That’s not a typo in the title. We’re overdue for a Nick update. He made it through a tough first year of university – including the notorious Calc 2 class – and, starting in September, will be specializing in civil engineering. He’s back in Ottawa now, looking for summer employment, doing odd jobs for neighbours, drawing up plans to build a climbing wall, training for a triathlon, following Ray’s detailed instructions on spring lawn and house care, spending time with his girlfriend, and hanging out with friends. Most importantly, he had a follow-up appointment with the oncologist last week and, almost a year since his final treatment, all is looking good.
Merivale High School has a Relay for Life fundraiser every year. Two years ago Nick was there with his grade 12 classmates, having fun and helping to raise money to fight cancer. Last year he returned to Merivale and walked the “survivor lap” with other cancer survivors. This year, he was invited to speak to the students about his experience. We’re so very proud of him for agreeing to do it. It’s hard enough to get up on stage in front of a crowd of your peers, but even harder when the topic is so personal.
Back in France, we’ve had a few hot, sunny days. On the first one, we threw the bikes in the car and headed for the coast, this time visiting Cap Breton and Hossegor, north of Bayonne. They’re both popular surfing destinations, full of surf shops, surfer dudes and mini-surfer dudes. We had a lovely day cycling along the coast and people watching on the beach.
On day 2, Ray picked the most challenging hike he could find, which wasn’t as high as he’d have liked given that the highest peaks still have snow. He climbed Les Gorges d’Ehujarré et l’Utzigagna. He wore my Fitbit and clocked 29,000 steps and 428 flights of stairs. I couldn’t get my Fitbit to sync afterwards, likely because some kind of fraud alarm had been set off – “suspicious activity has been detected on your account”.
In any case, it was a long, tough, and presumably rewarding, hike. I stayed home and drank wine in the sun. It wasn’t exactly tough, but I would classify it as rewarding.
Day 3 of our mini heat wave, we decided to return to the coast with our bikes, this time cycling from Bayonne to Biarritz and back. It wasn’t quite as much fun this time. It was a sweltering day with temps in the 30s and the ride was longer and more hilly than I’d been expecting. By the time we were done, my butt, shoulders and legs were sore and I was hot, thirsty, and tired. Ray was fine of course. Just a light rest day for him.
We did have a lovely lunch in Biarritz, and there was a chocolate festival in Bayonne, so it definitely wasn’t a complete loss.
Wonderful, Nicholas! Good for you! Sand, surf and sampling MORE chocolate look wonderful, too! Yum!
I have decided I will move to Ottawa (or anywhere else you’re living) if Ray takes up chocolate carving. I think it’s a very noble hobby and if any carvings break “by accident” you and I will dispose of them for him.
No extra charge. I’ll work for free.
Hi – Another rainy cool evening -did some gardening today . Today was the first day – Georgetown Market downtown. Memories – On our first trip to Spain ,we flew to Paris -took a flight to Biarritz then on to Bayonne ,which included a train ride and bus ride before we started hiking. So glad to hear Nick is doing well . Ben is doing a biking challenge again in June -hoping to ride 500km raising money (cancer in Kids) . We have not been spending evenings sitting outdoors -has been a cool spring. Chris and Neil
>