It was interesting to learn about Canterbury.  Long an important ecclesiastical city influenced by its location near the channel routes to Europe, Canterbury was devastated by bombing raids during World War II.  Rebuilt after the war, it lost much of its ancient heritage, but the cathedral still sprawls, towering over the city.

It really is a remarkable place.  It was originally built in the Romanesque style with the rounded arches, but as things were rebuilt over the years due to fires and other disasters, the newer Gothic styles were incorporated resulting in a bricolage structure.

The inside of the cathedral is truly grand in scale. Apparently, it was once even more rococo, with gilded artwork embellishing the elaborate decor.

The stained glass was amazing.  The bright sun shone through revealing the vibrant hues in the glass.

The tour was very interesting and I think we all learned something.  The kids were not particularly bothered about seeing another cathedral, but they seemed to enjoy it alright.

They seemed pretty interested in a pattern of coal dust in the crypt that might have been Thomas Beckett’s ghost.  This candle marks the spot where Beckett’s shrine lay until it was removed by Henry VIII.

Despite the hectic pace of the tour, there were some nice quiet moments.   Both kids lit a prayer candle.

At one point, I had to return to the car park to extend our parking time.  When I returned, it took me some time to rejoin the group.  In the meantime, I spent some time sitting in the crypt’s dimly lit chapel and exploring the medicinal herb garden.

After the tour, we found a tea house for lunch and wandered around the streets of Canterbury a bit.

Molly and Sage warmed themselves against a sunny wall after lunch.

Probably the highlight of the weekend (for some of us anyway) was the discovery of a fudge shop.  This fellow is preparing the freshly made fudge to cool before it is sliced and sold.  The copper pot in the corner is used to mix and cook the ingredients before they are poured onto the marble table.  We ended up buying several different varieties, all of which proved to be delicious upon gustation.

The kids both had special activities at school on Friday to kick off the long weekend. Sage and her classmates sold cakes for a cancer charity at the coffee morning. There was perhaps a surfeit of cakes; I managed to pick up a whole plate full at the end of the morning for the discounted price of £1.  They seemed to be having a great time and I know Sage was very proud of her own baking effort.

River played in a football tournament.  It was a fine day and everyone was most pleased to be outside in the sunshine.

I thought River played very well, especially considering that she doesn’t normally have the opportunity to play soccer.  I have to say that it irritates me that the girls don’t play soccer in England.  I can’t quite see why the school would choose to organize a tournament in a sport that half of the kids don’t play regularly.  In fact, 10 of the girls choose not to play because they didn’t feel comfortable enough.  The boys didn’t have this choice.  I would have preferred to see the tournament in field hockey, a sport played by both genders, if it isn’t possible to have girls playing soccer during P.E.

Anyway, enough ranting for now.  I am planning to speak to the head of the Lower School about my concerns at some point, though.  River was awesome.  She was very active and was in the right places at the right times and put an enormous amount of energy into the game.  Nonetheless, her team didn’t do particularly well, but they did manage to come away with a bronze medal.  She was very proud of herself!

On the way home, I was inspired to stop and take some pictures of the wheat fields where the hay has recently been baled.

I love these fields.  The golden color seems to glow in the sunshine and the regular cylindrical shape of the bales contrasts beautifully with the apparent randomness of the bales scattered around the fields.

There was a bit of a mishap when one of the eggs cracked and most of it missed the bowl.  You can see it dripping off the edge of the counter in this picture.  I just love the look on her face!

The cakes turned out beautifully and she decorated them this morning.  I’m looking forward to heading off in a bit to sample some of the other items, socialize a bit, and watch River play in a soccer tournament.

I heard recently that the French government applied for UN-recognized heritage status for traditional French gastronomy.  While we didn’t experience the “haut cuisine”, we certainly enjoyed the more everyday sort of cooking.  Crusty baguettes, croissants, pastries seem the breakfast of choice. Crepes and galettes, savory buckwheat crepes, were also delicious treats. River was skeptical of crepes at first, but had an epiphany in this cafe:

Fresh baguettes were available everywhere. The kids even had hot dogs inside a baguette!

I tried the regional specialty in Carcassonne called cassoulet, a white bean casserole which was originally a peasant dish but now is an essential tourist experience.  I hadn’t really though of pizza as a particularly French food, but we ate quite a few delicious wood-fire baked pizzas.  Vineyards cover much of the landscape and we enjoyed many of the local wines.  These windmills were right in the middle of the grapes.

On the coast, much delicious seafood was available.

We also enjoyed the Mediterranean climate.  While we did have a couple of cool, windy days, the warm sun was a nice change from the British weather.  It was raining on arriving back in the East Midlands.  To be fair, it is wonderfully green here in Derby, but I wouldn’t mind visiting southern France again soon!

We’ve eaten lettuce out of the garden several times now. River decided we should put the marigold pot in the garden instead of on the wall by the driveway because she knows that many insects don’t like marigolds. She is hoping to repel them from the vegetables.

Beets are such pretty colors.

The carrots are coming along fine as well.

It’s great having a nursery just down the street. I stopped by today and brought home some tomatoes, cucumbers, and bean and sunflower seeds.

Chocolate, by the way, was a popular write-in candidate and thus added to the survey. She made the graphs at the National Center for Education Statistics’ Create-A-Graph website. If you’d like to be added to her email list for any future surveys, please drop her a note.

River, Sage and I made a German cake called Donauwellen, which translates as Danube wave, for River’s geography class. I thought the recipe turned out pretty well. It features cherries pressed into the chocolate cake which creates a wavy effect. The custard and chocolate on top really make it quite a treat!

At school, River’s Tedder House team placed second in the netball tournament this week. I wasn’t familiar with netball before, but apparently it is a variant of basketball. She’s also been practicing singing Abba’s Momma Mia for the House Music Competition next Wednesday.

Generally, the transition to school has been going well. River seems to be flourishing; she has made quite a few friends and is enjoying all her activities. She is happy to do her homework and seems to be getting along quite well.

Sage also appears to enjoying herself. She is, perhaps, not quite challenged enough academically. She has claimed several times that she’d like to be doing more work like River, though she does say that she enjoys her breaks when they run wild in the play area.

We’ve had a few moments of exhaustion and grouchiness, but it hasn’t been nearly as intense as I expected it might. The term ends next week and we’re looking forward to having a couple of weeks holiday. Hopefully, the summer term will go as well as this one has so far.

We could see some bulbs beginning to poke up through the leaf litter. We’re planning to go back in the spring sometime since it promises to be spectacular. The daffodils are starting to peek through in our garden as well. It has been a bit warmer recently, but the lack of daylight makes it very clear that it is still winter here.

This is the front of the house. We ate a nice lunch in the restaurant here. The food was tasty, but the highlight was discovering the botanically brewed Fentiman’s ginger beer. They make a dandelion burdock and lemonade that I’m also interested in trying!

Here is the hall from the top of the hill:

In the old section of town where we were staying, there were a couple of little grocery shops on each block. The selection of fresh fruit was remarkable and we thoroughly enjoyed the ripe mangos, papayas, plums, apples, bananas, and more. In the market near La Rambla, we discovered an even wider fruit selection including cherimoyas (which I’d first seen in New Zealand many years ago) and lots of other fruit that I didn’t recognize.

Here are a couple of pictures from the market.

I particularly enjoyed the selection of mushrooms. I bought three big bags!

It was great having a kitchen in the apartment, especially after we discovered the market. I enjoyed cooking the mushrooms with some pasta, olives, spinach, and green beans. Oh, the cheeses are nice too. England has a great assortment of cheddars and some nice stiltons, but there aren’t that many other choices. We ate in a few restaurants as well, sampling the paella which has always been one of Molly’s favorites.

The kids, though, weren’t so impressed with Catalan cuisine. Sage said she couldn’t wait to get back to England so she could go to a pub for dinner. I guess it’s hard to compete with fried stuff when you’re five. Their favorite place is called “The Bonny Prince” where your digest your fish and chips and peas while going down the slide.

Oh, well.