Timpe's in France

From Bayeux we caught a BlaBlaCar. This one was a packed car with 3 other people who were actually deckhands on one of the Brittany ferries. They were friendly and talkative (in French) and they dropped us at the ferry terminal after just an hour or so drive. From there we had a long walk to our hotel with all our stuff. We asked a yellow vest protester for directions and he produced perfect directions in very solid English. Upon making the 40 minute walk to the hotel we set out to explore Cherbourg. I had never heard of it before I came, but learned that Cherbourg is one of the places that the U.S. was tasked with taking over from the Germans in WWII. Cherbourg was also the Titanic's 2nd to last stop before going to Ireland, then ultimately capsizing. So anyway, so pretty neat recent history surrounding the port city. We really didn't do much on our stay here, but some takaways: - I really loved the scenery. We hadn't seen the ocean or many bodies of water for awhi...

We return home in just 1 week! I have a lot of mixed feelings about it, but it is what it is. I'll use this post to try to catch y'all up and let you know what's been happening. After Tawnie and I killed that last cockerel we enjoyed a nice quiet weekend alone. We hiked up a hillside that I had previously hiked solo. Then we enjoyed dinner in our apartment and watched Les Miserables. Later that week Suzanne and Simon returned and on Thanksgiving Tawnie made a huge feast. She roasted her first duck which came out perfectly! She also made yam balls, stuffing, green bean casserole, gravy, cranberry sauce, a pumpkin pie from scratch, and whip cream. Everything tasted great, and aside from the yam balls going flat, everything had a great esthetic. Suzanne set the table with her fancy plates and silverware. Simon got out the champagne flutes and popped open a bottle. I ate a ton and enjoyed every bit of it. Finally though, our time with Suzanne and Simon came to an end. Ove...

One cockerel left. Over the past few weeks we've been knocking off the 5 cockerels. Suzanne killed the first two, then entrusted us with the last three. The first one we did went fine. I picked out the large one with the green tail, leaving the small green tail and the grey tail. I brought him to the neck breaker and Tawnie did the honors as I hung onto the chicken with two hands showing my inexperience. The rest of the process went fine aside from Tawnie needing a bit of assistance with the size of the hole to cut before gutting. Overall, a success. The next chicken went fine as well. This time I grabbed the little green tail as we had decided the grey tail was our favorite. This time I killed and plucked on my own, while Tawnie did the gutting. May I just add - props to Tawnie. Gutting is gross. I don't like it at all, so she agreed to be full time gutter. Anyways, the only hiccup on this bird was the water I submerged him in to loosen the feathers up may have been a bi...

We're coming home soon! December 4th to be exact. On November 25th we'll be flying from Toulouse to Caen, then staying 4 nights in Bayeux. Then we'll stay 1 night in Cherbourg, take the ferry to Dublin the next day, and after 3 nights in Dublin take a direct flight back to Seattle. Bayeux should be a fun - if not sobering - place to stay for 4 days. Nearby are the beaches at Normandy where the famous D-Day landing occured. There is also a museum covering that history as well as William the Conquerer, who also had significance in that region. Bayeux is also famous for a gigantic tapestry. I'm having trouble getting excited for that. I think I'll simply not think about it, and when I see it hopefully be amazed or at least moved in some way. Tawnie is itching to come back and continue her studies at Evergreen. It will be an adventure in and of itself because we'll need to secure a place to stay (perhaps our first house?!) and a job or two. I've put some fee...

Hi all. Not much has been going on. We've been working most days which hardly feels like work. Tawnie has mostly been doing homework and watching Pride and Prejudice in her free time. I've been reading, applying for jobs back home, and surfing the internet more than I would like, seeing as I'm in France and all. The rentals are all filled. Everyone came Thursday and they all leave Sunday except for one family leaving Saturday. They were all quiet last night and I've hardly noticed them during the day. Suzanne and Simon are going to be out of town from Saturday night until Monday, so Tawnie and I will be left to run the place and see the guests off. Other than that, we're just enjoying the chickens, the beautiful views, and not having much to worry about. Even Tawnie's homework got less stressful after an hour or so long chat with her professor on Skype. Things are good. On the horizon we've booked a ferry from Cherbourg, France to Dublin, Ireland! We l...

As many of you know, this past summer I got really into hiking. I didn't have many things I felt I needed to do while in France, (we may not even see Paris!) but one thing I knew I wanted to do was hike. On one side of France are the Alps, which conjure up images of tall snow-capped peaks and winter sports. On the other side of France are the Pyrenees, which is currently where I find myself. Before coming here, the Pyrenees didn't conjure up anything in my head because I'm not so sure I'd ever heard of it. That has forever changed. Now I'll think of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage - a walk that has been travelled since 812 AD, the Tour de France - the course goes by the house we're staying at, our lovely stay here, and the amazing landscape. Let's talk more about the landscape shall we? Over the span of 6 days I went on 4 hikes and now I'm pooped, but I have my next hike planned unless snow screws it up. I'll talk you through each hike. ...