La Vallée

We woke up early to head to La Vallée, the Poulain summer home located about an hour and a half east of Paris. We now look forward to our usual breakfast of bread with butter and jam with tea every morning in the Poulain kitchen, although we find ourselves hungry earlier in the day than than we would at home. 

On our way to La Vallée, we briefly stopped to see the Palace of Fontainebleau, a royal residence of French kings from the 16th to the 18th century. The massive structure was built over the years, as each new king built on to the existing palace with his own style. It was quite the sight. 

When we arrived in La Vallée, a tiny village in the countryside, we felt like we were transported back in time. The tiny streets and cobblestone sidewalks make you feel like you're in a different century. Their home fits right in with the rest of the town. The floors are rarely level, some of the tiles are loose, and all of the upstairs bedrooms have beautiful faulted ceilings.  

As soon as we arrived, Paul, the second oldest son, immediately began cutting the grass with their riding mower, because there is a strict rule that says you cannot cut grass between 12pm-3pm. One year, they broke this rule, and a neighbour streaked their white fence with black paint. The rest of us collected sticks for the BBQ, as the concept of a propane-powered BBQ is foreign to them. 

For lunch, we began with a slice of melon, then grilled sausages and chicken kebabs, green beans and bread (of course), followed by ice cream and french cookies. Maybe it's best that we start the day wth a small breakfast. 

Ashleigh went with Nathalie into town to  do some grocery shopping. She was really impressed by the fact that their was an entire aisle devoted to cheese, another entirely to butter, and another to yogurt. There's certainly no lack of dairy here. 

I stayed behind and played a few games of ping pong with Jean (he kept score in English, and myself in French). I then walked around their property with Paul, who warned me to keep an eye out for poisonous snakes (I did). Finally, the four boys showed me the loft of their garage, which is filled with their fathers (still functioning) model train set and race car tracks. No cell phones, tablets or video games here, and it was nice to spend some quality time with the boys.  

When Ashleigh and Nathalie returned, we  all went for a drive in two of Thierry's cars from his collection. A 1927 Citroën B14 and a 1967 Citroën 2CV. The B14 had a turn crank engine, definitely a first for the two of us. We toured around through old narrow walled streets like something right out of a film. It was really incredible. Thierry even let me drive the 2CV, which has a gearshift like I've never seen before. Instead of the usual up/down/left/right, this was pull out, push in, twist left and right. I can't say I ever really got the hang of it, but it was an experience nonetheless.

We cracked a bottle of our recently purchased champagne while Ashleigh and I prepared grilled salmon on the BBQ (a first for all of them), while Nathalie did potatoes, shrimp, a cheese platter, and fresh strawberries for dessert. 

Our conversations are becoming much more fluid, even though there is still quite a language barrier for most of us. Paul and Nathalie speak very good English, and the rest of us monolinguals are either able to use them as intermediaries, or we wing it, which sometimes goes over better than expected. We've made a pledge to try a "french only" day before we leave. 

It was another very hot and humid day today, but as we write this, it has finally began to rain, and it has cooled off quite a bit. We're almost disappointed that we have to head back to Paris tomorrow, as we're having such a surreal time out here. 

We plan on taking advantage of La Vallée for as long as possible tomorrow, before we begin another action packed week in Paris!