the girl. How much English could she speak? What have I gotten myself into? It is funny how none of this bothered me when I was dealing with a 12 year old….

The doorbell rang and Ann was off, down the stairs to answer it. Julie and Patrick headed up and we all got introduced. I gave Julie 2 kisses as she paused and then she told me 3…I got it right on Patrick though. All of us sat down at the table to talk. Ann did most of the talking, which made me feel more comfortable. She told them about my travels in France, Italy and Germany and my upcoming travels to Israel. She even sorted out the ride to the airport for me, which was amazing.

I caught bits and pieces…okay I understood the topic of most of the conversation that was going on but I did not hear any English, except when Ann broke a question down for me. This made me really nervous, they did not say any English, none! I said my goodbyes to my wonderful host family and headed into the car with the next family. When we got into the car I said “thank you for picking me up” and I got a response in English! Oh thank you lord for not stranding me.

I think I have given up a bit on learning French as I had hoped. Between spending half of my trip out of France and not being able to get French lessons it just has not worked out. But I know that I can understand more, I just need to work on the vocabulary and practice of it. We headed toward St. Remy and stopped at an archeological site. It was okay for a picture or two but it did not phase me much, I think I am over Roman remains, there is just so much of it here! We got back into the car and they showed me a beautiful man-made lake where they often go for picnics. Then we got into the car and headed home. I was shown my room, which they turned into a bedroom for me and it was perfect. The whole house is very quaint and just lovely.