40 Square Meters of Fun; And Some Clafoutis

THAT'S THE SIZE of the apartment we are living in temporarily. Many of you know that part of our arrangement at our 'regular' house is that we have to be out during the summer months because the owner rents it to summer vacationers at a substantial rate. Let's just put it this way: the summer guests pay more per week than we pay per month during the off-season.

This creates both opportunity and minor inconvenience. Let's start with inconvenince: because the summer season starts before school finishes we have about a three week period where we have to be out of our house, but not out of the area. So for those three weeks we need to find something very temporary and, by necessity, something quite financially reasonable -- which explains our 40 sq. meter apartment (yes, we are still a family of five!).

But this little apartment is absolutely perfect for us. Sure, and additional 4o sq. meters or so would go a long way, but the apartment is in the lower level of a beautiful villa owned by a single 70+ year old French woman who is absolutely adorable. This evening she brought down a pot of delicious vegetable soup for us and last night she knocked on our door with a freshly baked clafoutis aux cerises -- a typical french dessert where you bake fresh fruit into a custard-like batter (this time it was cherries -- pits and all) We all enjoyed it greatly.

The apartment is great because, though small, it has a large garden and a wonerful swimming pool that gets used all the time (even by dad most evenings). Since the kitchen is so small we have just chosen to eat every meal outside on the terrace table. It could be worse.

So, a little inconvenient? Yes. Managable? Definately.

And the upside of our living arrangement? Well, last year it led to two months in the Pyrenees. This year it will lead to two months...well, that's for another post.

CJS