Thursday - Day trip to Pont du Gard
(Note: I know this is wordy. I'm not even re-reading what I write, I'm just typing and publishing right away. I hope it makes some sort of sense!)
How can it be Thursday? We landed Monday and it seems like we just got here. As I write this I have the huge window/doors open to the terrace. Some people must be cooking their dinner because the scent of garlic simmering in olive oil is wafting in the doorway. There are no screens here. It is either: door open, or door closed. Window open, or window closed. The first day we were here I was looking around for curtains. There are no curtains. Anywhere. If you want to block out the light you use a heavy wooden shutter. That is how everything is closed: shops, houses, windows, everything. It is actually very functional, since there are no curtains to get dirty and wood is always in style! Also, there are no bugs, so having things open is fine. I do wish the latches were easier to figure out. It sometimes takes me 5 minutes to figure out how to open a heavy wooden door. They are built to last. Oh, that garlic smells good.
We woke up at 8:45. Each day we seem to be getting up 2 hours earlier. Our first day around 12:30, then 10:30, then 8:45. I suppose that means tomorrow we'll have a nearly normal wake up time as we adjust to the 6 hour time difference. Thankfully the girls are sleeping all night - if they were not, that would be tough.
Our apartment has all cooking needs covered. There is even a wok if we wanted one. The coffee maker is tiny, and takes its own sweet time to make a pot. Dan calls it "the slowest coffee maker in existence." I think it takes about 25 minutes. The brew is mid-night dark. Perfect temperature. No need to let it cool down or blow on it, when it is done brewing, it is ready to drink. She has green ceramic cups for the coffee. Not big mugs. They probably hold 6 or 8 ounces. Just enough.
Dan made us sausage, eggs, and potatoes for breakfast. All of that was from the market Wednesday. The girls ate their food with amazing speed.
We drove to Pont du Gard today. It was about 15 minutes away. It is a Roman aqueduct built in 20 BC. 2,000 years old and still standing! (Google it for a picture.) Dan and I were there several years ago, and when Sara asked about it - I told her she was in my belly when we were there before, since I was about 20 weeks along with her back then!
The drive there was easy. No traffic lights. I don't think I've even seen one since we got here. They use "round a bouts" just circles that you enter and then leave to head in your direction. They are better than traffic lights really, no maintenance, no stopping, and the signs are clear. You do have to be on your toes though.
We parked and walked to the Pont du Gard. It was exactly as we remembered it, though our day there was a lot different. Last time it was just Dan and I. Back then I remember hiking around and looking in the museum. This time we didn't go into the museum, we just stayed outside. We walked across it (a google search would show you what I mean) and then we spent hours climbing on the rocks below -- we played "follow the leader" , we took off our socks and shoes and waded in the water, we ate cookies under a huge ancient arch, we laid down on the sun warmed rocks and just looked at the sky. That was my favorite part. At one point I was with Sara while Dan had Julia (she was sleeping in the Kelty carrier, and it is easier to keep Julia asleep when she is not near Sara's chatter). Sara and I sat under the bridge at her request. She played with some wild flowers, concentrating on them so sweetly. I was nearby, just enjoying watching her enjoy the flowers. The big arch was overhead. And it was weird to think about safety, since that arch hasn't crumbled in 2,000 years why would it today? I also was thinking how remarkable it was that Dan and I stood under that same arch in 2008 with Sara inside me - and here she and I were - again - in the same spot - only we were having fun together! Mind boggling.
After that Sara said "let's go to an ice cream shop" and I was thinking the same thing. There are a few places to eat and snack there (since it is a World Heritage site there are quite a few people there!) so we found a place to get ice cream. She had strawberry and I had chocolate and what must have been "bubble gum" I used the "point" method to order my ice cream and the guy scooped the wrong flavor. That was okay - it was yummy. We sat outside in the afternoon sun - happily occupying wrought iron chairs and a cafe table. Dan and Julia joined us. Sara offered Julia some of her ice cream, and Julia said, "ummmmm" to show she liked it. It was a fun family moment sitting there together eating ice cream.
After that we hiked more - including up to the top of the Pont du Gard - to the very top! How cool it was to see where the water used to flow. And the water in the river below looked turquoise blue. Stunning. People were canoeing, and there were a lot of swimmers (there is a river beach) - actually there were swimmers at many points since you could bascially just go into the river where ever you wanted.
At 4:00 we were ready to go. We bought an year-pass so we could go again while we are still here (we are in Uzes for almost 2 weeks). It was very different to visit with Sara and Julia - much more fun to share it with them - I think. Though there were some people on their honeymoon and they looked like they were having a nice time too!
We stopped by a "super market" (grocery store) to get some practical food (buying fresh stuff on market day is good, but it would be hard to buy enough to last a long time. We got some diapers, fruit, meats, laundry detergent (including stain lifter, that is hard to find here!), milk (they have shelf stable milk, so it doesn't have to be in the refrigerator!), and some juice. Then we drove back here - and had the project of bringing it all up the street, up the stairs, and into this apartment. That is tough when there are no cars allowed nearby, and grocery stores don't bag your groceries. We took a few trips (with the apartment's market wheel cart for assistance) and then got it all in.
Sara and Julia raced around the apartment (it is a long set of rooms that is bordered by an outdoor veranda) while I made dinner. (Dan was parking the car.) We had pork, tomatoes, kiwi, green beans, yogurt - and the plates were clean in a blink (they are eating everything here - we must be making them very hungry!). Then Julia was in her PJs and in her crib (it took about 1 minute) and we told Sara some stories (instead of doing bed-time books) and she was off to bed too.
I went out for a walk. By myself. The shops were closing for the night. They were bringing in the bins of lavender (really). The cafe/restaurants were full (everyone eats outside, the tables are right on the square). And the lights on the plane trees were on - the white lights about the size of golf balls strung up in long looping designs up the branches. Kids were playing (how were they up so late?) and people were strolling. There were some musicians. Serenading the people eating. I took it all in like a fly on the wall - the evening air was lovely. I'm in shorts and a short sleeve shirt and it was fine. Isn't summer great? There was one table of parents and 5 girls! We are set with 2!
Our apartment is in what they term a mansion, right on the pedestrian street, so to get here you buzz your self in, and have to open a door that must weigh 200 pounds or more. I have to use my full body weight to open it. Then we walk through a court yard with a stone well to get to our stone spiral stair case. We are the first apartment at the top of the stairs. There is no trash pick up, we bought our trash out to the village collection point at the end of the street. It is just a bin with a shoot. Pretty practical really, and that was our first bag of trash since we got here.
We don't know what we are doing tomorrow - but Dan found a neat train ride that looks fun that we may try to do sometime. There is also a stone village nearby that I want to see. We'll see what time we all get up - and see what we feel like doing.
Funny Quotes:
-- "That is one old bridge" Sara said when she saw the 2,000 year old Roman bridge Pont du Gard.
--"How did they build that bridge? How do you build a train? Can you tell me please Dad?" - Sara at the Pont du Gard.
--"I hear the bells chiming! It is six o'clock - my bedtime! I better not be late!" - Sara as she heard some bells here, dong 6 times to let her know it was 6 o'clock.
--"Mama, come look at what I made. I made a copy of Uzes. Here is the whole village. Here is our apartment." -- we brought a lot of Legos for Sara/Julia to play with and Sara made a whole village with them (we are currently in Uzes, so that's what she built) - complete with streets and buildings. Kept her busy for a half hour! Sara and Julia have played Legos outside and inside (no TV, I hear they don't work here-that was for you Dad) and it is a great way for them to play and relax after the day.
End of post - perfectly timed with the bells chiming 10:00. Good night.
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