After an afternoon of water fights in the backyard and my impromptu snooze on the couch (oops, hahaha!) my host fam took me out to dinner as a big thank you and a farewell before the end of the year craziness set in. Well, not even the craziness but the fact that I have like two weeks left in France! Anyways, we went up the through the woods to the little restaurant tucked away under the trees called the La Mare aux Canards. It has a huge outdoor dining area and we enjoyed the nice, summery air.
As one might guess according to the name, the restaurant is known for their roasted duck and chicken which apparently is hard to make at home in such a way so, of course, I had to order it! I ended up getting the same thing as Delphine but just cooked a little more. When the waiter asked how well I wanted the duck cooked, I did not understand a thing so my dumb American-ness had to show through. I get so nervous speaking French with my family, hahah! Plus Julie and I enjoyed some virgin mojitis. The duck came out in a tiny little chunk, cut so it was layered on half of the plate and then my little bowl of ratatouille on the other side. The duck was actually divine with a spice and honey sauce that I could have drank and the veggie ratatouille was s French, I just had to have it. They even served house-made potato chips as the starter.
To my utter surprise, the kids started pulling out gifts for me at the table! They started with handing me a big, homemade card with different things each person thanked me for. Some things they wrote: Fred will miss my cooking and positive attitude every day, Delphine was thankful for my patience with Alex at shower time and my being a good role model for the kids, Julie is grateful for my sharing the Snickerdoodle recipe, Malo for playing outside with him, and Alex for walking them to school and sharing stories. I actually almost started crying when I read all of those. Julie was like, "I saw your eyes!" when I admitted that. Hahaha. Good times. The they got me a pencil pouch tat says "Merci pour cette annee" and a Lego Eiffel tower to construct for my college room. And last but not least, a bottle of Yves Saint Laurent perfume called Mon Paris. I wanted to fall over, I was so happy!
As hard as this job was, I really am grateful for the family I got. I can think of a million other jobs that I would have wanted over this one but none of them end up in the friendship I have made here with them and the true French family experiences that I've been a part of. I really am blessed! A lifelong friendship will come from this!
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