The Big Red Barn (minus the red barn)

Guess who slept until 10 today? Quick breakfast of pain au lait, which looks like a hot dog roll and tastes like buttery deliciousness. We spent the morning outside walking in the woods (straight of of a fairy tale -- large billowing pines, trees, ferns, everything green, wildflowers. All of this beauty inspired Lucie to give us an impromptu ballet!) On our way back, we hopped into Tonton Paul's tractor and had a lot of fun playing on it.

Lunch was saucisses et purée (long thin sausages and mashed potatoes), strawberries and cheese. I love you, crème de Saint Agur.

While Jack slept, David, Lucie, Hugues and I went down to the stable. We spent close to twenty minutes getting the three month old calves to trust us, and we were able to feed them some hay. Lucie got such a kick out of that! Around the other side of the stable is the closed in courtyard as well as the house in which Paul grew up (and I believe his mother or father, as well). It's used for storage now. We found about a dozen hens and started looking for eggs in the hay. Our search was fruitful...we have one egg! I can't wait to eat it. I don't know if I've ever eaten a fresh egg. Lucie said she would like to make a cake with it :-)

We finished up the afternoon with a walk in the pasture. The cows were all gone for the afternoon, but we did find some giant frogs in the water basin. Lucie wanted to hold one. So I'm pretty sure that she is not my child.

Speaking of which...HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY, MY LUCIE GIRL!!! I hope it's been a fun day for you. We're just getting ready for dinner and a little celebration right now.