Even More Catching Up

Sorry all, internet has been wonky and we have been tremendously busy for the past few days.

On Wed the 6th everyone came crashing into the place.  We spend much of the morning making up beds, planning luggage retrieval, stocking in necessities and generally getting set for the invasion.

The next week is our largest group yet.  We will have something in the order of 12 people, some even crashing on the floors for a couple days.

Around 1, Nita and I headed down to the station to pick up the gang.  Sam, Jessica, Adra, JD, Amy,, Audrey, John and Terry all ended up on the same train from the airport in Paris, so at least that made for an easy pickup all at once.  While I parked in a probably illegal spot, Nita went in to meet them at the platform.  No issues...

We piled all the luggage into the car and I drove it back to the house while Nita walked everyone.  Back at the house, we unloaded luggage and got things organized(sorta).  The kids were beat, but a wave of energy hit and the wine began to flow.  Cheese and sausages made their appearance only to be rapidly destroyed.  Things went late and lots of wine was consumed.

Thursday the 7th was market day at the covered market area so we gathered the troops and headed down for supplies.  We were mostly out of cheese, sausages, wine, well more or less everything.  We let everyone explore a bit while we shopped and looked for dinner supplies.  Pasta, sausages, salad makings, cheese and terrines(pates) were secured and the grocery cart we bought early in the trip was close to breaking an axle.

Audie found a new hat!

I found slightly stoned looking hedgehogs...

Seasonal Wild Aparagus

A freaking mountain of radishes!

As an aside, while we were waiting for the butchers, a pigeon flew into the meat case and fluttered around a bit.  The butcher just grabbed it out, tossed it into the air and plucked the feathers out of the meat case.  No fuss, no haz-mat teams, just a lot of laughter.

On the way back we ran into Skip and Karen and invited them for dinner.  Since we had the kiddo, we swung by the large carousel for ice cream and a ride.  As it was still the school holiday, the place was heaving with kids running about in the fountains and the parks.  Not a bad thing for a spring day.

Adra in the spinny basket

Ice cream, churro and cotton candy.  I think thats about enough sugar...

Breads and fruits from the market

The usual suspects in our cheese drawer.  From the top down they are: Comte, Brillat Savarin(on the right top), Morbier(with stripe), Mimolet(orange) and Emmentaller.

 Back at the house we had a little time for a short nap and then the dinner prep began.  Good thing this place has a huge farmhouse table and plenty of chairs!  The pasta was grand, the salad a necessity after all the rich foods and dessert was a lovely assortment of sweets that Skip and Karen picked up in Old Town.

Tomorrow is Skip and Karen's last day in Colmar.  We didn't get to see nearly enough of them!  With luck next trip we can get them in the same house with us for a while.  Thanks for everything guys!