Checking In

Checking in from LaBaule, France: home to Europe's largest contiguous sand beach (9km), Jean and Christine Pecqueur aka Claire's parents, and the next destination in our seemingly never-ending summer vacation. It's a tough life, I know.

Today we went sailing on catamarans in the nearby town of Batz-sur-Mer. I had been sailing before on Lake Superior, but always on a big boat. Today, Olivier (Claire's brother) arranged for the rental of a pair of two-person catamarans for myself, Claire, Laure, and Olivier. It was exhilarating! The wind was pretty strong and therefore it was pretty fast. In fact at one point Claire and Laure tipped the boat over--but fortunately got right back up with no major problems.

The big news from the Hellman family is the return of Rick Hellman to the racing circuit. That's right, several months after his accident, he has recovered enough to get back on the bike yet again. Here's a picture of Dad with his new fancy bike. Who knows, now that Phonak has a space to fill with the exit of Floyd Landis, perhaps he'll have a second job...

French lesson of the day: did you know that instead of the Tooth Fairy which delivers money or prizes in the middle of the night to children in exchange for their lost molars, it's a petite sourri (little mouse?) My niece Maeva explained this to me today; she is still a true believer at the age of seven, although she did note specifically to me today that the handwriting left in a note by the petite sourri looked remarkably like that of her mother's...

jk