Day 2 -- Small hike to Saute de la Lezarde
Saturday 2/22/2004
We woke up at around 7:30. The kids went outside and wanted to get into the pool. It was a bit cool, because the sun was in the clouds. Shortly thereafter Bengt, Lotta and his kids got up and were ready for breakfast. We ate a whole bunch of goodies, including pain-au-chocolat, yoghurt, local coffee, maracuja marmalade. The kids feasted on some Nutella. The boys got all messy from the sticky Nutella (an almond chocolate paste). After breakfast the kids wanted to back down into the pool. By now the sun was up and it had started to get warm. Bengt and I took care of the dishes, while Lotta and Lilli went down to the local store in Vernou to do some complementary food shopping for the day. Our luggage has still not arrived.
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| Erik and Karl in the pool by the bungalows |
We decided to make a light excursion today. We packed a picnic and walked over to the Saute de la Lezarde, which starts about 500m from the bungalows. We walked over there. We visited the same trail three years ago. This time, however, the restaurant charged a 4€ fee per person over 12. It used to be free. The waterfall does not belong to the restaurant. It is public property. They just happened to have a restaurant next to the trail-head. However, they only charged us for five people; five of the kids got in for free. Ironically, we ended up paying for Erik, rather that Isabella, because Erik stood on the concrete platform and looked much taller than Isabella. For each person we paid, we got a ticket which entitled us to a free drink when we got back up. I later learned, from Jean-Jacques, that the issue of charging an entrance free at the fall was a big dispute at the local mayors office.
The hike down was muddy. A few of the kids raced ahead with Isabella. Karl, who was head with the others, apparently got a shoe stuck in the mud and then ended up with his sock in the mud. Karl also managed to trip in the trail, while ahead of us, getting a large rock rolling down the hill. The big rock landed between members of a hiking group further down. It was pure luck that someone did not get seriously hurt. According to Izzy, they looked up and wondered what that was, whereupon Izzy simulated that she was scolding Karl for bad behavior. The other group eventually gave up and continued walking down the trail. By the time we adults came down to the waterfall, most of the kids had already arrived. A very large tree had fallen from nearby the trailer over the river since we last visited three years ago. The kids swam around in the cold water. Bengt took a dip, too. We watched a few teenagers jump from above the fall into the basin, perhaps a 15m (45ft) jump. Erik wanted to jump, as well, but we declined much to his chagrin. After a bit over an hour down by the fall, we walked back up again. Once again, a few of the kids raced ahead. When we caught up with them Lucas had misplaced and lost his hat and his sunglasses. They were nowhere to be found. We eventually sent the kids home with Isabella, so that us adults could enjoy the five drink tickets we had gotten when we started the hike down. We were not quite sure what sort of drink we'd be allowed to buy, but we ended up each getting a draft beer. While the server handed things over to us, I asked about pizza this evening and their hours. As she was responding, she managed to tip her tray such that an orange juice and hot coffee fell on the ground and on my leg. The coffee burned for a brief moment. The beers, however, tasted great. I consumed the fifth beer, while Bengt bought one more. It was relaxing without the kids. When we got back to the bungalows, the kids were in the pool.
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| Bengt and Adam along the hiking trail |
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| A view of the waterfall |
We had a late lunch. Lilli wanted to use the washing machine, since we got a bit muddy during the hike. But it was not working. We hoped we'd get our delayed luggage today so that we'd get some clean clothes. We relaxed a little bit back at the bungalow. By 4PM a taxi showed up with our luggage from the airport. Everything looked fine. Our plan was to eat pizza for dinner. Around 7PM Bengt and I walked over to the local pizza place, the one facing the restaurant where we entered the water fall. We ordered three big pizzas and then walked back home. They'd be ready in 30 min the lady said. We walked back and arranged the table for dinner. Bengt (a licensed electrician back in Sweden) also wanted take a look at the Washing machine by the common area because it was not working. The machine passed the most common tests and Bengt concluded he needed a multi-meter, something he had not packed for vacation. So we'll just have to wait for the repairman to come on Thursday (all closed until then due to the annual Carnival). By 7:30 Bengt and I walked over to the pizza place. We took Louise with us. Bengt tried to scare her several times by talking about all the scary things we'd walk by. The pizzas were ready. The lady offered us 10 cans of soda (coke, etc.) to go with the meal as part of the price. This was unexpected on my part and I gladly accepted.
When we got home, the table was almost set and everyone was ready to help. Adam went to bed before even eating. He was so tired. During final preparations I decided to help Lilli to move the Clic-Clac bed and managed to hurt my toe real bad. I had to lie down for a while, but got back again in about five minutes. We had ordered one "Simple", one "Reine" and one "Paysanne". The "Paysanne" (with tomatoes, Canadian bacon, goat cheese and regular cheese) was a success. The kids dropped off one after another while the adults stayed for a while. I sat up with Bengt until 11:30PM, in an attempt to help adjust his biological clock to our local time. Isabella liked the pizza so much she woke up at night and barfed it out.