Ritual
The Dandoy Saga – 2
This summer, Maison Dandoy takes you to sunny Marseille for a saga in four episodes.
The beach & the shortbread puzzle
Once wide awake, everyone gets ready for a trip to the beach.
Hélène takes back the breakfast leftovers to the kitchen. Noah fetches some blankets for the picnic from the cupboards upstairs, and Aurélia piles the beach towels in a wicker basket.
‘Has anyone seen the cool box?’ Diego yells from the kitchen.
‘Oh, look, we could take the madeleines that Léa has brought back,’ Jean suggests
‘What madeleines?’ Léa asks, laughing.
Jean winks at her, as if letting her know he can't be deceived, and Léa bursts into laughter. Is it a prank they are all playing on her?
‘It's cute that you thought of bringing little treats,’ says Noémie while passing by with the parasols.
Léa has nothing to do with all this, and she is left with a new mystery on her hands. Fortunately, the others take care of carrying the rest and putting everything in the trunk. Everyone piles into the minivan they rented for the vacation.
Noah complains because the car's Bluetooth doesn't work and they always end up listening to a Céline Dion compilation that Diego picked up at a gas station on the highway.
He had proudly held up his find, saying:
‘Who knew you could still find Compact Discs?’
‘Absolutely no one,’ Noah had grumbled, already not thrilled at the idea of having to endure with Céline's greatest hits.
Diego asks the assembly which tune they should begin the journey with today. Hélène shouts: "If that's what it takes!!!"
‘It's your daughter asking Noah…’ Diego says with a big smile.
Everyone instantly starts singing:
When the storm rises up, when the shadows descend
Every beat of my heart, every day without end
Every second I live, that's the promise I make
Baby, that's what I'll give, if that's what it takes
If that's what it takes
‘What it takes is a lot of patience,’ Noah says.
‘We love going on vacation with you too!’ Aurélia laughs from the back seat.
Once in the Bains des dames parking lot, they fetch the blankets from the trunk to lay out the picnic on the beach. Halfway there, Léa notices a square box which was not in her bag when she put it in the car. She opens it. It’s full of shortbreads. She shakes her head, at once amused and in disbelief.
Of course, there is a little note:
Easy to crumble, I'm a one-bite cookie, but I quite like to linger.
PS: There's a surprise waiting for you on the beach.
Lea smiles and starts running.