Eating, swimming, walking, riding

Today we started our adventure with what I think is a weekly market, In the town centre. They had everything from soap to hats to frog legs and cheesecake (not the traditional new York cheese cake. It was rounded and more like a fluffy cake with a cheese taste as well as a blackened top. The vendor said that the blackened top made it the best cheese cake in the world but we still didn't eat the burnt part.) We also had interesting mini cakes called le royal. Finally, we had some crepes with interesting jam. Myrtle, which is probably the closest thing this country has to blueberry and mure which was something like blackberry. Interesting little note: from the cheesecake vendor we also bought a ginormous butter cookie! There, we also met a nice American man who commented on how big the market was and how tall Emma was for her grade. After the market, we went on a walk through an environmental area called Les Prairies du Roy and it took us through two towns. After that, we went on a horse and carriage tour through the areas we had previously walked through. The driver didn't speak much English but I got the jist of it. All in all the ride was very enjoyable. Après sa, we went swimming for a bit and then lounged around. Next, we went out for dinner and we just came back from a walk around. That was our very full day. I hope this makes you wish you were here with us! I'll post tomorrow when we will have gone to a castle~Kate 

Long awaited lodge in the Loire!!

We are here in Loches. This complex will be our home until Saturday. At least our apartment is bigger than the hotel room. We also get to be together. Our home is equipped  with a kitchenette, a living area/bedroom, a bunk bed room, and a bathroom with a full bath. The complex also has amenities outside the apartment such as a swimming pool, which all of us enjoyed this morning. It also has a laundry system and I was in charge of telling the receptionist that we wanted to do laundry. Unfortunately, I froze in front of her which apparently, was quite funny, at least to my family. Mom helped me.We also got a chance to walk through the town of Loches itself. It's very medieval. Cobblestone streets, caves and all. There was even two caves for sale! (I have no idea what that means. Why would someone want a cave?) We visited a very nice cafè. I had a chocolate brownie with whipped cream, ice cream, and English cream. Emma had what they called "fromage blanc" which turned out to be a drinkable cream cheese with fruit sauce (was expecting cheese cake). Emma and mom are trying to make chicken Alfredo for dinner tonight, it smells delicious. In the past days we have had some very uniquely French food such as yogurt in glass jars, sorbets, violet icecream, and French macarons from LADOREÉ which is apparently the bakery that popularized this dessert. They are not the coconut macaroons that North Americans immediately think of, but little cookies with fillings. The rose and lemon flavoured ones are delicious! Sorry for not posting for a few days. We tried to post about the Louvre but we lost it. For those of you that I will see back home, I will tell you about it in detail later. 

Paris - sights,sounds,smells and pick-pockets!

This was our second day in Paris.  The Parisian lifestyle is certainly different from any Canadian city; it smells weirder, the traffic is worse and there are pigeons everywhere!  Today's "plat du jour" so to speak was Notre Dame and The Eiffel Tower with a side of stolen property!  On our way to Notre Dame, Emma had mom's phone conspicuously hanging out of her pocket which some young people took advantage of!  The phone is gone. 

Notre Dame was beautiful but busy, personally I thought it would be much more awe inspiring than it actually was, but our audio-guide provided some interesting detail.

We also went up to the second level of the Eiffel Tower.  We got to the front of the line due to my wheelchair and it was cheaper for a companion and me! Accessible washrooms were very difficult to find on Ile de la Cité!  The McDonalds close by had one but you need to take the elevator down to the lower floor.

                                

                                 One further note - Paris is hot in July and I mean hot!

3...2...1...Take-off

After months and months of anticipation, the start of our adventure is upon us!

I can hardly wait, I am about to be a pseudo French girl.  Cafés and museums are in my future. 

Something newsworthy has already happened, dad was called for additional screening because he had a multitool in his bag! I believe he threw it out.

Keep reading for more updates.

Waiting to board the plane!

Excitement

So in case the last post was a little vague, here's some clarification.  I applied to The Sunshine Foundation as is evident from the letter - interested readers will be happy and jealous to learn that my excellent writing paid off and I got my dream!  Since my family and I received the news, pretty much all the talk everywhere has been on the theme of our impending holiday.  Many people have asked to come along in our suitcases, however, we don't have enough suitcases to take everyone along - we wish we did.  It's all so surreal - in less than a week, I will be on a plane for 7.5 hours, going to almost a completely different universe than I have ever experienced.  Talk about opportunity of a lifetime!

It's crunch time, packing, packing, double checking, triple checking, quadruple checking everything - because we can't go back if we forgot something at home.  Readers who wish to continue to follow us on our fascinating journey, can look forward to numerous humorous anecdotes and helpful tips for those travelling in France with mobility challenges and for anyone with a trip coming up in the near future.  To all you travellers, adventurers, foodies, historians and all around Francophiles, this blog will be a treasure trove of titillating tidbits.  To al those who don't quite fit into any of those categories, but wish they did, I hope you enjoy my journal as well.  I will try to post as often as I can, of course, depending whether we are in a wifi zone or not, I can assure you will get all the updates and tips you could ever want and more.

Today was my Sunshine send-off.  Winners and HomeSense are corporate sponsors of The Sunshine Foundation, so this afternoon at 3, some friends and family and me of course gathered at Winners for my dream presentation.  It was very informal, but enjoyable! Thanks to everyone who took some time out of their afternoon to wish me bon voyage!

A Dream Come True

Thank-You to the Sunshine Foundation!

Katherine’s Wish!


To The Sunshine Foundation,

Hello, my name is Katherine Luymes, 



I am 16 years old and I recently became aware of the foundations work for children with physical disabilities.  I would like to take advantage of your kindness and express my wish to you to the best of my abilities. 

 I have always longed for a true French immersion experience, to sit in cafes and listen to the bustle of people go by, to be in a house in a little village where little English influence has yet come and to just soak up the culture and the language.  Ideally, I would like this to be a summer long affair.  

This would give me the opportunity to improve my French, learn about French culture and get a chance to visit Paris as well, so I can see all the tourist sights.  If you could do this for me it would be greatly appreciated.  

Yours sincerely,

 Katherine Luymes