Last weekend

We were woken up by a sickly Lucas at 4 am this morning. He has bronchitis according to the doctor and has to take antibiotics for 7 days. We skipped creche and my class this morning and stayed home to rest. He wanted to drink his milk at 4 and then he played for a bit before falling into a deep sleep at 6 am, so my morning was more or less shot. Fred was grumpy at being woken up, but he went back to sleep at 5. Anyway Lucas had his first banana flavored med this morning via a syringe as he refused to drink his milk when I mixed it into his milk.
The antibiotic came in a small bottle, in powder form. When I measured out the dosage as instructed by the Pharmacist I was wondering why the bottle of med which was supposed to last at least 6 doses was already three quarter empty. Luckily Fred reread the instructions and found that we have to mix water into the bottle! I was really upset the pharmacist didn't give me the right instructions! I could have ODed my baby on the meds! (but actually even if I did mix it all into the milk, he wouldn't drink it...)

Anyway, as our regular older doctor was unavailable, we went to see the younger one who took offence when I asked him if there was another alternative to antibiotics. He got upset and told me in English "if you do not want to give him my medicine, then you can give him whatever you want!" He did print out the prescription for me anyway and shook my hand on my way out but I won't go back to him again. His dad is a much, much better doctor who explains everything to me and is a nicer person too.

Last weekend was a busy one. I tried cepes for the first time. Its a mushroom found here and is seasonal. Its also known as porcini. There is a man selling cepe by the roadside for 24.50 euro a kg. He is also selling it with girolles which is yellow mushroom cooked with cepe. We bought a little (9 euro) and Fred cooked it with olive oil and garlic. It was really yummy! If it wasn't so expensive I would eat it everyday!

We also went to Auch on Sunday to have lunch at Eric & Solange's place. Auch is an hour's drive away from Tarbes going towards Toulouse. Its a small town with historical sites and buildings. Although Auch has only 26,000 residents (Tarbes has 46,000) Auch is more "happening" compared to Tarbes. As we were there on a Sunday, the streets were deserted like many towns in South France. I guess most people spend their Sundays resting at home or outdoors in the mountains.

Eric & Solange live in a quaint 3 storey townhouse with Solange's 3 kids. For lunch Solange made tuna basil asparagus salad and raclette (as starters), roti porc (roasted pork), ratatouille and mashed potato (For Lucas). The ratatouille was heavenly! We finished off with grapes and cheese and coffee. After lunch they took us for a short drive to the Chateau de Lavardens, a 12th century fortress overlooking the picturesque countryside of Gers. The chateau was given to Antoine de Roquelaure in 1585 who proceeded to do massive renovation to the castle for his young bride. Unfortunately the reno works were never finished as Roquelaure died. This Castle is still being renovated to this day. The castle features 19 magnificent stone mosaic floors and big big windows (as the bride requested for huge windows to let the sunlight in).