More adventures with the parents

Goodneess gracious it has been so long since my last blog post!! Since my parents visit I've finished work and been off galavanting in Spain for a bit, then I worked for a week on a farm in the South of France with the organization WWOOF. Now I'm back in Toulouse with the roomies and my friends for another 2 weeks before I leave. 

Stopped outside a boulangerie for our carb-fix

So, first things first. I have some exciting news!! About ten days after I get back from Toulouse, I will be starting a summer job with a company called VISIONS Service Adventures working as a counselor for American high school kids...in Guadeloupe! John's sister Christine has worked with this company over the summers for the past 4 years in South America, and now works for them full time in CT. A few months back she told me that they were doing their final hiring and might be looking for a French speaking counselor for their 6-week program in Guadeloupe, so, I applied and a few weeks later had a Skype interview, and shortly after I received the news that I had been accepted!! So, I have an orientation in Montana on June 17th and after I will fly (somewhat indirectly) to Guadeloupe! The camp is structured as part community service, part excursions/outdoor adventures for the campers. I will be in charge of 5 teenagers, and during the week they have the choice of 5 community service projects they want to work on for the day. Afterwards they can go to the beach, or can do internships with locals such as fishing, making ice cream, weaving, etc. The weekends are dedicated to hikes, kayaking, snorkeling, visiting other islands, etc. Pretty cool right? I'm very excited. One of the parts I'm looking most forward to is the food, obviously. Apparently they have a Guadeloupean woman who comes every evening to prepare dinner with a group of campers. During my interview I expressed a lot of interest cooking and gastronomy and the director said they needed a counselor to do the grocery shopping and be more involved with the meal process, and that perhaps that might be me!!

Ok, so anyway, that's the update folks. Now back to past... 

Mom, Ana and I at an outdoor café for a coffee, look familiar Loren and Dyan?? I take all my tour groups there :)

 We had a Breton-style crepe dinner one night complete with hard cider that really reminded me of the food I ate when I studied in Rennes 2 years ago. Above: goat cheese and honey crepe with an egg on top.

The rest of my parents visit went splendidly, despite the less than gentle awakening that, lo and behold, I still have parents, and no, they are never going to stop worrying about me. Aside from long walks around Toulouse, sharing meals with my roomies, meeting my friends, and trying to get them to ingest as much good French food and wine as possible. They were troopers and really saw and did the city the way I have been, we rented them bikes and only took the metro two times (one of which my father got caught riding without a ticket, of course there would be a control that day...thankfully the non-French speaking New Yorker bit worked). They even came to eat with the Mangesters for our last dinner together as a group. 

Dad crusing around an old Peugot

We rented a car for the week and made a couple day trips around the region as well. Renting a car was an adventure in and of itself, and one I knew all too well. When  my parents came to visit me in Rennes we traveled around the Provence region a bit with a var and ended up getting nowhere but lost. Granted, it was a lovely ride, we had no idea where we were or what we were seeing. This time, I was avowed to be a better copilot. Direction-wise, everything went incredibly smoothly, if I do say so, however one week is not enough time to get accustomed to the way the French whip those economy-sized cars around a roundabout 3 lanes wide at mach 4. To my Dad, everyone was "Dale Earnhart Jr", and I think he got pretty well acquainted with French car makes thanks to the proximity of the hood ornaments in the rear view. 

 We made a stop at the famous Carcassonne fortress where I brought John when he came back in December.

Next we made 2 hours north to a town built into a cliff called Rocamadour, it was really incredible. This photo is from when we stopped for a pick-me-up coffee along the way, I think the rents get a little nutty after all the caffeine they pack into those tiny European coffees.

 My Dad standing out on a lookout walkway at the top of he city of Rocamadour.

 Dad and I on top of Rocamadour, outside of the cathedral which was a popular pilgrimage site.

Inside the crazy underground river, before realizing photos were forbidden.

After Rocamadour we set off for this underground cave that Gisele had told me was a must-see if I was in the area. After leaving the town, I reassumed my role as copilot and we set off through farmland (see below my first reaction upon seeing sheep in real life for the first time), that, while beautiful, did not reassure us that we were coming up on a popular tourist site, let alone an underground river. My Dad, despite the fact that I had thus far navigated us 300 kilometers without getting lost ONCE, ahem, did not keep those doubts to himself. So, after about 20 minutes, lo and behold, we arrived at....LE GOUFFRE (the cave). I made him take this picture as his punishment for not being a believer.

Our final trip with the car we went to Roquefort-des-Corbieres to stay at my colleague Martine's house that she so nicely lent us. We did some grocery shopping in Toulouse and left Thursday evening after my last day of work. My Dad prepared this incredible seafood pasta dish despite the fact that he was working with an unfinished kitchen equipped with only 2 gas bunsen burners.

Seafood over linguini with Tariquet from the region 

 Parents on the hike I took them on around Martine's house through some vineyards. 

We saw some gorgeous Mediterranean springtime flowers on our hike

 A mini gouffre, a grotte. 

 Quite the life back in Toulouse huh?? Private cabana, macaroons, light reading....

We came back to Toulouse from Roquefort on Easter Sunday and had one last dinner at home with Gisele, her companion Gilou, Gabby, and her boyfriend Geoffrey. 

French-style aperitif chez moi, duck gizzard, olives, and a white from Burgundy, 1989.

 

On our way out the door for the airport Monday morning we stopped for one last photo-op.