Le Lac des Bouillouses

Saturday, June 15th: The weather forecast for where we were staying in Millas was in the mid-90s for Saturday, so we decided to head to the mountains. When we talked with our Airbnb host Antonin on Thursday, he recommended Le Lac des Bouillouses, but later we couldn’t remember the exact word to attempt a Google Maps search. When we stopped for pastries and a gift for our mothers (artisan soap) in Villefranche on our way home Friday evening, the soap shop owner also recommended Le Lac des Bouillouses. He was super nice and wrote it down on a piece of paper for us before we even asked. We looked it up and discovered that it was only an 80 minute drive from our Airbnb, and since two locals highly recommended it, we decided to go!

Abbaye de Saint-Martin du Canigou

Friday, July 14th: adventure #2 of the day wasn’t exactly an adventure, but we did park and walk into the town of Prates to a kebab shop for a quick filling lunch before embarking on adventure #3. The kebab shop was bustling, with half a dozen groups sitting in shaded tables out front. While we waited to place our order at the counter inside, a cute little French girl (age 6 or 7 maybe?) was twirling and playing while her mom paid for their food at the counter. She looked at me with big eyes and I said “bonjour” quietly, and smiled at her. She came up really close to me and looked up at me with bigger eyes and half-whispered something in French. I did not understand what she said. Jeff told me she had asked “what did you say?” So I told her bonjour again. Jeff explained to the girl “nous sommes Americains. Parlez-vous anglais?” The girl nodded, so Jeff switched to English “what is your name?” She answered! I forgot her name, but it was adorable. By this point her mom was done paying and joined us. Jeff asked her how she learned English, and the mom (in French) told him she started learning English when she was pregnant with her daughter. It was a fun little interaction. Kids are always the CUTEST when they speak non-English languages.

Eus

Friday, July 14th: La ville d'Eus (population 377, pronunciation conflicted) was not on our radar until we were on our way to another site and happened to see it from the road, snuggled charmingly into a hillside. "Let's go there!" we said, and turned off the main road. It was a very worthwhile detour, easily my favorite village we visited on this entire trip. 

Lagrasse et Carcassonne

Thursday, July 13th, continued: After Queribus, we kept driving northeast. The roads were narrow and curvy just like before, but we had an hour and 45 minutes before we reached our next destination, which was the restored castle at Carcassonne. The countryside was rugged and beautiful. Scooching to the very edge of the world/road to let giant vehicles pass us head-on was not so fun. But the views! The flowers! We saw half a dozen other Cathar Fortresses dotted along the tops of other hills as we drove. Officially they’re called chateaux, but come on. Versailles and Chambord are chateaux. Cathar country—le pays de Cathar—has fortress ruins. Due to our late start in the morning, we were starving long before we reached Carcassonne.

La Ville de Lagrasse

Le Château de Quéribus

Our first foray into the remote southwestern region of France was the Château de Quéribus. 

France Date!

 Jeff and I went on a week-long date trip to southern France! It was our first international trip in four years, and it was everything we hoped for. After the Brown family gathering, we left our kids in Denver with my kind parents and flew to Paris via Chicago and Dublin (not an ideal two-connection journey, but we survived). We left July 10th and got back July 18th. Jeff and I took a total of 760 pictures on our trip (about 30 pictures were Jeff's, haha). The bulk of my pictures from this trip will have to be divided between several posts over time, but here's an overview of the trip with a few photo highlights:

Brown Family Gathering 2023

The annual Brown Family gathering (also known as the Browncation) was held in Denver at my parents' roomy house during the first week of July. All of my siblings and their families converged on "the chateau" as we lovingly call the house for a week of fun chaotic family bonding. We spent the week hanging out together at my parents' house. We aren't an excursion family. The kids played all kinds of games, swam in the pool, rode scooters, watched shows, and played Nintendo. The adults played games, talked, watched the kids swim, and ate. We all admired the newest member of the family, one-week-old baby Andrew who was adorable. The big kids, parents, and grandparents went to the temple. It was a classic low-key Brown family gathering. 

Trek

Our Yakima Stake youth handcart trek was Wednesday, June 28 to Saturday, July 1st. Jeff and I went as a Ma and Pa leaders over a "family" group of 9 teenagers; Jay and Rose went as youth participants. Amber had an adventure of her own the day before the trek, when she flew out to Denver all by herself to stay with my parents while the rest of us trekked. Jeff took Amber to the airport on Tuesday (June 27th) and got her all checked in as an unaccompanied minor. Amber's direct flight was about 2 hours and 20 minutes long, and my mom picked Amber up at the Denver airport--she got a pass and went through security so she could be waiting at the gate when Amber arrived. Amber is a confident kid. She said she chatted to the guy next to her in the plane and played Nintendo on the flight. Then she had a fun 4 days in Denver with Grama, living her best life with fun activities while the rest of her family trekked into the dusty wilderness.

Jeff sent me this picture of Amber at the gate, about to walk out to her plane.

Jay's Talk

Jay gave a wonderful talk in church on Sunday! (June 25th) It was a treat to hear his perspective and thoughts on the gospel. His topic was "what has the Savior done for me?" Jay asked Jeff to look over the first draft of his talk, and Jeff's only feedback was "make it 600 words longer." So Jay did. On Sunday morning, Jay was nervous. He did a great job giving his talk in front of a much larger congregation than usual. (Two massive family reunions increased our ward attendance drastically enough for folding chairs to be set up all the way back in the gym!) On Sunday evening, Jay generously emailed his talk to me so I could save it and savor it here in the family archive. It is a joy to watch my son learn bit by bit and grow his faith stronger and stronger. I love my Jay.

Lemont to Sunnyside

The journey home from Pennsylvania came far too soon, and felt far too long. Before we left Lemont, however, we squeezed in a few more activities. Even though I would rather have gotten more much needed sleep, I awoke far too early (courtesy of my husband's snoring), so I read the entire Come Follow Me lesson and corresponding chapters and then went on a glorious run through the countryside. While I was gone, Jeff got Dunkin Donuts for the kids to try for the first time, since they are an east coast delicacy. He got me a jelly filled donut and I was transported back in time with the first bite. How do they taste exactly the same as they did 20 years ago? Jay and I decided that we like Krispy Kreme best.

Mt. Nittany

After the backyard memorial on Saturday, June 16th at 11am we did the White family hike up Mt. Nittany! We all started at different times and places, so it wasn't a large group hiking up the trail together, but we did meet at the top to watch Dan (Grampa Dan/Jeff's dad/the youngest son of Hal & Stevie White) scatter his parents' ashes. The trail up the mountain was steep and rocky, and about a mile long. Plenty of time to work up a sweat. I hiked with Amber and after I helped her find a walking stick, we admired the beautiful white flowers growing all over a grove of trees as we climbed. 

Maggotfest 2023

The White Family Reunion, also known as Maggotfest (in honor of maggot-like childhood sleeping bag races among Jeff's cousins), was held in Lemont, Pennsylvania from June 16-19th. It was a backyard gathering of 60 relatives who hadn't been together in one place in over a decade. The White family is an eclectic group of people, and I loved talking with all of the fascinating family members over the three day reunion. The reunion was organized to fulfil Grandpa and Grandma (Hal and Stevie) White's last wish of having their ashes scattered atop Mt. Nittany. Family members gathered from all corners of the country (WA, CA, FL, UT, NH, etc.), and it felt good to be together, even though I don't know these cousins very well. Every single one of Hal and Stevie White's living children and grandchildren attended the event, with a large number of their great grandchildren present as well.