Behind again, and this is while we are in the “down time” of the vacation. I have wifi at the Villa and the use of Colleens MAC… Whew…I probably won’t write much at all after Friday since we are on the road. So I am going to give it all I have while I am able to.
Right now we are in a Villa in Vezenobres, France. This is an ancient town about 40 minutes from Nimes. It is 30 degrees every day, sunny and gorgeous. There are lavender fields all around us that provide the air with an amazing perfumed sent, there are sunflower fields and olive groves and wine fields and other incredible sights, I can not even begin to tell you how beautiful this part of the world is. As you walk out our front door there is a fig tree groaning with fruit and rosemary bushes that explode with smell when you brush past them, and the French! They are amazing. I am never made to feel stupid as I stumble though the language, they are gracious and lovely and so welcoming to my family.
There are negatives, I am gorging myself on fruit and wine, cheese and pastries. So much for keeping trim! Today we stopped at a fruit stand enroute to Nimes and bought Apricots that were the most succulent things ever! The woman who sold them to me ripped one apart for me to sample, it had blemishes on it, not the perfect looking fruit we have in Canada and I was hesitant to try it but when I did, wow. Sweet! Juicy! Amazing! Literally exploding with flavor, wow!
Okay so what are we doing? Yesterday was a big adventure day. Kirsten and Pekka had 
visited this region two years ago and gone Canoeing on the local river, convinced us that it would be fun. Who knew?…Canoeing in France! It was a 8KM trip down the Ardeche River, this is a tributary of the Rhone. We went through several rapids, at one point Chris, Joshua and I were dumped out. I got some nasty scrapes and bruises because I was trying to keep Joshua safe. He was traumatized because I think he has finally realized that I do not control the world! 
We really enjoyed swimming, floating past caves, cliffs and other amazing sites. Afterwards, we were met by a tour guide to drive us back up river, this was an equally wild ride through some very rough terrain. it was a super cool afternoon. We enjoyed it so much that we may go again on Thursday. That evening we all went out to dinner at a local restaurant. It was a great day.
July 6 2010
Today we went into Nimes to see the Roman Colosseum. We only got there at 1:00 because we have been waking up late. “Pink” was performing there tonight so the Colosseum was closing at 3:00. I tried to get us tickets but the show was sold out. Damn….I could think of nothing cooler than seeing Pink perform in a 2000 year old Roman Amphetheatre in the South of France. The kids loved hearing about the spectacles that took place here, including the wild animals fighting each other and of course, the gladiators.
We had packed a picnic so that afterward we could go to Pont du Gard, a 2000 year old Roman built bridge over the local river. The kids swam in the river after they had a late lunch of cheese, bread and salami. We drank wine and enjoyed the sunshine. Sophie lost one of her flip flops in the rapids and Chris had to carry her home. We came home and swam in the pool before settling in to watch the soccer, Falco and Colleen are thrilled that the Dutch won the game. Tomorrow is a Villa day, we are having a BBQ and relaxing all day. Vive la France!
Victoria's Travel Adventures 