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There he is, Laurent Boudeau, the birthday boy, 49 today. I caught him on Sunday in the basement of his parent’s house, his childhood home, studying his father’s wine collection. Of course this isn’t called a basement. It’s a cave. Me, I want a cave. But mine doesn’t have to have vintage bottles of wine. Mine needs to be a secret hide-out for a car, and a computer to help me track down criminals, and a fire pole to get me from the house to it. Yup, I want a bat-cave!

But enough about me. It’s Laurent’s birthday.

I just transferred the photos from our weekend in Bressuire to my iPhoto library, giving me the chance to re-live the experience. What a fun time it was, and how great to wander through the town where Laurent and Frédérique grew up. Being in Laurent’s childhood home was especially fun. He showed me a great photo from when he was a boy, complete with hair, and two others from his and Frédérique’s wedding. Wowie-zowie. What a couple!

Happy birthday, Laurent!

Today’s picture is one of those that needs very little commentary. Just look at those baked goods. And that’s just a fraction of what was in the case. This particular bakery had three HUGE cases of tasty-looking treats.

The related story (bear with me) goes something like this. Ella had a 2 hour delay to the start of her school day so it was past 9:30 when she, Melinda and I left the house for the tram ride to her school. When the tram arrived, one of her friends was on board so Ella went to sit with her. Melinda and I found a couple of seats together elsewhere. Arriving at Ella’s school stop, we stayed on the tram, deciding to get off at the next stop and visit this bakery that we rarely visit before walking back home.

When we arrived at the bakery (and this is now almost 10am), the line to the register wound around the store and for a minute out the door. I took this and a few other photos while we were waiting in line. Part of what I like about this bakery is the ability to see back into the kitchen. Seeing the bakers at work was fun (as you get a hint at in the photo), as was noting the contrast of the kitchen to the lighting and display of the items in the cases.

Tartares de saumon, the basis of tonight’s dinner, at least for Melinda and me. Chloe & Ella preferred chicken… But Melinda and I are huge fans of sushi and sashimi, and we found this particular raw salmon delicacy at Picard, the frozen food store I’ve written about before.

Here’s what’s written on the box: “Émincé de saumon cru parfume a l’huile d’olive à la ciboulette et au basilic. Translated, that’s Sliced ​​raw salmon perfumed with olive oil, chives and basil. In one’s mouth, it is delicious.

For tonight’s dinner I doctored it up even further. I added pre-cooked (and cooled) brown rice, bits of seaweed I picked up at a health food store, soy sauce and wasabi. On the plate, next to a couple of quail eggs and some greens, it was not only delicious but beautiful. Washed down with a glass of Pellegrino and complemented with a small cake from our neighborhood bakery, it was the perfect spring meal.

Did I mention that Chloe and Ella ate their chicken with ketchup?

Plans have long been in the works for Melinda, Chloe, Ella and me to visit Bressuire, the town where Laurent & Frédérique grew up, met and got married, which is exactly what we did this weekend.

We started yesterday at the home of Joël Barron, Frédérique’s father. After providing us a relaxing apéritif, he showed us around town, highlighting places of significance in the Barron family history. These included the business he started and sold when he retired, and the home in which he and his wife Monique raised their three children. He then took us out for a DELICIOUS dinner at a restaurant attached to a farm. He ordered for us so we all had duck that was raised right there. Then this morning we rose at 8 (sans enfants) to be taken by Joël to a nearby village where the 5 of us (Laurent, Frédérique, Melinda, me AND Joël) went for an almost hour-long run.

Early this afternoon we arrived at the home of Michel & Nicole Boudeau, Laurent’s parents, where a veritable feast had been lovingly prepared by Nicole with help from Laurent’s sisters, Isabelle and Brigitte. It was a classic French meal, stretching out over multiple courses and several hours. Due to space issues here I’m not going to recount all that we ate (you’d be reading until next Friday). Let me just say that I am joyfully content tonight.

Today’s photo is of Nicole in her kitchen. I chose it as a tribute to uncanny resemblances (she reminds me so much of my maternal grandmother that I find myself doing double-takes when near her) and to memories, both those of the Boudeau & Barron families in Bressuire and those they generously created for my family this weekend.

That’s right, it’s Melinda’s birthday today. And as her mother’s birthday email to her said, “You’re 28 and looking great!”

Hmmm…. If Melinda’s 28 and I was born 11 days after her, that makes me…

The two of us, Melinda and I, went out for a wonderful lunch at a Nantes restaurant called “Song – Saveurs & Sens” that was recommended to her by Christine. Like I said, it was wonderful. We shared a few dishes, including a sushi plate and grilled salmon, prepared and presented in elegant fashion, perfect for Melinda. I ordered each of us a glass of champagne to toast the occasion, and mentioned to the server that it was Melinda’s birthday. To our delight and surprise, the chef prepared this special plate for her.

Still ahead today is lounging by the pool (it’s in the low 70’s right now), a light dinner, and an evening champagne toast. As I said to Melinda at lunch, “Could you ever imagine that you’d be celebrating this birthday in France, eating sushi and have such great company?”

I think she was thinking something like, “Two out of three’s not bad” but it came out as, “And no jet lag!”

For those of you sitting on your chairs at home, breathlessly waiting for an update on the temperature of the pool today, I am pleased to report that it’s almost up to 29 degrees C (remember, we cap it at 30, what is 86 degrees F). So approaching 29 C means it’s well above 80 F, more than comfortable for a late afternoon swim on a 20 degree C (68 F) day. Melinda was pleased to take a call from Celeste (girl on the left) who, all in English, asked if she and sister Claire could come over for a swim. I was out meeting Ella on her way home from school, and Chloe and Alex were about to head out to her babysitting job. In other words, the timing was perfect.

We get such a kick out of these two girls who, you will recall, are the youngest two children of our beloved neighbors, Christine & Bernard (the older two are boys, Max & Théo). We had the adults over last night for an introductory round of the TV show “30 Rock.” Melinda has been on a Tina Fey kick lately and wanted to share this little bit of Americana with them.

About the pool… It just may be time for me to resume my solo midnight swims. Ah…

That’s Alex, Chloe’s buddy from high school, in the pool with her, a photo from just a few minutes ago. This signifies a couple of important things. First, Alex is in town! That’s a big deal for us. Well, it’s an especially big deal for Chloe. She has been hoping he could visit and the stars aligned for the details came together. He finished up his first year in college at Quest University, the same school Chloe will be attending this fall, and had planned a European trip. When we weren’t able to coordinate meeting up with him in Paris, he figured out how to get to Nantes for a couple of days. After school today, Chloe was able to show him around town. Then they came back home, excited because…

…we have made the switch from heating the house to heating the pool (important thing #2). Melinda turned all the right knobs (and what-not) and the pool is now being heated. As Chloe found out when she jumped in, it’s not FULLY heated yet. It takes two or three days to get it up to its pre-set 30 degrees (that’s in the mid 80’s F for those of you who are Celsius-impaired). Having checked it before they got in, it’s up to almost 26, plenty warm for a hot summer day. Unfortunately, it’s not super hot here (22 C), although the sun is out.

So what important things do you have to report about today?

I’m the first to admit that this is not the most flattering photo of me. I took it this afternoon while sitting on the tram, Melinda and me heading home from a shopping trip at Leclerc. I had the bright idea to try to take a self-portrait that not only showed off my Italian scarf, but the fact that I’m wearing my summer hat and a plaid shirt (the combination about killed Chloe). On top of that, I was trying to include my caddy, which was filled with grocery items.

What I ended up getting was a picture that makes me look older than I feel. Oh well. What I see from the inside and what others see from the outside may be two different things. I’m fine with that.

But the post is about my scarf. It never occurred to me that a person, especially a male, would wear a scarf at any point in the year other than a cold winter day. But here in France it is quite common. And, like I said, we picked up this scarf for me while we were in Italy last week (Florence, to be precise). Not only that, we bought me two such scarves!

Perhaps another photo is in the works, one that not only shows my other scarf but better represents how I feel on the inside. I wonder what would be in that photo… Just the scarf? Or the scarf and a good-looking Frenchmen? Hmmm… I wonder…

My chef does not seem so pleased here. Is it because I’ve ordered a special meal? Maybe I sent back what she fixed? Does it have to do with my manners? Just what could be making my chef look like this?

Well, truth be told, this picture was taken last Friday in the Milan airport, right after we’d learned our flight had been delayed an hour (but before we learned it would be delayed another hour). We had all just eaten a bag of potato chips, thinking we’d eat a real lunch once we arrived in Paris. You’d think my chef would take this opportunity to get creative with the menu.

But just what can one do in the Milan airport to pass the time? Chloe and Ella not only decided to take a bunch of silly photos, they got caught up on Italian gossip by reading some Italian magazines. Or, more accurately, they looked at the pictures in some Italian magazines.

Returning to my chef, she has indicated right now that she is hungry so I’m off to fix walnut-chicken for her. Isn’t that backwards? Why am I fixing dinner for my chef??

Consider what a surprise it was for us to discover Melinda’s name all over Italy. Well, okay, I admit that statement may be a little grandiose. I mean not only were we not “all over Italy,” Melinda’s name wasn’t literally “everywhere.” But it was on a large number of boxes filled with delicious-looking fruit and in a number of places. I also found her name on a package of dried apples in a vending machine at an Italian train station. I coughed up the 1,20 € to buy it as an early birthday present for her (her birthday is this Friday).

This particular photo documents the truth of what I’m saying. I took it in the first of the five Cinque Terre towns, Riomaggiore, where Melinda and I went roaming last Monday. I found it again today while reviewing the hundreds of photos we took on vacation. For those of you who use Facebook and are fortunate enough to be friends with Chloe, she has posted nearly 200 of these on her Facebook page.

It’s a holiday in France today, an acknowledgement of the end of World War II. For those of you that read French, you can learn here how Nantes acknowledged the occasion. Back home it’s Mother’s Day, an occasion I acknowledge in an entry posted this morning on the Kind Living blog. Visit it and see what my mom looked like in the 1960’s!