Friday: Friday morning I woke up,
packed up my stuff for the weekend and headed to Part-Dieu for our train to
Belleville-sur-Saone at 10:20am. Dana and I got on the train and ended up
taking a little nap. We knew that the train was supposed to just be 30 minutes
long, so as soon as we heard “sur Saone” we grabbed our stuff and jumped off
the train since trains don’t stop for that long at random little stops and we
didn’t want to get stuck and miss our stop. Once we got there, we headed out of
the train station to look for Pernette. We couldn’t find her and started to get
a little bit worried. Luckily I had her phone number and we were able to call her.
She said that she was at the station, so we couldn’t figure out why we couldn’t
find her. After a bit however, we saw a sign that said Villefranche-sur-Saone,
and then ran back inside the train station where we asked the people at the
train station “what train station are we at?” We received the answer that we
were dreading and realized that we weren’t in Belleville-sur-Saone. We called
Pernette back and luckily she was really understanding and came to get us at Villefranche-sur-Saone.
We drove back home with her through Villefranche-sur-Saone, Reigné and finally
into Latigné – the tiny little town where the Perrouds live. We got to their
beautiful house and headed inside to put our stuff down. As soon as we walked
in, I smelled the very distinct smell that the house has and I remembered the
house and all the great times that I had there. We settled into the room, got
washed up and headed into the kitchen for lunch. We had lunch with Pernette,
Gilles and another Gilles that was helping Maud’s father with some work in the
vineyards. We had a delicious lunch of rice, fish and sautéed vegetables. It
was the type of meal that I have been hoping that my host mom would make for a
really long time. After that, we had some delicious goat cheese that the other
Gilles had made. Dana and I were pretty tired after lunch so we decided to take
a little nap. We had a relaxing little siesta and then we headed outside to go
explore the vineyards and the rest of the house. We went to see the three
chickens that the Perrouds have and walked over to the vineyards. We ran into
Pernette who had just come back from picking up Leonardo (Charlotte’s 11 month
old son) and so we spent some time with Pernette and Leonardo. Then, walking
back towards the house, we ran into Gilles and some guys working in the wine
cellar, so Pernette gave Dana and I a great tour of all the wine making
equipment. After that, Dana and I decided that it was finally time for us to do
a little bit of studying (since we had our French final on Monday). We made some
progress on our studying. Pernette and Gilles had a dinner with some friends on
Friday night, so Dana and I just had a low-key dinner with Charlotte, which was
nice since I never spent that much time with her before since she is Maud’s
oldest sister. After dinner, Dana and I spent a little more time studying and
hanging out before going to bed.
Saturday: We had a nice chance to
sleep in late on Saturday morning. Once we got up, we grabbed a quick breakfast
and got back to studying a little bit before lunch. By this point, Quintin,
Elise, Caroline, Caroline’s boyfriend Raphael, Caroline’s daughter Axelle,
Pernette’s mother and Pernette’s niece Julie had arrived at the house. We had a
fabulous lunch of salad, foie gras, rosemary potatoes, and steak. We also had
quite a few glasses of incredible wine straight from the vineyard. The wine was
really good and it was not really acceptable to say no, so Dana and I just
tried to drink our wine really slowly so that they couldn’t offer us too much
wine. After the meal we had some more of the fabulous homemade goat cheese and
then a fantastic chocolate cake that Pernette made. We were with her while she
made it and when she put the cake pan in the oven, she set the pan within a
larger pan and filled the larger pan with hot water so that there would be less
of a crust on the cake and it would be more moist. It turned out fabulous and I
will definitely have to try out that trick. After lunch, the whole family went
into the living room to have some tea and coffee and spend some more time
together. We all had a fabulous time together, and particularly enjoyed
watching Axelle and Leonardo play together. They are both just such adorable
and happy babies and it was so cute to see the cousins interacting with each
other. Next, we all went outside to take a walk through the vineyards. It
turned out to be a really gorgeous day and so we just wanted to take advantage
of the sunshine and the beautiful scenery. I had a great chance to talk to
Gilles mother who lives a separate part of the house with them. Dana and I
loved learning more about the vineyards. After a really pleasant walk and some
time in the garden, Dana and I decided that it was probably time to get back to
work. We didn’t want to miss out on the beautiful place that we were in, so we
grabbed our books and headed outside to do a little bit of studying. Eventually
we all headed back inside and pretty soon it was time for dinner. We had a
lovely dinner of salad, rice, duck cooked in a sauce of apples and oranges,
some more goat cheese and some fresh fruit for dessert. It was a lovely meal
and it wasn’t too heavy after our big meal at lunch. After dinner, we all went
into the little room next to the kitchen to have a tea. After that, Dana and I
had been planning on buying some wine to give to various people as presents so
we went with Pernette to get get some wine from the cellar. We wrapped it all
up and get everything settled. Pernette and Gilles who had just been in India
for two weeks visiting Maud brought out all the Indian clothes that they had
bought and the girls also brought out miscellaneous clothes they had bought or
things to give to their other sisters. Dana and I got treated to a fashion show
and all the girls: Charlotte, Caroline, Prunelle, Elise and their mom Pernette.
It was a hilarious night and Dana even compared it to a scene from little
women. It was a lovely end to the night and to a fabulous weekend.
Sunday: We woke up bright
and early Sunday morning, had a little breakfast, finished packing up our stuff
and headed to the train station. It was sad saying goodbye to the Perrouds, but
it was a great weekend and I’m so glad I got to see everyone (even though it
was sad of course that Maud wasn’t there!!!).
Friday: Friday morning I woke up,
packed up my stuff for the weekend and headed to Part-Dieu for our train to
Belleville-sur-Saone at 10:20am. Dana and I got on the train and ended up
taking a little nap. We knew that the train was supposed to just be 30 minutes
long, so as soon as we heard “sur Saone” we grabbed our stuff and jumped off
the train since trains don’t stop for that long at random little stops and we
didn’t want to get stuck and miss our stop. Once we got there, we headed out of
the train station to look for Pernette. We couldn’t find her and started to get
a little bit worried. Luckily I had her phone number and we were able to call her.
She said that she was at the station, so we couldn’t figure out why we couldn’t
find her. After a bit however, we saw a sign that said Villefranche-sur-Saone,
and then ran back inside the train station where we asked the people at the
train station “what train station are we at?” We received the answer that we
were dreading and realized that we weren’t in Belleville-sur-Saone. We called
Pernette back and luckily she was really understanding and came to get us at Villefranche-sur-Saone.
We drove back home with her through Villefranche-sur-Saone, Reigné and finally
into Latigné – the tiny little town where the Perrouds live. We got to their
beautiful house and headed inside to put our stuff down. As soon as we walked
in, I smelled the very distinct smell that the house has and I remembered the
house and all the great times that I had there. We settled into the room, got
washed up and headed into the kitchen for lunch. We had lunch with Pernette,
Gilles and another Gilles that was helping Maud’s father with some work in the
vineyards. We had a delicious lunch of rice, fish and sautéed vegetables. It
was the type of meal that I have been hoping that my host mom would make for a
really long time. After that, we had some delicious goat cheese that the other
Gilles had made. Dana and I were pretty tired after lunch so we decided to take
a little nap. We had a relaxing little siesta and then we headed outside to go
explore the vineyards and the rest of the house. We went to see the three
chickens that the Perrouds have and walked over to the vineyards. We ran into
Pernette who had just come back from picking up Leonardo (Charlotte’s 11 month
old son) and so we spent some time with Pernette and Leonardo. Then, walking
back towards the house, we ran into Gilles and some guys working in the wine
cellar, so Pernette gave Dana and I a great tour of all the wine making
equipment. After that, Dana and I decided that it was finally time for us to do
a little bit of studying (since we had our French final on Monday). We made some
progress on our studying. Pernette and Gilles had a dinner with some friends on
Friday night, so Dana and I just had a low-key dinner with Charlotte, which was
nice since I never spent that much time with her before since she is Maud’s
oldest sister. After dinner, Dana and I spent a little more time studying and
hanging out before going to bed. 
Saturday: We had a nice chance to
sleep in late on Saturday morning. Once we got up, we grabbed a quick breakfast
and got back to studying a little bit before lunch. By this point, Quintin,
Elise, Caroline, Caroline’s boyfriend Raphael, Caroline’s daughter Axelle,
Pernette’s mother and Pernette’s niece Julie had arrived at the house. We had a
fabulous lunch of salad, foie gras, rosemary potatoes, and steak. We also had
quite a few glasses of incredible wine straight from the vineyard. The wine was
really good and it was not really acceptable to say no, so Dana and I just
tried to drink our wine really slowly so that they couldn’t offer us too much
wine. After the meal we had some more of the fabulous homemade goat cheese and
then a fantastic chocolate cake that Pernette made. We were with her while she
made it and when she put the cake pan in the oven, she set the pan within a
larger pan and filled the larger pan with hot water so that there would be less
of a crust on the cake and it would be more moist. It turned out fabulous and I
will definitely have to try out that trick. After lunch, the whole family went
into the living room to have some tea and coffee and spend some more time
together. We all had a fabulous time together, and particularly enjoyed
watching Axelle and Leonardo play together. They are both just such adorable
and happy babies and it was so cute to see the cousins interacting with each
other. Next, we all went outside to take a walk through the vineyards. It
turned out to be a really gorgeous day and so we just wanted to take advantage
of the sunshine and the beautiful scenery. I had a great chance to talk to
Gilles mother who lives a separate part of the house with them. Dana and I
loved learning more about the vineyards. After a really pleasant walk and some
time in the garden, Dana and I decided that it was probably time to get back to
work. We didn’t want to miss out on the beautiful place that we were in, so we
grabbed our books and headed outside to do a little bit of studying. Eventually
we all headed back inside and pretty soon it was time for dinner. We had a
lovely dinner of salad, rice, duck cooked in a sauce of apples and oranges,
some more goat cheese and some fresh fruit for dessert. It was a lovely meal
and it wasn’t too heavy after our big meal at lunch. After dinner, we all went
into the little room next to the kitchen to have a tea. After that, Dana and I
had been planning on buying some wine to give to various people as presents so
we went with Pernette to get get some wine from the cellar. We wrapped it all
up and get everything settled. Pernette and Gilles who had just been in India
for two weeks visiting Maud brought out all the Indian clothes that they had
bought and the girls also brought out miscellaneous clothes they had bought or
things to give to their other sisters. Dana and I got treated to a fashion show
and all the girls: Charlotte, Caroline, Prunelle, Elise and their mom Pernette.
It was a hilarious night and Dana even compared it to a scene from little
women. It was a lovely end to the night and to a fabulous weekend.
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