lac de pierre percée

Hello,

This Friday morning we're catching up on stuff so that we can bunk off for the weekend. Indeed, in a few hours we're heading through to Germany because its Antoine's 4th birthday tomorrow.
We have to arrive this afternoon because tonight we are joining in a 'German lattern parade' to celebrate (I think) a saint's day. I'll post more about that once we return.

Otherwise, the week has been busy for both Ben and I as work is keeping us occupied from dawn to dusk. No complaints, though, as we both really enjoy what we're doing.. which is, for my part, training various business man and women how to speak English. If this sets any of you off yawning.. imagine my day yesterday.

I left the house around 7am and drove through mist covered fields... where the silhouettes of trees stood out like charcoal sketchings on blank page. Upon arriving at Forexplo - a forestry company - I was offered the choice of a hundred different types of tea (they'd been shopping!) before I sat down to work with the first two clients. After about 3 hours of pleasant chatting and laughing it was time for lunch... which with this company means a little restaurant and a three course meal. Yesterday, though, after aperitif, starter, main course, apple pie desert, and - of course - coffee, they were slightly upset that the bill had come to as much as 15euros! Needless to say, I wasn't that upset given my lunch is - we could say - not usually that extravagent! Then, at around 2.30pm, the English work began again .. though, of course, in a slightly sleepier fashion than before! Now, all my days are not like this - indeed they tend to involve a lot of driving and additional preparation and the occassional swear word - but hey, nobody said the world was perfect!

Last Sunday was kinda perfect, though, - at least after a crappy start.

A crappy start? Yep, you know that nice shiny new car we spent loads of money on? Well, it came with a faulty battery (I can still hear Ziggy's laughter if I listen hard enough at night). So, the first part of Sunday was spent calling out a repair guy and then driving it to a garage before we headed off into the hills in Ben's Laguna!

Ah well!

The hassle was worth it... as we arrived at the (man-made) lake with enough time to enjoy a 2 hour walk around its border before the sun began to set over its sandy edges. As the air is beginning to chill (that's to say Ben and I are quite happy in our cosy pajamas at night, thank you very much!), the lake air felt fresh and clean. So, much of the walk was spent talking and laughing as the yellow flames of leaves danced through the air. All round, like a hearth as the last heat dwindles, the trees were becoming ashen and cold. But, we didn't mind as the pinks and oranges of the sunset cast their own light through the embers. Indeed, as we clambered back into the car to go home, we were already trying to plan the next time we could return.

Have a nice weekend, y'all!