Friday, May 14, 2010

We just had to go!




Letters flew between California and Montegut in the next two years. Georgette and I began as pen pals, posing questions about the weather and non-personal likes and dislikes. Each letter Georgette received from us she would carefully translate into French, and make copies and distribute to our French family. The family tree had turned into a forest. No longer did we think Dargeles’ ended in California, the French family branch was flourishing. There were so many that we soon decided to call everyone Cousin. We began to understand the nature of our relatives and that our grand French family also has its foibles; with a crazy aunt here or lazy nephew there plus a few characters of questionable intentions, it became real and for the most part pretty normal.

Georgette, however, became the central focus of all things good in Montegut. Her two sons Jean Phillip and Jean Mark both young professionals, married with two children each, have become a life line because they were well schooled in English. Jean Mark is an executive with IBM and Jean Phillip the owner of an international produce import company. They are not only family but are true French historians and love to share the French culture. They are also excellent teachers.
Georgette, however, became the central focus of all things good in Montegut. Her two sons Jean Phillip and Jean Mark both young professionals, married with two children each, have become a life line because they were well schooled in English. Jean Mark is an executive with IBM and Jean Phillip the owner of an international produce import company. They are not only family but are true French historians and love to share the French culture. They are also excellent teachers.

After all the letters we exchanged the pull to travel to France and meet our “new” family became impossible to resist… we began planning our first trip to France. We were caught up in the flurry of acquiring our passports, booking flights and studying travel and French history books. The internet is full of discounters, many with low fare come-on’s, a round trip price at $499 then with the hidden taxes and fees of $699+ added, then flights were only available when it is freezing or 100+ degrees in France… Finally we found reasonable fares during our timeframe… we were booked!

In an odd twist of fate Garth and his wife Elizabeth had been backpacking around Europe since March. In May he had answered a plea from a college friend of Erin’s who was working in Greece for, SAIC, the company that coordinated all of the security systems for the Olympic Games. They were in need of a wireless systems engineer, which is just what Garth does (we knew he did something with computers). With a phone interview he was hired and they were on their way to Athens, just a short flight away.

The annual Fete (local Village/Saint celebration = Annual Family Reunion held at Montegut) was scheduled for a weekend in August. When word got out that we would be visiting in August the French family rallied the forces, a Fete to end all Fetes’ was planned. Once we knew the date of the Fete Garth and Elizabeth made arrangements to join us in Montegut.

Our Travel Team included Barry’s cousin Patricia. With our enthusiasm and energy we could have powered the flight all the way to Paris. (and after 12 hours in a cramped plane we felt like we literally powered that plane). We arrived in Paris, stumbled upon baggage claim and came across a Currency Exchange kiosk, and then found ourselves piling into a taxi headed for Rue St.Charles. A cousin had booked us into a charming hotel within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower.

A short nap and a liter of water each, we hit the nearest bistro. We were denying the existence of jet-lag. Eager to experience the area we found some chairs, enjoyed an excellent cup of café au crème and settled in for some serious people watching. We spent the next three days walking to monuments, museums and art galleries. It was warm and sunny, the popular city sites were not too crowded Many Parisians leave Paris during August, only “necessary” workers are required to stay, they must rotate vacations.

On our last day in Paris we received a call from Georgette; another cousin would pick us up at 3PM. We stayed with Elizabeth and Patrick, their three children for two days, visiting some beautiful sites including Versailles. On the second day of our visit we again received a call from Georgette; we must come to Montegut the next day, there were only five days until the fete and many cousins to meet! Off we flew.

And, if you have, thanks for reading.

1 comment:

  1. hello Linda and Barry, i enjoy reading your blog! enjoy your trip.
    Yenling

    ReplyDelete