Jason is quite the planner when it comes to vacations, so he had their whole 10-day adventure laid out: Day trips to a few nearby towns, plus a night in San Sebastian, all strategically interspersed with downtime in Bordeaux. Some of you may be thinking to yourselves "Ten days with your in-laws sounds like a lot" and you would be right, BUT it's a long time to have ANYONE stay in your house and keep them entertained. I must admit that the time really flew by because we had so much to do thanks to Jason's expert organization. No visit is perfect but we got pretty darn close. Here are some highlights:
Cognac
We stole this one from when Kelly and Kate were here. Tour a maison, drink lots of cognac, hang out by the river. Check, check and check. The only negative point of the day was the wait time on our dinner. I swear it was a full hour between our appetizer and our main dish, with no one coming to offer us more wine or an apology for the delay. Service in France isn't maniacal constant badgering like in the US but it's not usually total abandonment, either. I swear, I nearly got up to go fishing for my own damn merlu... And then I remembered I was having a three-course meal in Cognac and I felt just a bit pretentious!
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| If I had any artistic ability, this is what I would paint. |
Portes Ouvertes in Graves
This was such a hit with my mom last year that we decided to do it again with Jason's parents. (Jay is not one to miss out on the fun if everyone else is doing it.) We rented a car and dragged Rick along for the ride for a perfectly sunny day of wine tasting and touring. As is often the case, I got to play translator at a few places and show off my bilingualism a little bit, and Jay discovered how tricky it can be to separate two Romance languages :"I keep saying 'Sí' but I know I'm supposed to say 'Oui'! This is ridiculous." Also, wine!
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| Château Cerons |
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| Château Castres |
Toulouse
As a girl, Julie had a couple of pen pals from Toulouse so she had always dreamed of visiting. Jason and I are in the business of making dreams come true so we hopped a train and off we went for a day in the ville en rose. It was our first time, too, so we had plenty to explore and discover, and it was kind of cool to share Julie's wide-eyed wonder in this new city. We almost got stuck with a 50-minute delay on our return to Bordeaux, but I was able to get us home on time by requesting seats on the train prior to ours that was also late. Bam! Nicole saves the day.
Finally talking to Jay
My relationship with Jay has always been a bit... strained. I don't know if it's because he thinks I'm encroaching on his time with his one and only baby boy, or if it's because we have such vastly different opinions on literally everything, or maybe it's because I don't fit his ideal of what a "good woman" is. I got on like a house on fire with everyone else in the family while Jay and I were barely making sparks.
One night after some escargots and a few glasses (bottles) of wine, the two of us ended up getting in a very intense conversation about everything from white privilege to systemic racism to socialized health care and everything in between. I'm not saying that we see eye to eye on all of these issues now, but I do think that I helped him see the flaw in the "bootstraps" argument that he believed so earnestly. So you mean black and brown people aren't just inherently lazy? And that even though I grew up a poor kid in the country, I still had certain advantages afforded to me simply because of my skin color? It took hours, but if I can get a staunch republican to admit that there are systems in place in the US that keep certain people in power and others marginalized, it gives me hope for humanity.
In addition to the higher moral victory, it was also the moment that finally got Jay to see me as someone worthy of his time. There was a very tangible shift that night from my being some know-it-all liberal girl corrupting his only son to a well-educated, well-spoken person with passion, and even Jay can appreciate that. I don't necessarily need us to be best friends, but I do need him to respect me and I think we're finally getting to that point.
San Sebastian and Basque Cider Houses
In the final leg of Jay and Julie's trip, we drove down to our favorite Spanish town for the evening and relished in the local flavors of bacalao, rioja and endless pintxos. Rows upon rows of small plates, lined up across the bar, luring us in with their bright colors and intoxicating aromas. I love French food, but there is something so playful about tapas-style eating. You can try so many different things, a little at a time, taking a little culinary voyage with every bite. It also doesn't hurt that San Sebastian is a stunningly beautiful city.
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| Pintxos for dinner |
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| The view from our hotel |
After a night of snacking and drinking, we ventured outside of town a bit to the Petretegi cider house for a fun day of learning about the Basque region, cider making and of course lots of drinking. The giant barrels were so pressurized that the cider would come shooting out of them and lightning speed. You had to be pretty quick with your glass to catch it all!
With over a week's worth of memories and new experiences to share with their friends, Jay and Julie headed back to Pennsylvania. We can't be sure, but something tells me they'll be back...
