Yes, I wrote the heading....and Marion only had to make one or two edits!
We've been in Sancerre in the Val de Loire for the last few days having arrived here on Saturday to enrol at Coeur de France for our week long french immersion course. We kicked off with our first lesson yesterday morning, en famile, and met Valerie who will be our teacher for the week. The first hour or two were quite a challenge as the boys made it clear that this is not something they want to be doing on their holiday! Luckily they found two computers linked up to ADSL and the french school has suddenly became a cool place to be. We've now agreed with them that they can play games online provided they behave and make an effort in their lessons so we'll see if this bribery makes any difference today.
The boys french is starting to emerge - albeit slowly - and my understanding is improving rapidly so hopefully this week will give me the confidence to start talking without freezing up every time I encounter a real person talking french. Marion continues to streak ahead and enjoyed learning about some new tenses today so thinks she will find the time spent at school this week also worthwhile. Bert will unfortunately have to rely on speaking to the locals to brush up on his french as the school doesn't allow dogs - one of the few places in France.
Sancerre is a lovely hilltop village in the Cher region of the Val de Loire and clearly the home of some really good wines and the famous Chavignol goats cheese. Needless to stay we have sampled both and already identified some names to remember. On the wine front the La Bourgeoise from Henri Bourgeoise is really nice as is the Domaine Bernard Fleuriet et Fils so give them a try. Another new found talent has emerged within the family with Kyle now a self declared lover of wine.
We spent most of yesterday exploring the area and found a lovely market at a place called Cosne sur Loire where we picked up some lunch things that we enjoyed at a quiet spot alongside a lock on the Canal Lateral du Loire. Earlier in the day the boys had great fun helping the lock master open and close the gates to a lock which was quite a novelty.....more of this to come when we get to the Canal du Midi.
We also got caught in a huge rainstorm whilst out on our bikes and of course I haven't heard the last of "what a great idea that was Dad"! The weather has thankfully improved and yesterday was a glorious day and today looks like being much the same.
Sean and Kyle are enjoying the space at the house we are staying at here which has a courtyard and a little garden. They have both started journals of the trip which are already starting to take shape and are full of pictures and things that they have descovered along the way. Marion and Nicky kept journals of their trip around Europe when they were about Sean and Kyle's age and Marion still has hers which she treasures as a great reminder of the good times they spent together as a family back then so hopefully the boys journals will enjoy the same.
That's enough from me for now
.....a bientot!
We've been in Sancerre in the Val de Loire for the last few days having arrived here on Saturday to enrol at Coeur de France for our week long french immersion course. We kicked off with our first lesson yesterday morning, en famile, and met Valerie who will be our teacher for the week. The first hour or two were quite a challenge as the boys made it clear that this is not something they want to be doing on their holiday! Luckily they found two computers linked up to ADSL and the french school has suddenly became a cool place to be. We've now agreed with them that they can play games online provided they behave and make an effort in their lessons so we'll see if this bribery makes any difference today.
The boys french is starting to emerge - albeit slowly - and my understanding is improving rapidly so hopefully this week will give me the confidence to start talking without freezing up every time I encounter a real person talking french. Marion continues to streak ahead and enjoyed learning about some new tenses today so thinks she will find the time spent at school this week also worthwhile. Bert will unfortunately have to rely on speaking to the locals to brush up on his french as the school doesn't allow dogs - one of the few places in France.
Sancerre is a lovely hilltop village in the Cher region of the Val de Loire and clearly the home of some really good wines and the famous Chavignol goats cheese. Needless to stay we have sampled both and already identified some names to remember. On the wine front the La Bourgeoise from Henri Bourgeoise is really nice as is the Domaine Bernard Fleuriet et Fils so give them a try. Another new found talent has emerged within the family with Kyle now a self declared lover of wine.
We spent most of yesterday exploring the area and found a lovely market at a place called Cosne sur Loire where we picked up some lunch things that we enjoyed at a quiet spot alongside a lock on the Canal Lateral du Loire. Earlier in the day the boys had great fun helping the lock master open and close the gates to a lock which was quite a novelty.....more of this to come when we get to the Canal du Midi.
We also got caught in a huge rainstorm whilst out on our bikes and of course I haven't heard the last of "what a great idea that was Dad"! The weather has thankfully improved and yesterday was a glorious day and today looks like being much the same.
Sean and Kyle are enjoying the space at the house we are staying at here which has a courtyard and a little garden. They have both started journals of the trip which are already starting to take shape and are full of pictures and things that they have descovered along the way. Marion and Nicky kept journals of their trip around Europe when they were about Sean and Kyle's age and Marion still has hers which she treasures as a great reminder of the good times they spent together as a family back then so hopefully the boys journals will enjoy the same.
That's enough from me for now
.....a bientot!
No comments:
Post a Comment