Easter Weekend-Saturday

Easter weekend 2007 will be remembered for it's glorious weather, chock filled calendar, getting together with friends, awesome sunrise service and Nick's birthday. It all began Saturday noon with a big church picnic in the lovely Parc de la Torse, located just on the east side of Aix. It was a picture perfect day...perfect for being with friends, Easter Egg Hunts, picnics and more.....


Sarah and her friend, Olivia...

Our good friends, Fabien and Cecile, the owners of our favorite restaurant in Aix, Pasta Cosy, and Julie and Darrin, our minister and his wife...

While many of we Americans showed up at the picnic with our tuna or ham and cheese sandwiches, some Pringles, brownies and some Cokes, leave it to the French, Fabien and Cecile, to pull champagne, fresh baguettes, fois gras and a delicious Sauterne to go with it out of their picnic basket! Thankfully, they also really like to share! We had great fun introducing their two children to the art of hunting for Easter eggs. Easter eggs, whether dyeing or hunting for them, are not as big a deal in France as in the US. Also, the Easter Bunny doesn't bring the eggs, the Easter Bell does! As the tradition goes, when the bell rings while everyone is in church on Easter Sunday, the bell scatters eggs everywhere so when the children go outside after church they either go looking for eggs or find their basket filled with them at home. Makes about as much sense as having them delivered by a rabbit, I guess. Here, Fabien's daughter, Myelle, is showing us her cache!

Sarah, being 12, was too old to participate in the children's egg hunt, but she helped a few of the kids be sure they found their quota!

Dyeing real Easter eggs was interesting....we only had brown eggs, but they turned out beautifully, you might want to try it next year!


There were lots of different games for kids of all ages. One of the silliest, and newest to us, was a game called Dizzy Bat. You put a bat upright with the end on the ground and then lean over and put your forehead on the top of the bat. Next you spin yourself around the bat 15 times keeping your forehead firmly on the bat. Then, IF you can, you try to walk/run to the finish line. Never in my life have I seen so many sober kids and adults look like falling down drunks as they tried to walk in a straight line! Here Sarah has just crossed the finish line...in a heap!

A great time was had by one and all!

That night we had dinner at Pasta Cosy with our friend, Hilary, and her parents, who were visiting from California. Nick enjoyed being with a bunch of English speaking, native Californians all night!

Fabien and Cecile take time out on a busy Saturday night for a photo with Sarah...