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If you think there was snow in Montpellier. No way. With 10C it is too mild. But we made a trip to the Cevennes Mountains, direction Mont Aigoual ( >1200m). Scenic drive, but weather was not so sweet. I also programmed the navigation system wrong and we drove the shortest distance, which means, we used also some unusual roads. But it was fun. Narrow roads, wide enough for one car, climbing up the hills, nice turns and scenic views. Unfortunately the rest of the road was blocked and we can’t go further. So we stopped at a parking where just some leftover snow was left and temperature was 0C. Of course too cold for the kids 🙂 They were complaining that they want snow and ice before. When they heard there was snow and ice in germany, they wanted to see it here was well. But when we told them that there are -10C in germany they were ok with what they saw…

On the way back we filled up the car. The first time ever that I paid less then 1 Euro for Super 95, 99.8Cent and Diesel was 89,8 Cent (EURO). Amazing. It was that low in 2004 the last time.

Now we are going through some sickness (cold, sinus) and we are waiting for New Years Day.

A bientot

The 4 1/3 Engelkahles 

There is no snow here in Montpellier/Baillargues. So we went to the beach today on Christmas Eve with some friends. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the beach:

A breathtaking year 2008 is coming to an end. Several months in the USA, family has followed to Baillargues, france, new school, new languages, new adventures and experiences. The kids found some new friends at the international school. The language barriers are going down more and more for both of us, kids and parents. We just had a christmas party for the kids at work. Friends visited us and we have the very good news, that Dagmar is pregnant again. In 2009 a new Engelkahle will join us if the rest of the pregnancy is going on as good as it was so far.

We’d like to thank all our families, friends, colleagues.. The 4 1/3 Engelkahles

Two weeks before Christmas it is again Fabians Birthday. He turned 10 now. He is a teenager, wow how time flies by. It was his first birthday in france. So we invited some schoolfriends and had a little party. On wednesday the school is off, so that is a perfect timing. Only the timing with snow was bad. Fabi wanted snow on his 10th Birthday, well he got it in germany this year, but we were many miles away. But some presents from LEGO, books etc. helped him 🙂 Some nice cakes from mom and that was it.

A bientot

It is christmastime. Well, not a lot christmaslike here in the south of france. We still have pretty mild temperatures and just a few Christmas lights and signs are present. In the stores we have a lot now. But in germany in starts many weeks earlier. But maybe we will have also a green christmas like in germany. No snow probably here 🙂

Daggie and the kids used the schoolfree wednesday to build some gingerbread houses. With some selfmade caramelised sugar they put the parts together. Some Smarties and gummibears were used to put some color on it. See it yourself. Your Engelkahles

We don’t have a horse of course, but we know where we can find a horse. Sunday was very nice, sunny and mild. So we decided to use our bicycles and drive to the white horse. It is just a few miles away and we enjoyed the ride. The kids love it. We took some apples and feeded the horse.

Have fun

The 4 1/3 Engelkahles

It is sunny today, but cold. Well, cold for the south of france. I had to scratch the ice from the windshield this morning. It was around 0C / -1C. So during the day it should be 10C again, but it is rather cold for this area…But it won’t last that long, usually…

A bientot

Ok, I am talking about Elfes not the ELF gasstations. It is christmastime. I was browsing through the internet and found a well known Page, again. http://www.jibjab.com . JibJab was popular over night in 2004 during the US elections. They are producing, developing interactive Movies etc. They are just great. Together with OfficeMax they have launched Elf yourself. See http://www.elfyourself.com

That site is funny. You can upload your own pictures of your face or from friends, family. The software will use just the face. You can arrange it and at the end, up to 5 faces can be uploaded and they appear on some elf bodies. You can choose different dancing themes and watch the movie. It is just great, we were laughing like crazy.

See a pic:

Of course the try out is free. You can also download the movie for money, send postcards and so on. Go there and have fun.

A bientot

The 4 1/3 Engelkahles

It was time again. The third Thursday each Year in November is Beaujolais Day. A tradition not only in france, nowadays all around the world. Specially treated to be ready to drink in the same year the grapes were picked this Beaujolais hit the road this November 20th again. Everywhere parties. As well at work. I also bought some Beaujolais Nouveau. Very tasty. I like it. 

PROST

The past weeks we were not very happy with the weather. It was wet and not very comfy. It was not cold, but not that nice. The kids had to play more often inside. I also took them with me to work. That was fun, they really likes it and enjoyed being with me. They saw the big machines, where I work, met my colleagues. While I was working they were drawing lots of pictures for me. Now the school holidays are over and the weather is a little better. Sometimes a little shower but not too bad, nild temperatures at least.

So what am I doing on the weekend ? Roaarrr, roarrr.. yes watching cars. Looks like I can’t live with cars, race cars. So I took Jonathan (Fabian wanted to stay home with Dagmar) and we drove to a Rallye north of Montpellier. Not that far away. It was the Criteriurm des Cevennes. The 51st Rallye. Very popular. See http://www.cevennes2008.com

It is a Rallye that is happening for 3 days. No entrance fee. But you have to walk a while to get to the good spots along the road. The Cevennes are Hills/Mountains north of Montpellier. Wonderful scenery, winding roads, old little towns. So I drove in the little Clio through some very beautiful areas/towns (Pic Saint Loup, Laroque, Ganges) up to Sumene. I had to walk about 1 mile uphill with Jonathan to the Finishing area of this Rallye stage. Of course I could have walked a little closer to the nice U-turn spots, but it was too dangerous with my little Jonathan. So I stayed at the Finish Line where the cars came around a corner to a straight. Pretty fast and loud.
So far I have only watched Rallye on TV or played it on the Playstation. What a nice experience that was. So close to the race. Cars starting froma little Peugeot, Citroen C2 to a roaring Porsche 911, Subaru WRX, Lotus Exige and so on.

We had a lot of fun. The trip back home in the little Clio through some curves was not that exciting, but very scenic.
Fabian and Dagmar watched the Video I took from the Rallye Video (22MB, 768×576 WMV)

Yeah the south of france is very nice, lots of different things to do.

Official footage is available at: http://www.ffsa.tv a video from the inside of a Rallye car is here: http://www.cevennes2008.com/ES3Cevennes2008.mp4 

A bientot

 The 4 1/4 Engelkahles