Sunny Sunday

Pages From Jan's Travel Journal: Sunday, May 15 2016

We awoke to a sunny Sunday morning, free of grey skies and rain for a while. After a cup of coffee, Desmond and I walked down to our favorite bakery where I chose a delightful salted caramel eclair. After breakfast, we checked the strawberry plants that Des was growing in the courtyard, expecting to find several more ripe berries. We were disappointed to see just empty stems. Something had been nibbling those sweet, ripe berries! 

A salted caramel eclair - perfection!

Our plan for the rest of the day was to join Matt for a drive out to his parents home to celebrate his brothers birthday. We planned just to have cake with them, so we wouldn't tire Muriel, who was recovering from a recent surgery. The drive was lovely on such a sunny day. We stopped in Gien to have lunch, and chose a little Italian restaurant called La Bella Vita. I ordered a pizza of lardons, potatoes, and onions, which was wonderful! Des had chosen a spicy pasta dish. He was warned that it was very spicy, but wanted to try it  - and it truly was VERY spicy! He enjoyed it anyway, though he said he may never order it again. The large salad that Mathieu ordered looked fantastic. I shared some of my pizza with him and Desmond, because I can never eat a whole one.

This pizza at La Bella Vita in Gien, France was fabulous!

We arrived in Bitry around 4 PM and were pleased to see that Remy had driven in from Dijon for the party. Gregoire, the birthday boy, had gotten stuck in the mud on a country road and Thierry had gone to his rescue. While the rest of us awaited their return, we visited with Muriel and Remy, as we nibbled on some delicious crisp cookies called "croquets" and some soft, tasty guimauves - those delightful French marshmallows. At last, the guys returned and we wished Gregoire a happy birthday as he opened his gifts. We enjoyed the birthday gateau and glasses of cider as we celebrated. It was fun, but we could see that Muriel was very tired and needed to rest, so we said our farewells and headed home.