School reunion in the Var

Our dear friends Valerie and Gilles, and their kids Celian and Hector, left us for sunny California a few months ago. They were back in France just now, staying a Gilles’ mum’s place in Mons, in the Var. So we decided to pay them a visit this Monday evening, together with some other ex-colleagues of Gilles and Valerie’s.

Since I was working that day, I decided to make my way there together with Maite. I left early, to give myself time to find the place. Good thing, too, since finding the place turned out to be a bit of an adventure. To cut a long story short(ish), I hit the road without any address or driving instructions. I figured Maite could call somebody on the way. Good idea, in theory, except it turns out that the mobile phone coverage isn’t very good over there. Anyway, to finish off the short(ish) story; rather a few wrong turns and successful and failed phone calls later, we eventually found the obscure dirt track that lead to the house (which was very picturesque I’m sure – unfortunately I didn’t see it in daylight).

The soiree itself was of course great. It was great to see our exiled friends again, as well as Mathilde’s other colleagues. Not surprisingly, Gilles and Valerie have had a very eventful 6 months in the US (things always seems to happen to them?), and despite some of the difficulties they’ve encountered they seem to enjoy life in sunny California. They had quite interesting things to tell about life in California… As always in France, we ate well, drank well, and had a great evening all in all!

We’re definitely looking forward to seeing our dear overseas friends in California next April! :-)