Wednesday

At the back: Georges Marcoux, Wendy Solly, Caro, Gaby Marcoux, Ken Solly, Hugh, Roger Front: Sophie, Odette, Bonnie.

Because there is no school on Wednesdays, we were free to do some other things. Georges and Gaby Marcoux invited us to lunch at their home near Grenoble. In May Gaby had been to Australia to stay with Steph and Mariedo and kids in Dalyellup, and had visited my parents at Hope Farm guest house in York. Now was their turn to visit Gaby's home and to meet her husband Georges. As Georges speaks no English and my father speaks no French a conversation between them was always going to be difficult. But Sophie stepped in as translator and she accompanied them around the garden translating. She said there were only a couple of words that she didn't know, and they were names of plants or trees. Now that she has learn a bit of French she is keen to learn German and other languages. Gaby's german friend Renata also had lunch with us, so we were a multilingual lot.

Georges with a bundle of mushrooms.

George had been in the mountains (he loves walking in the mountains) and picked some mushrooms. At this time of year there are hundreds of people gathering fungi in the mountains, and I have seen posters with photos and descriptions of all the varieties of mushrooms, and warnings about which are the poisonous ones. Georges had broken his mushrooms up and laid them out on newspaper to dry. That way they can last all year, and just be hydrated when needed for making a sauce or adding to a dish. Gaby didn't think they would last all year though, because Georges was likely to eat them all quite soon.

Georges' mushrooms drying on newspaper.

The meal we ate was delicious, and as good French lunches do, it lasted quite some time. After a nice lunch I usually feel like a good siesta, but unfortunately we couldn't linger because we had promised the children that they could go to the puppet show (Theatre Guignol) in Sainte Marie d'Alloix at five o'clock.
The Theatre Guignol was developed in Lyon 200 years ago, and the main character is a funny man called Guignol. There was only one puppeteer who played all the different characters and he did a brilliant job. All the children, especially those aged about 4 or 5 years, got right into the spirit of the show and we shouting out when necessary.

Children watching the puppet show. Bonnie, Sophie and Odette in the middle.

Hugh and this little girl were more interested in
what was happening behind the scenes.

The parents enjoyed seeing the children having so much fun. Well, those parents who were still awake... (I guess Roger had an excuse because he couldn't follow the dialogue, and the lights were turned down low.)

ZZZZzzzz...