Life's a beach...

and then...you move to France!

So, day deux (that's french for two, pronounced somewhere between 'duh' & 'do') of our "year since we met" anniversary, we travelled to the beach town of Erquy (pronounced 'air-key') Stephane's family owns a chateau there. Hahaha, you wish! But they do own a pretty swell beach house! The beach town that is Erquy is located on the northwest coast of France, around the English Channel area. (Hmmm speaking of english channels, there are none in France. Well except the ever controversial Al-Jazeera. But it's nice to hear the news from the 'otherside') So here is a map of France to help you keep track of all the places I have talked about in my blog.

So you are probably thinking to yourself, "Self....there are 2 towns on Veronique/Ceci's map that I have no idea about! WTF?" So St. Raphael is a beach town near Cannes....I really hope you know that city from the major film festival there. We are going to St. Raphael this weekend to visit Stephane's parents who are vacationing there for 2 weeks. It's a hard life huh?

*St. Raphael's beach

*Stephane's "beach"

hahaha

The other town is St. Malo (near Erquy) and I am pointing this beach town out specifically for a dear friend who just so happens to be a real pirate!! He may reside in San Antonio and run his own office furniture business, but Mr. Andy Ortega is a pirate! (If your in the market for office furniture, look him up and tell him I sent you. His business is called Reddito. Check it out on the net.) http://www.reddito.net/

*For all those who are lost 'Pyrata' is spanish for pirate

So St. Malo is the home of the old 17th century french pirates who would pillage and plunder the boats that sailed the English Channel. Technically speaking they were called privateers because they were sanctioned by the government. For those of you scratching your heads right now it means the pirates were allowed by the St. Malo government to do pirate things like take over ships and steal the money/treasure/women etc and in exchange the St. Malo government would suckle on the money nipple of the pirates.....tu comprends? (french for: you understand?)

*St. Malo's beach

*Ain't that a 'beach'?

And here are some classic examples of what french pirates looked like:

So enough of the french lesson right?

Where were we....Oh yeah....So we made a day trip out to Erquy

*One of Erquy's beaches

*One of my 'beaches' !

hahaha! jk jk That's my Dad, aka Daddio, to whom I owe my sense of humor!

And before attacking the spectacular beach of Erquy....we were a bit hungry. And when you're at the beach and hungry, what better to eat than a lot of MOULES!!!!! (that's french for Mussels)

*Mmmmmm.....we love to eat moules!

We had a wonderful meal, beachside and under the sun!

* You can't see her because she is under the table, but Dolce was there too!

Another popular food from Bretagne (Erquy is part of Bretagne and Bretagne is explained in one of my first posts,......keep up people!!) are galettes...better known as crepes. You haven't had a crepe/galette unless you've had one from Bretagne, the inventor of this yummy food. For my fellow americans who are totally clueless as to what a galette/crepe is....it's basically a reallllllllllly thin version of a pancake. But its more than just a breakfast food. You can put whatever you want in your galette! I know I do! (hee hee) You can put seafood, meat, veggies, sweets, or even eat it plain! Somehow I feel really dirty after writing the last two statements.

* About to manger on some galettes.

(Manger is french for 'to eat', pronounced [mohn-jay])

And after we ate......it was time to beach!!!

*Dolce doesn't like the water

*She really doesn't like it
*The black doggy is Stephane's family dog, named Pilou (pronouced Pee-Loo)

*The tide was strong

So that was our adventure to Erquy!! What a 'beach'!

And to all my family, friends, and fans.........

P.S. I do have a few french readers that I need to provide an explanation for......Beach sounds super similar to the english explicative 'Bitch' You may have heard of it. So anytime I use the subtitle "beach" and there is no picture of a beach....I am making a reference to the word 'Bitch' And if further explanation is needed for how we use 'bitch' in english slang please refer to this website... http://onlineslangdictionary.com/definition+of/bitch

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Stay tuned to the next post!

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This is Veronique, the American formerly known as Ceci...signing out!