an open letter to easy jet / speaking english: part 2

Dear EasyJet,

First and foremost, I'd like to thank you for existing. Your affordable fares to many desirable European cities make mini-vacations, holidays and visits with friends possible.

Secondly and even more importantly, thank you for having a direct flight from Geneva to Toulouse.

We look forward to utilizing your services in the not-so-distant future.
Best,
Kate

***

Thanks entirely to EasyJet, my girlfriend Claire was able to bop on over to France this past weekend. It was so great to see her smiling face again, speak non-broken English, have lengthy discussions about just how great and larger-than-life God is, show off our hometown, and host at Hotel Hein for the first time this season.

Claire arrived Friday afternoon. After a thrilling trip to Auchan, we forced Andy to pose for the awkward "first game of the season" photo below, whipped up a quick and healthy dinner, girl talked in the bathroom while getting ready, and headed over to Palais des Sports to take in the season opener of Spacer's Toulouse.

After dropping the first set, things weren't looking so great in the second - Tourcoing had racked up a 20-10 lead over Toulouse. After a handful of strategically taken time-outs and what are sure to have been some magique words from the head coach, the Spacer's came back to win set two and later three and four. Yahoo!

Friends from church Sam, Jacqui, and Brad came to support - thanks guys!

After a sleep in (we didn't return from the post-match festivities until around 1 a.m. - this will make future Sunday mornings a little rough following Saturday night matches), we hit the farmer's market and took an impromptu walk around the city.

In the time it took to procure some fresh French pastries, the weather had gone from gloom to gorgeous. Obviously, we decided to make the most of this climate change and walk down the street toward Basilica St. Sernin. The Romanesque style church was built sometime between 1080 and 1120, and it was stunning inside and out. We stopped in the church and were pleasantly surprised to find the choir and organ gearing up for rehearsal. Upon finishing, Claire and I both muttered "Wow!" simultaneously under our breath.

We ventured down a pedestrian street toward the Capitole in search of a cafe and stumbled upon another pleasant surprise in the square. There was another market where vendors were selling all things homemade - soaps, candles, home brew, oil olive and many other goodies. I sincerely hope this wasn't a one-time event.

The adventure concluded as we parted ways with a practice-bound Andy and headed to the park to soak up some vitamin D. Books and Harry in tow, we lounged and read in the sunshine for the remainder of the day. Harry had a horrible time as you can see below.

For a look at the weekend through our visitor's eyes, check out her post on her blog "This Red Bag." All in all, a perfectly exciting, relaxing and wonderful weekend of friendship. Thank you for making the trip, dear Claire, and let us know when your review of Hotel Hein is up on TripAdvisor :)

on to the next one...