Capt. Mondo's World o' Mondo-ness

Phone Call from France
As I was getting ready to go to work this morning, there was a phone call. Immediately I thought "Erika", and I was right.

After the hellos and how are yous Erika said "I've got two little girls here who miss you and want to talk to you".

Vanessa was first, and she excited told me about her recent adventures, which involved collecting sea shells and watching star fish and other interesting critters caught in the tidal pool down by the Mediterranean coast close to the chateau, as well as collecting flowers for her mother and spending a lot of time at Grandpa Josef's pool. She also asked when I was coming, and when I told her (Saturday), she asked how many days that would be.

Annie came on next, and this was the gist of the conversation:
Annie: "Daddy?"
Me: "Hello Annie. Have you been having fun?"
Annie: (mumble mumble mumble)
Me: (Trying not to sound confused) "Oh, really?"
Annie: "Yeah. (Mumble mumble mumble again).
This was pretty much the gist of the conversation. Puzzled, I asked Erika what that was all about afterwards. "She's trying out her French. She's hearing everybody else talk in French, so I guess she wanted to try it with you". Couldn't help smiling at that.

I asked if there's anything I should bring over. Jennifer asked for some back medicine, and Erika asked for a week's worth of flavoured porridge for the kids, their usual morning breakfast that they can't seem to get over there. It is sorely missed, though things can't be so bad, since Vanessa also mentioned some "kind lady" had made a chocolate cake for them.

It turns out I can expect a long wait once I get to Nice. I'm to arrive at about noon, and apparently Ariane has a flight out of Nice at 4pm. He says he'll get there early, but no matter how you slice it, I'll have a long wait in Nice when I arrive.