Saint Drézéry – Lees in France

Pic Saint Loup Hike

July 22, 2023July 28, 2023Michelle LeeLeave a comment

Randy’s last bucket list item before leaving Saint Drézéry was to hike Pic Saint Loup. This limestone mountain became a terrain lighthouse for us. Every trip we took we looked for the Pic to give us an estimate of time remaining until we reached home. Below are pictures containing the Pic throughout the year.

Our favorite castle ruins stood adjacent to the Pic. The wine we enjoyed was grown in the Pic Saint Loup region as well. Researching the Pic brought me to the history of its name. “Three vaillant knights, Guiral, Clair and Thieri Loup were in love with the beautiful Bertrade; the one that would marry her was to be designated as the bravest after the saint war. All three came back with high feats, but unfortunately the beautiful Bertrade had died meantime. Feeling hopeless, they all retired to a mountain. Guiral went to mont Saint-Guiral (near Aigoual), Clair to mont Saint-Clair (near Sète), and Loup to Pic Saint-Loup. Each year, on March 19th they lit a fire on top to celebrate her. Saint-Loup is the one of the three that lived the longest.”

Randy and Cody ventured off on their own one morning. The pictures he sent back had familiar vegetation and backdrops. The guys enjoyed their hike.

These are a Few of Our Favorite Things…So Long Farewell

July 5, 2023Michelle LeeLeave a comment

Exploring the village market, bike pump track, boulangerie and charming side streets.

Visiting Château Puech-Haut for wine tasting with Emma.

Experiencing La Guinguette du Massillan between Teyran and Jacou. and aqueduct climbing in Castries finished our grand tour of the area.

Regretfully they tell us (cuckoo)
But firmly they compel us (cuckoo)
To say goodbye (cuckoo)
To you

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night
I hate to go and leave this pretty sight

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu
Adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu Uncle Greg and Aunt Sarah!

These are a Few of Our Favorite Things to do near Saint Drézéry

July 5, 2023Michelle LeeLeave a comment

Hiking to the ruined castle rarely gets old for us. Today we watched glider planes being pulled to the sky and released. We heard real cuckoo cuckoo birds. Greg and Sarah described what they envisioned the castle looked like back in the 1100’s, including wooden floors, doors, gates, and more.

Visiting a winery, we chose La Roque today. The kids made paper airplanes. While the adults were tasting wine the kids were having flying competitions.

Walking through the vineyards beside our neighborhood.

Chilling on the covered back porch with the sun, a hammock, a pool, and a breeze made a great day!

Day 11- April 8

May 13, 2023Michelle LeeLeave a comment

The final Goodbyes of Spring Break

We said goodbye to my sister and family this morning. What an amazing blessed 11 days with friends and family. We are exhausted. Our life here is relatively quiet and slow paced. I miss the activity, talks, feeling like I am known without saying a word. Life must go on and it does, even for us and Cody.

Mid morning our friends, Lez and Marie, asked if we wanted to join them and their girls at a wine tasting event just outside of the village. Zach stayed home and the rest of us ventured to the beautiful grounds of MAS D’ARCAY. It was a nice spring outing, pretty with color yet cool enough for a down jacket. My pictures are taken and used without permission from Marie’s IG account.

I never in a million years did I think I would type “Here is a picture of a guy carving a pig’s leg with his co-worker sporting Converse high tops and pouring wine in the background.” Well I just did!

Later another friend came over to check the stove top that stopped working while our friends from Spain stayed with Cody. Exciting life we all live at times. At first glance the pictures looks like either an old multi player turntable or flat cinnamon rolls.

Day 10- April 7

May 10, 2023Michelle LeeLeave a comment

Boulangerie, Beach, Palavas Les Flots, Aqueducts, Wine Tasting,

The 11 pipers piping time is about to come to a close. The feeling of delight having family with us is starting to subside knowing tomorrow is the goodbye day. What can we cram in today? Biking riding multiple places to the boulangerie, bike pump park, through the fields and the vineyards. While this was not the order of the day it still happened. Kids wanted to show Keeler the bike park. Aunt Jan wanted to ride with Mazie and Cody on their daily adventures.

A walk to the boulangerie is always on the list for visitors, followed by a stroll through the village and park.

The beach was high on Josie and Keelers list, especially since it was the Mediterranean Sea. Despite cool temperatures in April the kids still went in and played.

Ice cream and lunch were next on the to do list. I found a new area south of our beach outing and headed there. Wow, what a find! Palavas provided us with restaurants and shops aligning the canal. Our choice of eating establishment was on a dock. It even included the best port-a-potty ever.

The sun warmed up the air and it became the perfect day for exploring on the Med coastline. We even rode a slow skyride getting great views of the harbor, beach and town. Also a fantastic place to be a teen and practice dropping shoes from the skyride..teenagers.

We dropped back in time on the way home exploring the aqueducts.

Randy’s favorite must do for visitors is wine tasting.

The end has come and we must pack and say goodbye. Thank you for hanging out with us!

First Day of School Monday 22 August

August 29, 2022Michelle LeeLeave a comment

Back to life, back to reality

Back to the here and now, yeah

Back to life, back to reality

-Soul II Soul released 29 May 1989

Our back to life and reality is still a work in progress of trials, errors, and successes. Driving to church, while going a different route (thanks Google, not) and turning into a strawberry shortcut, was successful, only arriving 10 minutes late.

The kids and I sat in the English translation balcony, while Randy embraced the French congregation. Mazie later joined Randy, just because she wanted to be with him. Asha was our translator today. After church we found a gas station and grocery store open on Sundays. This store was more us, uncrowded!

School started for us Monday, 9am. Despite never doing online schooling, even during Covid, the kids did well. The initial school day was long, logging into each class, reading the introduction from each teacher, learning how to communicate with each teacher, finding textbooks online, gaining access codes, typing passwords, setting up zoom calls, learning how to manage time, and taking breaks. That was exhausting just typing their day. My day, as supervisor, consisted of managing all the listed items above for each child, reading, typing for the blog, making lunch, doing laundry, and walking Cody around the block, which only produced 886 steps! Kids finished up around 4pm content with their first day.

Click on top left pix to see the landscape type photo.

After dinner, French Lorraine quiche and sauteed zucchini, Randy explored the village and surrounding areas via bike and the rest of us walked across the village to the bike pump track with a trick scooter and a bike. Cody and I took the walking directions through the narrow streets of Saint Drezery. Randy met us at the track. The night ended with ice cream and a short show.

Our First Adventure Saturday Afternoon, 13 August

August 23, 2022August 27, 2022Michelle Lee1 Comment

I grew up going on adventures. These adventures could be as simple as taking a longer, different route to a familiar place, often referred to as a strawberry shortcut route, thank you Sammy Saunders. Other adventures were to broaden our experiences, such as exploring the Strataca Salt Mine Museum, 650 feet below the surface in Hutchinson, Kansas.

During COVID, I persuaded friends to join us at the nearest fish hatchery. What a terrible adventure, it was blazing hot with the thickest summer air one could imagine in VA. The hatchery had about 4 out 20 areas actively in use. We tried to hike in the surrounding woods for relief from the heat and sun. This attempt lasted about 25 feet before bugs were attacking us. I deleted all my pictures from that miserable morning. Needless to say, most of our adventures this year will be unpredictable yet will make lasting memories for us.

As Saturday went on the kids started getting testy. We started our daily index cards some friends and family made for us. I actually wrote the first one with an adventure set for the day.

After researching what I deemed “possible” while we were still in the states, we decided it was unrealistic for today. We headed to Chateau de Montlaur, built in the 11th century, instead. The main entrance was decorated with private property and Do Not Enter signs on the closed gate. This adventure was going downhill fast!

A small gravel road to the side beckoned us to explore.

To the right a small paddock housed 2 white horses. To the left a classic scene of French country stonework and shutters aligned the home.

The path continued winding up and to the left, to a look out overseeing the countryside behind a small rock wall.

We continued on until we reached the backside of the Chateau, without warning signs. Let the exploration begin! Mazie was not a fan of potentially trespassing so she stayed behind the sign.

We ended the night at a wonderful outdoor pizza establishment. Our first outing and adventure as a family was a success!

Tours and Life with the Ferrieu Family 10-11 August

August 19, 2022August 27, 2022Michelle LeeLeave a comment

We were blessed to be able to spend a few days with Jill, Fred, Ben, Alex, Jason and Cara before they started their own adventure in the US for the next year. Things we did and saw:

Walked to town and played in the park.

Walked to the bike pump track.

Daily walks to the boulangerie (Bakery)

Dinner Picnic at the Beach (Mediterranean Sea)

A friend said, “I am picturing Michelle in a fancy dress with her parasol up as she lounge on a picnic blanket eating grapes and cheese.” HA! Keep that picture in your mind friend! The pictures below show the true experience; black swimsuit cover up, 100’s of people on the beach (more than Jill had seen since Covid), and a baguette sandwich and wine, in a plastic cup, for dinner. Also , I really do not have a great fashion style going on in Southern France at the beach with my husband’s baseball cap backward on my head!