Dinner with a French family.

Tuesday night we were invited by one of our conversation partners to have dinner at her place. Fabienne and her husband Marious picked us up at our apartment and took us to their cute house outside Aix en Provence.

They have recently bought a cute puppy and I was wondering if Niko would get along with "Full" (for poker's full-house). When the French say his name it sounds like "fool." Well, to each its own. Niko thought "Fool" was a little foolish and could not be bother with the puppy. After a while he gave up and started playing with him, so he ended up having a great time.

Our daughter Natasha came along. She is more advanced in French than Jeff or myself. Fabienne (pictured with Jeff, Natasha and Annika) and Marious were great hosts and spoke to us in French the whole time and we had a very interesting conversation. They have traveled extensively and every year they spend two months in Rio, Brazil. We had a lot to talk about, sharing our travel experiences.

They barbecued lamb and turkey and roasted vegetables. The wine was supposed to be good, but since my ability to appreciate wine is close to zero, I can't say it was good. We felt very privileged to participate in the normal social life of a French family.

Natasha and Erica just received notice one of the 2 books they have written together got published. We are obviously very proud of our daughters. Natasha, Lawrence and Annika are staying with us for almost a month and we are enjoying this gift that life has sent our way.