Je parle mieux que lui

I got a call from the woman at the Mairie (city hall) yesterday.  She was trying to tell me something about my Carte de Sejour (residency permit.)  Unfortunately, I didn't understand her very well.  When I asked for clarification, she said, "Never mind.  I'll call your husband.  He speaks better French than you do."  WHAT?

Same thing from Gaius' teacher.  When Gaius first started school, it was a bit of an adjustment.  His teacher asked if Christopher and I could come in for a little chat.  Sure, no problem.  When we got to the meeting, this is what she said.  "I wanted to have both you and your husband here because I think that maybe your husband's French is a little bit better than yours."  HUH?

IT'S THE ACCENT, PEOPLE!  It's true.  Christopher has a fantastic French accent.  But let me just make it clear, here and now:  I speak better French than he does.  Although he is gaining on me.

Christopher has been learning French only for about 6 months.  In that short amount of time, he has learned a lot.  When we are out and about the town, Christopher speaks only French.  No one ever thinks that Christopher is an American.  Maybe it's the striped shirts.  No, strike that.  It's the accent.

see how he blends in?

Christopher's accent may be good, but it's Gaius who has the best French accent.  Everything he learns at school is spoken with a perfect French accent.  All the French he learns at home sounds like crap.

So, to set the record straight:

BEST FRENCH ACCENT:  Gaius
BEST AT TYPING FRENCH ACCENTS:  Christopher
BEST FRENCH SPEAKER: Yours Truly

à bientôt

Come on baby, light my fire (literally)

Today, Gaius and I headed out to Orsay to attend a playdate at the home of one of the Message Paris parents in our area.  The kids played, made a craft, and overall had a fun time.  At the playdate, the kids were allowed to handle all of the items below except for one.  Can you guess which one?

 crafting supplies: tea light, scissors, push pins, matches (cigarette not included)

As I watched Gaius and Ayoub striking matches to light the little tealights, I wondered if I would ever see something like this in America.  Three and five year old kids just don't get the opportunity to light matches back at  home.  Was it the safest situation?  Not 100%.  Did someone get hurt?  Actually, yes, but not seriously.  Now they both have a proper respect for matches!

When we were in Denmark, Gilles taught Gaius how to start a fire in the fireplace.  Every step, from gathering the wood, to crumpling up the newspaper, to lighting the fire.  In fact, Gaius started a fire from scratch one day when we should have been watching but were not.

How often do I think "he's too young" or "that's not safe" when actually that's not the case at all?  Am I guilty of being a hovering helicopter parent?

I've eased up a bit since we moved to France.  It's like the 1970's here.  I see elementary school aged kids walking to and from school without an adult present.  Kids get to ride their bikes through the town.  I see little kids riding scooters on the sidewalks and streets of Paris.  Gaius is one of them!   I'm not saying that things are better or worse here.  Just different.

I've been reading about these "Classe Verte" overnight discovery trips that kids often take in preschool (and the older kids do too).  Did you know that preschool aged children take class trips lasting several days (and nights) with no parental contact whatsoever?  Overnight trips with no phone calls home.  No emails, no nothing.  You drop off your 3, 4 or 5 year old and see them four days later.  At first I was horrified.  Now, not so much.  If we are here when this trip rolls around, I might just sign Gaius up.

Vive la différence!

à bientôt!

Monsieur le Maire (the Mayor)/TMI

We had an opportunity on Saturday to meet the mayor of Gif-sur-Yvette.  He was giving a bus tour of the city for all of the newcomers, like us.  Isn't that nice?

Disclaimer:  Many of you might think that the following story contains TMI (too much information) and you are right.  It's just that I haven't updated this blog in awhile, and this is a pretty funny story.

While Jackie and Tony were here visiting with us, we ate out a lot.  Wining and dining.  Cocktails.  Fun!  Normally, I have a cast iron stomach, and I am as regular as a German train, Swiss watch, or something else that is really regular.  Insert your own metaphor simile here.  Let's just say, the situation was not normal.  That being the case, for a couple of days after they left town, I ate a lot of prunes.  With no result.

The day of the bus tour, I went out for lunch with Gaius at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant.  I dipped into that spicy sauce they gave us with our "eggrolls" many, many times.  It was very spicy and very good. Then, immediately following that, Christopher got the bright idea for us to go out for espresso right before the bus tour.

So, we drank our coffee.  We got our seats on the bus, ready for the tour of Gif.  The mayor gets up in front of everyone and (in French) says "This will be a two hour bus tour.  There is no bathroom on board.  We will not be making any stops."  He didn't actually say that, but that was the general message as I understood it.  I can confirm that there was no bathroom on board.  I looked over my shoulder to check for one at least five times.  All of a sudden, the prunes, the Vietnamese hot sauce and the espresso made a great big lurching sound in my stomach.  I was a little worried.

I waited for the mayor to stop and take a breath.  I grabbed Gaius by the arm and made motions that should have indicated to everyone that I was getting off the bus with my kid because there was no way GAIUS could handle sitting on a two hour bus ride.

Then, we came back two hours later to pick up Christopher and we all headed to the cocktail party which followed the bus tour.  That's when we met the Mayor.  :)

Monsieur le Maire and Christophe

Gaius loves cocktail parties

I should also say that the mayor remembered me as the one who left the bus.  He said, "You're back!"  He also mentioned something about it being understandable that Gaius was not able to handle sitting on the bus for so long.  If it weren't for this post, my reputation would be intact (in tact).  I hate bathroom humor.

à bientôt!

Jour de Cadeau (Gift Day)

Every month, since March 2003 (that's before we were married!), Christopher and I have celebrated our own special holiday, one we call Gift Day.  We have a box at home in Virginia, filled with 31 little slips of paper, numbered 1 thru 31, all folded up.  Each month on Gift Day, we pull a number for the following month.  I brought those little pieces of paper with me to France in a little red velvet bag.  Last month on Gift Day, after we exchanged gifts, we picked a number out of the bag and got a "10."  That means that this month, Gift Day was celebrated on the 10th of November, and the maximum we were allowed to spend on each other was 10€.

I've had these little slips of paper for over 7 years

What can you get for 10€?

yummy french pastries (from CDN to me)

yummy italian panettone (from me to him)

I keep a journal of all of the gifts we have exhanged over the years.  I list the date and the gifts we exchanged.  If you happen to be visiting us on Gift Day, we just might give you a present, too!  Sometimes Gaius gets to participate, but most of the time, he is left out.  It's our holiday and we make the rules.

Rules:  The number you pick is the date for the following month as well as the maximum amount in dollars/euros/kronor/yen you are allowed to spend.  We can't give each other junk.  Tax and shipping are not included in the amount you spend.  You can spend as much or as little as you want,  as long as you don't go over the maximum for that month.  The amount you spend has to reflect the local currency of where you are, or where you were shopping.  For instance, I was pretty excited when we pulled a "29" for September.  But, as it turns out, we happened to be in both Denmark and in France on Gift Day (it was a travel day).  In Denmark, 29 kronor is the equivalent of about 4€, or $5.  We ended up spending the kronor.  You can get nice gifts for 29 kronor/4€/$5!

In all the time we have been celebrating gift day, we have never picked 11.  I keep a running tally.  And, I check every year or so to make sure that all the numbers are in play.  SCANDAL ALERT!  I just counted the little slips of paper and one was missing!  Number 2!  We have not pulled a 2 since July 2010, which means it has been out of play for the last 5 months.  Oops.  Well, it could be worse.  See?  We're really serious about this holiday.  Oh, in case you were wondering, the most frequently picked numbers are 14 and 24.

the new #2

There is a cute little store here in Gif called Gif Souris Verte.  I do a lot of shopping for gift day there.  In October, the date was the 21st and we got some great loot!

Gaius got a cup for his pens

Christopher got a clock that tells him the time and temperature in French

I got this super cute elephant to hold my glasses for me!

My favorite gift day gift was from earlier this year.  Christopher got me a travel bag for my chef knives!  His favorite gift from me was the swim bag I bought him ($8) to take to the pool.  The lowest numbers make the most fun holidays.  On July 2nd, I got an ice cream cone and Christopher got an eraser shaped like a peanut.

We have other traditions in our family, like pancakes on Sunday.  But since we live in France now, we don't do that anymore.  Gift Day is something we will always celebrate, no matter where we live.

I actually pulled a "1" for next month's Gift Day.  Any suggestions?

à bientôt!  

hold your horses

I may or may not have accidentally eaten horse meat the other night.  We were at a brasserie on the Seine near Notre Dame after a long, long day of sight seeing with Sparkle & Pop (my in-laws.)  I was really in the mood for a hamburger.  On the menu, I saw "Hamburger à Cheval" which was described as a hamburger with a fried egg on top.  "Cheval" means horse in French, so I asked the waiter if the dish was made with beef or with horse meat.  "Beef," he clearly said.


When he brought my plate, the burger was just that, a hamburger patty with a fried egg on top.  NO BUN.  No bun?  Really?  According to the Epicurious online food dictionary, a hamburger is supposed to have a bun.

hamburger
1. Said to have made its first appearance at the St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904, the hamburger is one of America's favorite foods. It consists of a cooked patty of ground beef sandwiched between two bread halves, usually in the form of a HAMBURGER BUN. 
Read More

When I asked for a bun, he would not give me one.  That's what got me thinking that he had lied about it being horse meat.  He seemed like the type to lie about something like that, just for kicks.  


Anyway, as it turns out, my suspicions were unfounded.  I did some more internet research and found this:

Other dishes include the “hamburger de cheval” which is NOT a burger made from horse meat.   It is a hamburger with a fried egg on top and is so named because the egg is deemed to be “the rider” of the horse!

What a relief!  Anyway, I tried another burger when we went out for lunch yesterday in Paris.  Let's just say that there is a reason the French are not known for their burgers.  Next time, I'll stick with the French Onion Soup!

cruise on the Seine 30 minutes before eating "horse"

horsing around

galloping gourmets

à bientôt!

What's on TV?

Since we arrived in France, we don't watch as much TV as we used to.  Actually, I should say that Gaius doesn't watch as much TV as he used to.  I am managing to stay up-to-date with Dexter, Survivor, Amazing Race, Top Chef Just Desserts and the Next Iron Chef.   Sad, I know.  What can I say?  I'm addicted to Reality TV.


I only watch one French show.  It's called Un Dîner Presque Parfait (almost perfect dinner).  It's the French version of a show I used to watch back home called Dinner Takes All, which was actually the American version of an original British show called Come Dine With Me.  I just found out from Magda that there is one more show I might like called "Master Chef France."  I think it might be like a French Top Chef, which would be really, really great!


In addition to these shows, we have the DVDs that we brought with us. DVDs are great because since I hooked up Gaius' DVD player we can watch our DVDs on the BIG TV.  I love the TV that came with our house.  It's HUGE.  We have to buy one of these when we get home.  It's a wide screen and really fancy and mounted on the wall.

Gaius watching Dora

Because the DVDs in France are coded as Region 2, we cannot play them on our DVD player or on our computers.  It's not as though we can walk into our local store and buy a DVD and watch it (because of the zoning issues).  And, I don't really feel my luck will hold out if I try to de-zone our player as has been suggested by those braver and more savvy than me.  Luckily, I found Zone 1 DVDs (coded for USA and Canada) available online at Amazon.uk and Amazon.fr.  I bought Deadwood (season one) and Firefly (the entire series.)  What a luxury it has been to watch TV programs on the big screen!


Since we arrived here, Gaius watches an average of 2 hours of TV per week.  This is a drastic reduction from what he was watching back home.  He watches mostly cartoons here, all in French.  Right now, he's watching DORA THE EXPLORER, which is very helpful for learning French.  His favorite show here is actually Woody Woodpecker. Isn't that funny?  I guess you can't beat the classics!


Instead of watching TV, he spends most of his time drawing.  When he isn't drawing, he's playing with the iPad.  Mostly, he looks up images of his favorite characters on Google and then draws them.  His drawing skills are just amazing. I wonder if his drawing would have improved so much had we stayed at home in Virginia where he watches so much TV.  When we get back, we are definitely putting some limits on his viewing habits.

Drawing Notre Dame

the cutest Jessie ever 

electro

big chill

iron man is a tough guy`

before...

after... ultimate big chill

ultimate echo echo

à bientôt!