Feugerolle II

August 19th (Thursday):

When I returned to Feugerolle after posting last time's update, Marie-Caroline and I went on a hike with her three nieces and her sister-in-law. It was stunning! Only part-way up the path, you could turn around and get a perfect view of the surrounding mountains. And guess which idiot forgot her camera? :) Fortunately, MC's sister-in-law promised to mail me her pictures.

After the hike, MC and I were shown Jean-Baptiste's bunny rabbits. Who is Jean-Baptiste? I'm glad you asked. He is the handy-man who takes care of Feugerolle with his wife and daughter during the months the de Boyssons are not at the castle. He is legit French, and I really want to take a picture of him. Every day, he wears a royal blue flat cap with royal blue trousers and a matching flannel shirt. And he raises bunnies! He is the real deal. And his rabbits - cute little things - are, in fact, quite valuable. A woman once traveld 5,000 kilometers to buy one! I can understand why - they were very soft and cuddly.

August 20th (Friday):

MC, her brother Adrien, his friend Benjamin, and I went rock-climbing, and it just might have been my favorite day here in France. I know, I know, I'm supposed to like the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower, or just Paris, but that's not what happened. We drove to Saint Etienne, received our harnesses and instructions, and hiked out to the location for twenty minutes. I had really hope to - I don't know - have something crazy like an actual instructor actually instructing me on what to do. Instead, we just hiked out and started rock-climbing. Fortunately, the others explained everything and made sure I didn't unnecessarily risk my life. It was a very fun and very exhausting! When we had reached the end of the climb, we all trekked down this quarter of a mile, very rocky path. Adrien stopped a man to ask him for directions, and the man promptly told us we had to go back up the path.

It might have been at this point that I learned my first French curse word.

So we walked back up the path and hiked back in to town. As Benjamin put it, "We are exhausted - but a successful type of exhaustion."

August 21st (Saturday):

On this day, Marie-Caroline, her parents, her brother Regis, and I traveled to Lyon. We first stopped to look at some "Roman vestiges," next to Saint John's church, next to a basilica that looked like an upside-down elephant, and then went shopping. After we went shopping (and yes, Lauren, I did buy you a French shirt), MC's week-long plea won out, and she got her ears pierced! She was very nervous, but handled it well.

And the next time I have internet access, I'll start where I left off.

Au revoir!