France and Birthday Celebrations

After visiting Glenn's mom in New Jersey, we spent 10 days in France in two different location mostly with family: 1) close to the Lac du Salagou near Montpellier for the 60th birthday of my sister and brother in law and 2) in Roanne where my mom lives to celebrate her 85th birthday. It was really nice to see family and friends. Near Montpellier, we visited the medieval village of St Guilhem le Desert, Unesco World Heritage. Amazingly beautiful with its monastery and narrow streets with beautiful stone houses. Then went to the "gites" rented for my sister's birthday party. Again beautiful site in the middle of nowhere with pool. It was very hot, windy at times. We ate outside for 4 days, LOTS of french food and LOTS of wine drinking, for both lunch AND dinner...this is life in France!  We were so happy to see each other. Went to the local market, rented a canoe and paddled on the lac du Salagou, chatted with my family..... Many of my nieces and my nephew were there. Marion, our daughter was there to....with Keith, her husband. So much fun to spend time together to catch up.

Then we drove with a rental car to my mom's city of Roanne. Had a chance to go over  the beautiful "Viaduc de Millau", the tallest bridge in the world (343m), an architectural wonder. It was inaugurated in 2004. Had never seen it before :)) Back to Roanne....Roanne is located in the center of France, not far from Lyon. We visited more family with my mom, particularly her cousin Papillon (Butterfly...his family name!). She had not seen him for 3 years, too far for her to drive now. Creating these types of opportunities for my mom when I visit makes me feel good. You should have heard them talk. SOooo happy to spend time with each other. Even cousin Papillon's sons came to say hi to us. They have been farmers for several generations, Interesting to hear their perspective on life in the country side, how difficult it is for the younger generation of farmers to keep the work going, how they now have to belong to Cooperative with others non-family members.....One son raises cows for meat and the other raises them for milk. They alternate the milking on Sundays, so they can each have every other Sunday off. Not an easy life for these guys....and no bonus at the end of the year :((

We also had dinner at my brother's house in the country side. They were happy to share vegetable from their garden. Little potatoes there do not taste like anything I know in the US. The REAL thing, pulled from the garden 1/2 hour before they get cooked. And again THE CHEESE! All from neighboring farms, so so good. In one word: HEAVEN. But that was not all we did while in Roanne. We had dinner with my childhood friends Pascale, Brigitte and Dominique and their respective husbands, a tradition that we honor each time I get a chance to go to Roanne. We used to live in the same neighborhood when we were kids, and played with each other all the time. How fun to catch up with them too!
We surprised my mom with a birthday celebration at her retirement home with her best friends. Big cake and champagne...She turned 85 on July 12. When she turned 80, we were not sure she would make it to 85, she has chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She was lucky to receive a new treatment which has done wonder for her...and she is still with us today, in quite good shape. So happy to see that she can benefit from a new and more efficacious treatment for her condition! The second surprise was a fantastic lunch at the Domaine de Champlong with Glenn and myself, my sister from La Reunion and her husband and my mom. The atmosphere was delightful. I will not forget the "foie gras" topped with a (solid) "coulis de fraise", the lamb chops cooked to perfection with a nice sauce. The "fromages" (served after the meat) came in an enormous rolling cheese cart. I am not kidding, at least 30 types of cheese. We just had to point to the cheese we wanted to try. My plate was embarassingly full at the end of my selection, from sheep cheese to goat cheese to cow cheese, going from mild to strong. Of course, the bread accompanying the cheese was equally amazing. Desserts were beautifully presented and the sugar content was not excessive. Delicate and served with a smile....a great experience for all of us.  Generating fun memories is a goal in life that cannot be neglected. Don't we live only once?