July 5: "Whatever it is, I hope it's not gizzards."

Bonjour! We were all exhausted this morning -- after being up almost the whole night with the wakeful children, I woke up at 6:00 as if I'd been shot out of a gun. Dan woke a few minutes later, went for his ride, and at 10am I began to attempt to wake the children up. Sadie was not cooperative. At all. Threatened to "gut me and leave the pieces outside the city gates" or something. There was precious little in the house in the way of food, since everything in the universe was closed seemingly all day Sunday, and so we licked a few crumbs off the counter and when Dan was back, showered, and ready, we went out into the world.

Our plan was to eat lunch in Amboise, then roll on to a chateau to the east, Chambord. However, as we were strolling around Amboise, we saw a flier for a bicycle race - TODAY - right in Amboise! Both Dan and I urgently want him to be in an amateur bike race in France. I'm curious to see how he stacks up against the Europeans and I also want the photo opportunity. Very very badly. We asked around a few bike shops in the tourist area, but they were just rental places with very sketchy English. One guy offered to Google it for us. They also apparently rented wine bottles, or else they were encouraging people to cycle Europe with a bottle in one hand. For the record, I strongly recommend biking sober, given the width of the streets and the fiery aggression of the motorists.

We decided we were too famished to search further, and stopped at a brasserie right beside the city's chateau. I ordered *randomly* off the menu and ended up with a salad covered in gizzards (yes, gizzards) and lamb chops. I bravely marched through the meal, eating some of everything, including most of the gizzards, but I will not be ordering gizzards again. Ever. Until the end of time. Dan also tried the gizzards, for the record. We are trying to set a good example for the children. The children ate from the children's menu. Sadie ordered sausage and frites, and Benny ordered steak hauche and fries, and what arrived looked a lot like a hot dog and hamburger, sans buns. Fine, they ate it. No problem. They were very relieved they didn't get any gizzards. Anyone who didn't eat gizzards today should now breathe a sigh of relief.

After we were all full of gizzards, and firmly regretting that situation, we began driving around Amboise and the surrounding area, madly searching for information on the bike race -- could Dan ride in it with his international racing license? When did it start? Where should he go? Would he get his ass handed to him? These and other questions were burning in our minds as we hurtled up and down one way streets, careened through roundabouts, and shouted at the GPS lady, who kept saying "recalculating."

The other thing that was burning was Benny's eyeball. Before we left for France, we noticed a bit of redness in the corner of his eye, but since it was neither hurting nor itching, we decided to let it go. Well, somewhere in the air over Europe it turned into a rather nasty case of conjunctivitis (known in France as pihnk ehye). Since we arrived in the country, we had been searching for a pharmacie that was open. To no avail. They are all closed, all the time. So after driving around unsuccessfully seeking an open bike store, a bicycle club with someone to answer questions, or any information regarding the bike store at all, we gave it up and went to a pharmacie that Dan had found earlier on his bike, and got the eye drops! His eye was instantly improved.

More improvement was achieved with a round of ice cream cones, and then we went to Chateau Amboise, and explored the castle we had been gazing at for two days. More on that in another post. After the chateau, we bought some postcards and some drinks and stepped into a sports bar to watch the finish of the Tour de France.

Outside, there were men setting up the bike race so we approached them for info. No, Dan needed a FFC card (Federation Francais Cyclisme or something) to race. After the Tour was over and Chavanal had crossed the line, we buzzed back to the van, went to Intermarche for supplies (and matches! more on that in another post!) and headed home to eat pizza, bathe, journal, read Dumas, and sleep.

Things Benny said to me today: "At some point, Mom, you're going to have to stop hiding behind a rock and get out into the wilds." This was said as he was leaning far over the parapet of the Tour Minimes in Chateau Ambeau.

1 comment:

  1. I assume you will not be indulging in the fois gras any time soon?

    So glad to finally hear from you all, all posts appeared magically today, the result of the broadband thing, I'm sure.

    It is light at night because you are at the same latitude as Newfoundland...

    You will drive the freeway in France, my friend, at about 100MPH, before it's all over, and you will know that 90% of the cars take diesel (called gasole [sp?], pronounced "Gazzz-wahhll...".

    Next time I am going as part of a tour, so I don't have to drive.

    Lorelei and I are being good little bandmates, and practicing every day. We have worked up "Last Bohemian", "Lost", and "Hazy"....

    Something died in our loft, it is reeking in the whole house, the Critter Control will remove it tomorrow (if they can find it). If they can't, I am considering moving out....

    K & L