A visit from a good friend -- w/PHOTOS ADDED March 30

The kids have been literally bouncing since the arrival of Elise, a French woman whom we have known since the summer of 2006. She had come to Lethbridge to attend the wedding of a great friend (whose family members are great friends of ours) and she stayed on two months to see more of the U.S. and Canada, practice her English, and help us with the kids. Now a professional technical writer and translator, and fluent in three languages (French, English and German... Katie pointed out that she can count to ten in three languages -- French, English and Japanese, which is practically the same thing), Elise stopped by Burgundy en route from Austria to her family's home in Brittany for Easter.

Everyone is thrilled.

I don't know how much the girls remember her -- they were just one the summer she stayed with us -- but they warmed up to her right away and all three kids have been fighting over who gets to sit by her, who gets to hold her hand, who gets to hug her. It's pretty wonderful to see.

We decided to celebrate by visiting a chateau this afternoon, and picked the one John ran by in his race -- Le Chateau du Clos du Vougeot. It is home to amazing winemaking equipment, including two 500-year-old ENORMOUS wine presses. According to the chateau's website, the château and its vineyards were the property of the Abbey of Cîteaux (which we visited with John's parents in February) until the French Revolution after which they were considered "state property". In the 1800s, the chateau passed from one owner to another, until 1944, when it was sold it to the organization Société civile des Amis du Château du Clos de Vougeot ("Friends of the Château du Clos de Vougeot"), which gave the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin a 99 year lease on the property.

It is a beautiful chateau, and Kate and Liv spent a lot of the time when not peering down a well or snooping in the former monk's dormitory pushing Fou-Fou across an old stone table in the castle close. Jack was at school and so missed this one chateau, but he and Elise got to take a walk up to Les Chaume before dinner and so had their own special outing, too.

You can also check out the tarte aux pommes I made for dinner, courtesy of Laura's family recipe.I seem to be having more luck baking (at last) now that I am sticking to French recipes. Later this week -- tarte au citron (I hope!).

And I just added more pictures -- but my computer is still being cranky. They are a bit out of order and won't stay centered... but hopefully you can get the idea of the fun we are having!