Clermont-Ferrand

Well, here we are in France ... oh la la! The house we are staying in is a beautiful old, very large, house in a charming cite ancien ... with 5 bedrooms so the kids, for the first time in their lives, each have their own room.
We are staying in the town of Ceyrat, which is similar to a suburb. There is an old church just a bit further up the hill, with bells that ring on the hour. We havent been in the church yet, but it is on our to-do list.
On Sunday there was a reenactment of one of the old battles between the Romans and the Gauls, in which, if course, the gauls won. The Romans later returned and beat them, but that little detail is left out around here). The men seemed to be having a great time in their short skirts, waving their zooden swords around and pretending to kill each other.
Yesterday we went to the tallest volcano in the region ... le Pui de Dome. It is 1465 metres high. Although we did take the bus up, we managed to walk down. The views from the top were stunning. The kids slept very well last night.
The hardest part of travelling around France is the language. The people get this look on their face when we try to speak french ... and then we get a look of panic when they answer us speaking at full speed. Steve has been studying his phrase book and is optimistic that he will be able to speak French by the time we leave. I find that we know just barely enough to make ourselves intelligible, and that is fine with me.
Well I must go to the boulangerie and get some groceries ... Steve goes to the patisserie every morning for fresh bread so we have been eating well. Miss you all at home. The Browns