So last night Christine and Bernard invited us over to their house for dinner, specifically for grilled cheeseburgers. Upon arrival, we found that they had set up their backyard for a delightful summer evening picnic. We got to know 8 year-old Claire, Celeste’s younger sister who has been away for a month, a bit better (that’s her next to Ella in the picture). The four girls kicked around a soccer ball while the adults enjoyed the beautiful pre-dusk sky. Well, that is Melinda and I, and to a certain extent Christine, enjoyed the sky. Bernard kept pretty busy throughout the evening. He was tiling the kitchen when we arrived, stopping to light the charcoal and do the cooking.

On the subject of the quality of these burgers, they were so far and away the best we’ve had in France that it’s not fair to compare them to the others we’ve had. Today’s photo, of course, is of Ella enjoying a bite. I’m disqualifying these burgers from our search, however, as Ella & I want to find a place where we can, on a whim, get a delicious cheeseburger. And unless Bernard is willing to drop what he’s doing and grill up a couple for us at a moment’s notice, these don’t count. But they are more than worthy of today’s blog posting.

Oh, after dinner, I embarrassed myself playing a French version of Trivial Pursuit. It was, um, the junior version. I’m tempted to include Melinda in the embarrassment, as well as Chloe and Ella, but would hate to speak for them when it comes to embarrassment…