Emotional Farewell

After a glorious day in Bordeaux, we returned to have a casual dinner with Stephane's family. It is our last night in Sanguinet and we are digging our heels in hoping to soak up the Verdet family at maximum volume. When I tell you, we truly fell in love with this family, our French family. Alain is hysterical, a modest man with a fantastic sense of humor, a romantic beautiful love for his wife and an obvious passion for life. Sylvaine is a nurturing and angelic woman, creative, happy, kind and armed with her own sense of humor, along with a true and endearing love for her family. Arnaud was hesitant to jump right in, but seemed to ease his way into our hearts. He looked at us out of the corner of his eye and was relatively silent but would give an occasional dig into his brother, Stephane, which would make us laugh....sibling rivalry in another language is after all translated the same, rivalry. Haha.

Stephane, where to I begin? Stephane is smart, he is super funny, although he feels like he cannot translate his humorous side from French to English, he manages beautifully. He drives fast, so I think he has a thrill seeking side to him, he is a gracious and kind host. Literally giving me the shirt (sweater) off of his shoulders when I forgot my jacket. I am forever grateful that Stephane took my family around France. I believe that, in large, this trip was so meaningful and had a richness to it because Stephane was there with us. So, chin, salute', cheers to you Stephane for being a wonderful friend and brother, you are a treasure.

Tonight at dinner, we received gifts from the Verdet's. Mom and Kenny received a cheese cutter, called a Girolle that is from Switzerland. We had the most AMAZING cheese, called Tete De Moine (photographed above). My girls were given cookbooks, I received a vin necklace from Saint Emilion that was handcrafted and filled with red wine as a momento, along with a photo frame book that held pictures from the area of Sanguinet. It was a heartfelt and emotional evening...see below.

We waited 18 years to meet Stephane's family and now this Chapter of our trip was coming to a close. It was bittersweet. The time we spent with the Verdet family is time that we will all treasure and hopefully repeat many times over in this lifetime.

Pour la famille Verdet: nous vous aimons et nous nous réjouissons d'apporter notre famille de nouveau ensemble, afin que nous puissions célébrer la fusion de nos deux familles. Sylvaine, vous avez non seulement acquis une fille, mais deux petites-filles ainsi. Beaucoup d'amour à vous tous!