home again

I thought I would update our friends and relatives here and in France once we got settled into a routine back here at home.  We arrived home on May 14th.  In the three weeks since we've been back, we've done a lot!

First of all, the big news is that Gaius has enrolled in Kindergarten at Matthew Whaley Elementary School, which is right down the street from our house.  In fact, the distance between school and our home is about the same distance between the school and our home in France.

kindergarten classroom

at his locker on career day

Gaius attends school from 9:05-3:50 each day.  He has only 30 minutes for lunch, followed by one recess outside.  Very different from his school in Gif where lunch lasted two hours and they played outside three times a day!

In other news, we have a new car!  This car is pretty small.  Right now, my parents are visiting with us.  If we all want to go someplace together, Christopher meets us there on his bike because the car only seats four people!

my new car

Our local pool just opened up.  They had an ice cream social for all of the families involved with the swim team.  Gaius will swim for the Manta Rays this summer!

Nathan, Gaius & Annie

swim practice

Gaius rides his bike to the pool

We really miss our friends in France, just like we missed our friends in Williamsburg!  We have had a lot of fun catching up with all of our friends and visiting our regular haunts.

Gaius w/ Kristen from the farm stand.  She gave him a bell pepper plant for show and tell

Gaius & Phil from the Wine Seller

Captain Jack Sparrow and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean & noticed this sign

I took a cooking class on French Bistro Foods in my neighborhood

Believe it or not, Gaius turns 6 tomorrow!  Here is a link to the slideshow of pictures taken at his birthday party, which had a D-Day theme.  Click Here:  D-Day Birthday Party

Even more enjoyable is the video of the obstacle course from the party.  Enjoy!



à bientôt!

au revior

leaving Gif-sur-Yvette

à bientôt!

lost and found, packing it all

For our Christmas in Paris last winter, Christopher gave me a diamond wedding band as a present.  Here in France, they call the ring an alliance.  Until that point, I had been using my engagement ring as my wedding band.  Anyhoo, this afternoon, I dropped my new ring on the kitchen floor, a diamond popped out and I could not find it anywhere.  With one more day left in France, I did not think this would have a happy ending.

Can you believe that Christopher found the diamond?  He was on his hands and knees (as was I) searching in a grid pattern, systematically eliminating all possible hiding places.  He would make a good CSI.

So, as I said, we have one more full day left in Paris and will head back home on Saturday morning.  I've discovered that the problem with being organized is that I was packed way too far in advance.  This means I've spent all of my "down time" packing and unpacking my suitcase.

I've already sent home 50 pounds of loot with John Hayes who was conveniently traveling to Williamsburg, Virginia from Paris!  Luckily, my mom left me a big empty suitcase to fill up and send home with him!

When we arrived in France, we came with 3 checked suitcases, two carry on suitcases and mailed ourselves two boxes of books.  That's like 7 items.

Leaving France, we are mailing home 7 boxes.  At 7 kg per box, that is a total of about 100 pounds of things sent back home through the mail.  Leaving Europe to go to the US, they allow each traveler two checked bags.  And so, we will be bringing back with us the following:

2 carry on suitcases filled with french dishes.  I fell in love with the huge coffee bowls they use at home here for le petit déjeuner.  I think I am bringing home about 60 lb. of dishes.  This includes the ugly ones I found by the glass recycling bins in town.  They are hideous.  We call them the "Margaritaville" dishes because they have a huge parrot on them and are just ridiculous.  I love them and intend to have them for the rest of my life.

One huge black duffle bag that was left behind by my U. Genne & A. Bernadette.  This is a magic bag.  Inside, I have packed our 3 ft. tall Eiffel Tower, a huge european style pillow and all of Gaius' action figures.  The bag knows no limits.  I just keep stuffing more and more things into it and it is never completely full.  Amazing!

One box, filled with Gaius' trottinette (scooter) and a French Scrabble game.

Gaius, Christopher and I each have one big suitcase each for our clothes.  And I think that's it.

My personal item (carry on) in lieu of a purse is my panier (shopping basket for marché).  I'm worried that they will reject this at the gate.  I might have to cause an international scene.

Left to pack:  One huge Spiderman punching bag with boxing gloves and wine, wine, wine, wine, wine, wine, wine.  Wish me luck.

à bientôt!

you're going to miss me a lot

What do I say to all of my new friends here in France to let them know how I feel?


"You're going to miss me!"  Actually, what I say is "Vous allez me manquer."  To me, that sounds like "you're going to miss me" but in actuality, it means the reverse, or "I'm going to miss you."  Really.


Before I moved to France, I would daydream that I'd actually find a really great girlfriend here, and we would have so much in common and have lots of fun together.  That it would be really sad when I left France because I would miss my new BFF (best french friend).  Well, it actually happened!  Meet Magda:

Magda

I'm so lucky to have a friend like Magda.  She's a foodie!  And we like all of the same things!  I finally found someone who, when I need it, actually has a spare jar of tahini on hand.  How's that for friend perfection?  I met Magda while shopping for rain boots for Gaius.  She overheard me speaking French with an American accent and came up to me, introduced herself and said, "We should be friends!"  And, we are!  Magda, you're really going to miss me!  Et tu me manques aussi!


Christopher has also made some great friends here.  You may not know this, but each morning, Christopher eats about 1 kilo (2 pounds) of fruit for breakfast.  What better friend for him than Guillaume, who sells fruit!  We love Guillaume, he's the best.  And if you are looking for someone to do some graphic design work for you, he's your man!

Guillaume

 Christopher and Guillaume met the old fashioned way... at the fruit stand!

how they met

Gaius has also made some really great friends here.  One of his favorites is Gilles, Christopher's boss.  With Gilles, Gaius has learned how to build a fire in the fireplace and use a lighter.  Gilles gave Gaius a two wheeler bike to ride here in France, and now he can drive without training wheels!  Gaius and Gilles will be life long friends.

Gaius and Gilles building a fire in Denmark

Gaius' favorite food is Gilles' lasagne

We were really lucky to pick a place to live with such great neighbors.  Having friends like François & Thien, Mylène & Jean right next door has been the best.  They have shared many traditions with us and celebrated many french holidays with us.  Ils nous manquerons!  (We're going to miss them!)

Fan-Fan & Thien

Mylène & Jean

Our friends have not been limited to the two legged variety.  Meet Elliot.  

Elliot

He lives with Mylène and Jean up the hill.  He and Gaius play all the time, mostly ball.  During the day, when Gaius is at school, Elliot comes by to see if he is at home.  Elliot is the best dog in the world, definitely "boy's best friend"!

"Can Gaius come out and play?" 

There are many more people whom we've met and shared really great times with here.  There's still time, 4 days left!  Hopefully, we'll be able to have more fun with you before we leave.  


Vraiment, vous allez nous manquer.  (You're really going to miss us.)  I mean, oh, you know what I mean!


à bientôt!


P.S. Christopher just mentioned to me that another reason Guillaume is the perfect friend for him is the fact that he is the only other person in France who also regularly wakes up at 4 am!

anatomy of a french dinner

I thought I knew what to expect when I was invited for dinner in a french home. Isn't it the same as in the US?  Come at 7:00, hors d'oeuvres before the meal, dinner, dessert, coffee, au revoir.  Right?  Not exactly.


The first time we were invited over to a french home, it was for an apéritif, which I thought meant a quick drink with an hors d'oeuvre or two.  I found out later that what I was actually invited to was an apéritif dinatoire.  What I was told at my French Conversation group (after the fact) is that an apéritif dinatoire is what you invite someone to if you want to invite them over, but don't want to host an entire dinner for them.  Sort of like when you go on a first date with someone, you meet them for coffee rather than go out to dinner.  To test the waters, I guess.  Anyway, in reality, what I have found is that an apéritif dinatoire is just an excuse to invite someone over and feed them every delicious thing you can imagine that is bite sized, in course after course after course, with champagne and wine in between.  But it's not a dinner.  Because with dinner you get cheese and dessert.

cheese comes near the end of dinner

If you are lucky enough to be invited to a french home for dinner, you are usually invited for 8:00.  That's a lot later than dinner is usually hosted in the States.  Before dinner, they'll often offer you a glass of champagne or wine and maybe some nuts.  After awhile, you'll move over to the dinner table and the first course will be served, also known as the entrée (which, by the way, is not an entree.)  The entrée is often fish, but not always.  If you look around at the end of the first course, you'll notice that every french person has a perfectly clean plate in front of them.  They use their bread to wipe the plate in preparation for the next course.  No one told me about this custom, which by the way, you wouldn't do in a fine restaurant (I've been advised).  If you are not french, like me, and your plate is really dirty, they'll give you a new one for the next course.  And that's okay.  No big deal.  Don't be embarrassed.  Anyway, the second course is usually the plat, what we would call an entrée.  You can clean your plate or not, but get ready because the salad and the cheese are next!  After the salad and cheese comes dessert, which amazingly is called "dessert."  Then coffee or tea, a tisane, or an infusion (which we would also call "tea" even though there is no "tea" in them.)


If you are all having a really great time and if you are not driving, the host will pull out a special bottle of some home made brew that is stronger than you can imagine.  This has happened to us twice.  The first time, our friend Olivier went to a big wooden trunk that looked like a treasure chest and pulled out a round bottle of liquor that looked like it had been sitting on the bottom of the sea.  It was made with pears and it was GREAT!  The second time was with Mylène and Jean at their home in the country.  Jean pulled out a bottle of french gnôle, a 50+ year old prune liquor that was made by Mylène's grandfather.  Check out the bottle!

can you see the hunter with rifle and game in the bottle?

Other Observations
I have never seen a french person get up to go to the restroom at someone else's house.  Never at a dinner party, never at a party, never at french conversation.  Whenever we have people over, Christopher cleans the bathroom in preparation and then says, "The bathroom is now clean so that NO ONE can use it!"


In France, this is what a table setting usually looks like:

french table setting

Notice that the fork is placed tines down.  This is because King Louis XIV was tired of having his lacy cuffs snagged on the forks when he sat down for dinner.  Cool, right?  I always set the table with the tines down now, but Gaius goes to each place setting and flips them over the "english" way.  I have to keep reminding him that he SPEAKS english but is NOT ENGLISH.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.


I hope this has prepared you for the next time you are invited over to a french home for dinner.  (special nod to Jackie, Tony, Bonnie & Ed)


à bientôt!

easter bells

Apparently, the Easter Bunny does not visit children here in France.  I'm not saying that the Easter Bunny does not exist.  No worries.  Of course s/he does.  Just not here in France.  So, no easter basket filled with candy and toys on Easter morning.  Check.


In France, to mourn the death of Christ, the church bells stop ringing on Good Friday.  They say that the bells have flown off to Rome, perhaps to visit with the Pope.  When the bells return on Easter morning, they ring to celebrate Christ's resurrection.  And, they bring chocolate with them.  From Rome.  So, I guess we'll head straight out to the garden on Easter morning to see what chocolate is hidden there.  Cool!

easter bells

It will be very interesting decorating eggs this year.  All of the eggs here are brown.  My American friend Tia mentioned this to me and said she wondered what brown eggs would look like, colored.  I told her the eggs will look just the same, just uglier.


There are no plastic eggs here in France.  Isn't that refreshing?  Of course, I searched and found some plastic ones, filled with Play-Doh.  You know, to hide around the house just for fun.  :)


Also, there is no ham here for Easter dinner.  Sure, they sell ham in France.  But not maple glazed, spiral cut ham.  What they sell here is more like prosciutto.  Or else it is sliced really thin, like for sandwiches.  No whole hams here.  So, I will be making lumpia and an asparagus tart, something like this:

two year old asparagus tart

And, I am contemplating making lamb, although I've never made that before.  If you have an easy recipe, please send it my way!


On Easter, we will be headed into Paris for a Message Paris Easter Egg Hunt.  Since the Easter Bunny does not come here to France, this network of English-speaking parents that I belong to has decided to hide eggs for our kids to find.  It should be a lot of fun!


In honor of Easter, here is the only joke I know in French (which is actually a joke for English speakers):


Qu'est-ce que c'est la Pâques?


C'est une bonne idée.  (Bunny Day, get it???)


à bientôt!

a little more conversation

On Tuesdays and Fridays, I often go to my French Conversation group.  We meet at various homes of the animatrices (facilitators) who volunteer for AVF (Accueil des Villes Françaises).  I usually catch a ride with my friend Esther.  Her daughter, Lise is in the same class with Gaius.  Right after conversation, we rush back to the school together to pick up our kids.

my buddy, Esther

You can meet people from all over the world at Conversation Française.  They come from the Netherlands, Greece, Spain, the Philippines, America, Great Britain, Brazil, Russia, Lithuania, Iran, China, Japan, Australia and Germany... the list goes on and on!

french conversation today

representing the Netherlands, the UK and Greece

new friends

One exciting part about going to French Conversation is that I actually get to see the inside of real French homes.  French bathrooms have the tiniest sinks, about the size of a drinking fountain!  Once, the group was held at the home of someone who had an actual bidet in the powder room.  What's the etiquette for using the bidet at someone's home?  Do you have to be an overnight guest?  Is it there just for show?  It seems like it would be bad form to use it during a meeting of French Conversation.

cute tiny sink #1

my favorite tiny french sink

At French Conversation, they usually serve coffee, tea and pastries.  They also always have actual sugar to serve with the coffee.  I think a lot of people here use sugar rather than the artificial stuff.  They have really cute sugar in France.  Different shapes like hearts, diamonds, clovers (card party, anyone?).  I found these at la Grand Epicerie.  Sugar shaped like the monuments of Paris!

so sweet, but pricey!

pastry spread at French Conversation today

look at the cute sugar cube

I have recently partially achieved a personal goal.  Sometimes, I am able to drink my coffee black.  I've always been somewhat impressed by people who take their coffee black.  I think they get taken more seriously than those who add cream.  Is it just me?  

Sometimes, there are special events at French Conversation.  Once, we had a special tour of a local patisserie.  Another time, we all had a chance to make crepes.

making crepes

Today, we learned about Easter in France and the history of bells.  ???  I know.  You never know what you'll get when you show up to French Conversation!

Going to the group has really improved my French and knowledge of French culture.  If you love holidays, France is the place to be!  It has also been a great way to meet new people.  Heading home back to Williamsburg soon.  Is anyone interested in being in a French Conversation group with me???

à bientôt!

april fish?

My favorite holiday is just around the corner.  April Fools Day!  I've discovered that they do celebrate April Fools day here in France (sort of).  In France, 1 Avril is "Poissons d'Avril" or "April Fish."  I've read that in the 16th Century, the French switched to the Gregorian calendar which celebrates the new year on January 1st.  Before the switch, the French celebrated the new year on April 1st.  Those who did not know about the change in calendar continued to celebrate the new year on April 1st and were ridiculed and called fools.  Or something like that.

Anyway, I'm a little disappointed that the only prank in France on Poissons d'Avril is to tape a fish on someone's back.  It seems a bit limiting to me.  Not much room for creative expression.  I don't think I can deal with that kind of restriction.  I take my April Fools Day pranks quite seriously.  Here are the top hits from years past:

Christopher falls for this one every year, without fail.  Before he goes to bed on March 31st, I usually say, "Good night.  Tomorrow morning, you are going to get shot in the chest with water, but you are going to forget this warning."  And he ALWAYS forgets.  :)

rubber band on the kitchen sink hose

This one is my all time favorite:

no lather: bar of soap painted with clear nail polish

Other favorites include:

I emailed Christopher a broken link to a bogus article which was supposed to recount how one of the cast of "Queer Eye For the Straight Guy" was actually straight.  He then proceeded to scour the internet looking for the "real story."

Short sheeting the bed.  An all-time classic.

filling Gaius' diaper with M&Ms and watching Christopher change him.

Sending Christopher to work with a "hard boiled" egg that was actually raw.

Another one of my favorites is one that Christopher actually played on me:

filling the white wine bottle with water

Did you know that in England, they only play tricks on each other in the morning?  If you play a prank on someone after noon, you'll have bad luck.  I'm so glad I don't live in England!

Anyway, I have plenty up my sleeve this year, but I can't tell you about any of it until after the day.  Hopefully the pranks above will inspire you to "share the love" with your friends and family this Saturday, April 1st.  ;)

à bientôt!

PS- Uncle Glenn, I kindly left out the prank I played on you a couple of years ago.  :)

seven euros

The Omnitrix is broken.  Well, I think the batteries may be dead.  I was able to find two batteries from another toy, which meant that I had to go out and buy one more.  It cost 7€!  I went ahead and bought it.  And you know what?  The stupid Omnitrix still doesn't work.

broken omnitrix

We were out for lunch in Fontainebleau a few weeks ago.  I ordered the steak.  After lunch, I was dying for some dental floss.  I went to la pharmacie next door to the restaurant and guess how much they wanted for a pack of dental floss?  7€  Um, "no, merci."

luckily I brought these to France from Costco!

What costs 7€ in France?
1 gallon of gas (converted from euros and litres to dollars and gallons)
15 baguettes
2 bottles of wine
a coke on the Champs Elysées
a bottle of sparkling wine from the Loire Valley
49 Eiffel Tower keychains
a box of Betty Crocker cake mix
the souvenir bottle of Chambord liqueur that I lost on our trip to the Loire :(

this was not taken on the Champs Elysées!

à bientôt!

allons à la patisserie (let's go to the pastry shop!)

We're waiting for John Hayes to get his butt in gear so we can leave for our weekend trip to the Loire.  HURRY UP!  Anyway, seems like a good time to tell you all about the pastries in France!

We've eaten a lot of pastries since we arrived in France.  And each of us has our favorite dessert.  Gaius likes the chocolate éclaire, previously known as the "chocolate hot dog."  Christopher recently discovered his favorite at Mont Saint-Michel, the tarte citron (lemon tart.)  I like the raspberry tart, or tarte framboise.

clockwise from left:  éclaire chocolat, tarte citron, tarte framboise

The names and styles of each pastry vary from patisserie to patisserie.  For instance, my favorite mid-day pastry is called a Snoopy at the patisserie near the bank in Centre Ville and a Pavé at the place down the street.  I've also seen it sold as a Gourmandise, a Suisse Longue, and a Drop.

"a pastry by any other name would taste as sweet" (william shakespeare)

Gaius likes to snack on the Viennoise au chocolat.  And, it's actually called that wherever you go.

viennoise au chocolat

Believe it or not, Christopher also has a favorite afternoon pastry.  The Sablé.  It's like a sugar cookie.  It comes in plain, almond and raspberry.  He likes all three!

coffee and sablé

We've also come across some pretty special desserts that you can only get at one place.  This one, which I bought in Fontainebleau was fantastic.  I think it was called the Saint Honoré.

Saint Honoré

This Mona Lisa éclaire is from Fauchon, on the Place de la Madeline.  I can't believe I paid 6€ for it.  It wasn't even that good!

mona lisa éclair

The Galette de Rois is only available in January for the Fête des Rois.  It's Christopher's favorite.  I collect the fèves that are hidden inside.

galette des rois

One last one, my favorite cookie, the macaron.  I actually have not eaten very many of these, but they are delicious!

believe it or not, vanilla is my favorite

Just got word that John is on his way.  Okay.  Maybe we should hit a pastry shop on the way.  Who's hungry?


à bientôt!