Today we stayed in Marennes as it was Baptism day for Ethan.
Thierry, Mia, Ethan & Benjamin. Yoyo, Delphine & Kylian
Evelyne, Rene, Laura & Lulu Grandparents & Grandchildren
There was a total of four children being baptized today. Ethan, Laura, a baby and a Basque toddler were baptized in a joint ceremony. This is a very important event so there are a lot of the Basque community here today. They are all in the red berets, red scarves, white shirts and pants that is worn for big ceremonies. They are very colorful. And all of Thierry’s family are all decked out in their finest.
The baptism itself is quite an event. The priest is close to retiring and has been with the church for some 30 years. Even though I didn’t know what he was saying during the baptism just his mannerisms and tone of his voice was very pleasant. He lead everyone along a procession through several cubicles. In each cubicle he would read from a bible or lead everyone through chants. Then in one of the last cubicles a Basque mother, who had just married yesterday sang. It was all so neat to be a part of this.
All of the kids being baptized except the baby were so apprehensive about what was going to be done to them. But they all behaved very well, considering.
And when the actual baptism happened they all cried as their heads were doused with the sacred water.
Once this was all done the four families went into the priest’s office to sign the baptism papers and Ethan was allowed to push the button to sound the bells. It was hard to accomplish this with both fingers stuck in his ears but he managed, then found he couldn’t hear them inside anyway.
After the baptism we went outside the church when a small marching band came around the side of the church playing.
And the party began. The four men whom I think were mainly for the Basque family had a drum, a tuba, a trumpet and I believe a French horn. They were really pretty ragtag but rather entertaining. People had even opened their shutters across the street and leaning on the sill watching the festivities. It was pretty cool, even the littlest kids were dancing to the music.
With the patriarch of Thierry's family watching the festivities.
After this we all went to have lunch at a restaurant near the beach which is owned by one of Rene’s cousins. We had a large room where about 30 of us had a very long lunch. Wes had a steak and I had cuttlefish. The cuttlefish was good but there was just so much food. The lunch must have lasted a good 3 hours with much talking and continual eating.
Both Ethan and Laura opened their presents and at the end they had a special table brought in with their names printed on a type of a large cookie and a couple of cakes. 
This is Stephane & Rose Marie who sat next to us at the lunch.
Luckily there was a nice grassy area as most of the kids became pretty restless during this long meal so they all went out to play while the grownups stayed inside.
After we were finally done we all left and headed back home.
Later in the day we drove ourselves to
the marina and back down the road that went near the beach.
There were canals along the road that had boats stranded in the muddy banks until the tide came back in again. 
Along another small road we found a small lake where there were a lot of white egrets. They would fly in and out and several would get upset with each other when they got too close. This would cause the egrets to fluff out their feathers to where they looked almost hairy, then they would jump up and down while flapping their wings at each other. Sometimes they would actually jump completely over each other. It was quite a sight.
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