My Cousin George

After the girls and I walked around the beach for a bit, we headed back up to meet the guys.  The girls could not wait to tell Kyle that the beach was topless, and he could not wait to get there!  I'm sure George thought our Puritanical American sensitivities were funny because he got a good chuckle at the girls' excited description of what they saw.

For me, a beach is a beach is a beach, topless or not.  I did not come all the way to SFG to see the ocean.  I came to see George and the place where my ancestors lived, so Kirk agreed to take the kids to the beach.  I really had to twist his arm, but he was willing to "sacrifice" for me!  Ha!

George and I headed over to the church that was begun in 1100 something.  There is a museum nearby with the history of SFG and cork-making.  Aunt Nanette said it is nice to see.  Unfortunately, the museum is undergoing renovation, so we couldn't get in.  It was still cool to see the outside.

Next, George took me to the house where my great-grandparents lived.  They moved back to SFG in the 1930s.  I'm not sure where they lived before they left for France, but to see their house and the same door knob and street view that they saw 80 years ago was really, really moving to me.

View left from the house, away from the ocean.

View right from the house, toward the ocean.

I just stood there, trying to imagine what it was like when they lived there.  George said it was different, that the house had a nice courtyard in the back and a nice balcony.  I wish, I wish...

George was disappointed that the museum was closed, but I was fine with it.  I asked if he could show me the old pictures he had, and he was more than happy to oblige.  We went back to his apartment and spent a couple of happy hours looking through old photograph albums at pictures of our family.  He told me stories of his and his parents' "escape" basically from France on the last train out of Paris before the Nazis arrived.  He told me how they lived in Spain for awhile, but there was no food, and he was sick and thin, and when they finally, finally got on a boat to the USA, there was more food than he'd seen for a long time.  He talked about playing baseball in NYC near the Brooklyn Bridge with some Puerto Ricans and how his dad would tell wonderful tales about his trips to Africa and seeing the eyes of wild animals in the lights of the car as they drove through the jungle from town to town at night because it was too hot during the day.  One picture, of George as a teenager, looks so much like my dad that they could be brothers.  It was wonderful to hear stories that I've never heard before about people in my family.  I loved every minute!

George and Grandpa Joe

Grandpa Joe

George and his dad, NYC

George also showed me his drawings from when he was a graphic artist.  He was AMAZING!  I loved looking at his work.  It was so fascinating because this was when advertising was done by hand and not computer.  It looked like "Mad Men" type of stuff.  I told him that Kirk would love seeing his work.

I was so glad that we didn't get to go to the museum.  If we had, I would have missed out on a wonderful visit with this amazing man.  I had the best time just sitting in the apartment, flipping the pages of an album and finding out what story came next.  What a great way to spend the afternoon!

About 5:30, I headed back to our apartment to get ready for dinner.  The kids had had a ball.  I asked Kyle what he thought about the topless beach.

"Yeah, it was pretty okay until we saw some topless grandmas!  Then it was not okay any more!"

We walked down to the town to meet George.  Things here shut down in the afternoon and don't open up until about 8, so we walked to see the fishing boats.

The fishing boats at SFG

It was beautiful.  The sun was out.  The sky was blue.  Everything was so vivid that it took my breath away.  We still had time to kill, so we sat in a little park by the beach and talked.

Dinner was wonderful.  George had a place in mind, but it was closed on Monday.  Where we ended up was great, though, and we were basically the only people in the restaurant.  Again, we sat and talked and talked. I'm sure we are wearing George out!

George and me!

Tomorrow, he is going to take me on a little trip around the coast, and the kids are going to the beach.  I think I planned everything well on this trip except our stay in SFG.  I should have planned on longer.  I am just not going to have enough time getting to know George.

Guess that means I'll have to come back!