Twenty Questions with Lee, Miles and Ceil

Question #1) You’ve been in France for 24 hours or so… what’s your favorite part, so far?

Lee: Pipe and A… what’s it called?... Pat á Pain… it’s a bakery where they have croissants… we’ve been there two times already.

Miles: Ummm…. My favorite? Probably the… [yawn]… hmm… I don’t know… [yawn]

Ceil: I love walking on the cobblestone streets and all the nooks and crannies in the town… I enjoyed the petit train and how enormous the Cathedral… it’s so big… the colors in the stained glass are amazing… it makes you wonder about how they built it.

Miles: Um…. The trolley? No… pain chocolate… yeah.

Ceil: Maxi pain chocolate.


Question #2) Anything surprise you?

Miles: Ummm…. [yawn]… ummm… no.

Ceil: The banks are closed on Monday! Most of the stores are all locked up. And I don’t know any French.

Lee: Two things – The hotel doesn’t have a swimming pool, we don’t drive anywhere, and there are only two rooms in our hotel room.

Miles: Of course there’re only two rooms – what else would there be, Lee?

Lee: I’m thinking… don’t type yet… ummm… I can’t think or remember what the other hotels look like.

Question #3) What’s the biggest differences between Bourges and Seattle?

Ceil: Windy cobblestone roads, narrow… huge Cathedral right in the city center.

Lee: I’m hungry.

Ceil: You want some Wheat Thins?

Lee: No…. I want some water.

Miles: Ummm… in Bourges there’s no really tall buildings; there’s no [yawn], there’s no, like, tall apartments. Mmm.. [yawn]

Ceil: I like the way the red wine tastes… I had fun drinking red wine last night and tonight.

Question #4) Sounds like you’re sleepy… how’d you sleep last night?

Miles: Not too well. I fell asleep at 3am.

Ceil: … and then you slept ‘til noon!

Miles: No… it was eleven.

Ceil: I’m tired now.

Miles: I’m a little tired.

Question #5) How was the flight?

Ceil: Flight was amazing… great food and service. It went by quick

Miles: No it didn’t

Ceil: Lee slept.

Miles: It didn’t go by quick

Ceil: I thought it did

Miles: You’re just saying that so more people will come and visit us.

Miles, How’d the flight go for you?

Miles: it was good… they have cool little tv-like things that had games on the,m

Lee, how about you?

Lee: it was long.

Question #6) Is there anything you’re missing about Seattle?

Ceil: no, not yet.

Miles: Ummm…. [yawn]… seeing my friends… [leaves room to brush teeth]

Ceil: [yawn]

Lee: My friends, my house, my cat. Hang on… [leaves room to hit Miles with a pillow. A brief altercation ensues… Lee returns, victorious.]

Question #7) What did you do today?

Lee: we WALKED and I don’t like walking. I changed all my backgrounds on the computers… Mommy, come lay on me.

Ceil: [Lays on Lee] We [yawn] slept in, we showered and then set out on an adventure… and wound up at Pait a Pain! But we had jambon et buerre, and more Orangina. We went to a patisserie… but ordered the same favorites… croissants and pain chocolat.

Miles: We went on a trolley.

Ceil: We went on the train that Andy snubbed. It was a wonderful introduction to the history of Bourges. We loved it.

I heard that you all fell asleep.

Ceil: Yes… it was an hour ride, after a long lunch – we finished lunch at 1pm and the next ride was 2:15p so we played in the park, and got on the train at 2:15. We answered all the train driver’s questions in French. We got our headphones, got situated and we were ready to go. The trolley was full.

And… you fell asleep?

Ceil: and we saw… what did we learn, Miles?

Miles: There was a fire in 1949 and it was called Madeline because it happened on Madeline Day…

Ceil: It wasn’t 1949… wasn’t it 1449?

Miles: Whatever.

And the sleep?

Ceil: Well we did fall asleep around 3p or so. The kids were leaning on me, and I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

Miles: I had my head on your shoulder because I was trying to look out the window.

Ceil: and then we had a long walk home which picked us up. No naps for us. I watched the last 20 minutes of “Ya Ya Sisterhood” in French on TV. I understood the word “ya ya” – that was it. And then I went for a walk – I wanted to go to the bank to exchange money. That’s what the hotel recommended. But they were closed.

Question #8) Any plans for tomorrow?

Ceil: Go back on the trolley? Get up in tome for breakfast. Walk in the gardens and explore the other side of town. We’re going to go to a new place for lunch. We’re looking forward to going to look at houses in Chateaurôux tomorrow night.

Miles, what are your plans for tomorrow

Miles: wake up at a reasonable time… that’s my goal.

What’s reasonable?

Miles: 8am… not twelve thirty.

[Interview draws to a close when the interviewer learns that Lee is hiding in the closet, reportedly, in tears. Hmmm….]