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The temperatures are dropping and believe me when I tell you "Il fait froid dehors!" Our good friends Dave & Claudia Wilson arrived Sunday afternoon with their boys Daxton, Traeden & MacIntyre. They live in Rio de Janero Brazil. It's summer in Brazil right now so they are in shock with the temperatures. We bundled them up and took them to walk around the Chateau. Even the swans are struggling to glide along the water. 
I had a good laugh yesterday while driving through the streets of Fontainebleau. There were a bunch of elfes standing on the sidewalk waving and being silly. My friend Tracie Thomas was in the back seat of my car so I tossed her the camera, slowed and we had a little conversation through the car window with this elfe. This is not a common sight in France. There was no Santa, just elfes. They must be on watch for the naughty and nice list!
Lisa, Muriel, Beth, Tifiny, Tracy, Tracie, Pip
One of my favorite things at Christmas time is to invite my friends over for lunch. This year I invited some of my nouvelles amis. I fixed a few of my traditional American favorites like spiced cider and chocolate cake with peppermint cream. Conversation flowed easily and we all felt like old friends. Everyone went around the table and told about a Christmas tradition in their family. Most chose to share about Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Some fix turkey with mince pies while others have seafood gumbo with potato salad. So goes the diversity. It's wonderful and makes life so fun and interesting. I feel so lucky to have met so many amazing women in my few short months here in France. Joyeux Noël my nouvelles amies!
It was the big Telethon weekend. Every village and city in France had banners, bake-offs and sporting activities to raise money. I think the money is to be sent to help the people in Africa. Our village of Bourron Marlotte had football pour vingt-quatre heures. It was an indoor match that took place in the tennis courts. You had to donate at least 1 euro or more to play. Spencer's friends invited him to join them at 7pm Friday night. He called Taylor at 9pm and asked him to join the group. They played until almost midnight. Saturday Spencer went back for more in the morning and then late afternoon. This was paradise for our soccer junkie!
Olivia and Clara stirred up a little Christmas fun Saturday with an echange d'ornement party. We fixed a big pasta dinner, played some fun Christmas games and the girls each took home a new ornament. These ornaments will definitely remind the girls of their Christmas in France. We are learning about all kinds of Christmas traditions throughout the world. When one father came to pick up his daughter he said, "It's so fun to have North Americans here to celebrate American style." There is a fun French tradition regarding "ornements". Père Noël hangs foil covered chocolate ornaments on the tree Christmas Eve. We hope he finds our tree this year.
The past couple of weeks there has been a feeling of tristesse when you walk the streets of Fontainebleau. Two tragic accidents involving children from the local high school and junior high have made us all think how fragile life is. Last week felt like the heavens were weeping. There would be cloud burst after cloud burst. Every glimpse of light brings hope. I happened to be downtown on the day of a funeral for one boy. The street in front of the church was a sea of black. Teenagers crying, parents comforting. The most thought provoking sight for me was this young mans football (soccer) club who had gathered together with their jerseys tied around their necks and they were all carrying white roses. Grief really is universal.
We had been waiting for three months for visitors to come. They all came at once and our house was hopping with fun, food and conversation. Our Salt Lake City neighbors Steve and Ingunn Earl arrived the day after my sister. It was so fun to see them and to show them around our village. We had a big raquellette dinner (I'll give details about this delicious cheese another time) with all our guests and it felt like a big family party.
Here we are at our favorite creperie. When you plan your visit to France plan on eating a LOT of really good food! Thanks for coming Earls. We hope you come again and bring your kids next time.
La Tour Eiffel de nuit is beautiful! We saved this for the grand finale of our girls day in Paris. The metro stop was out of service so we had to do some extra walking to get there. We arrived at dusk and stood in line for about 30 minutes. It was a grand surprise when the lights started blinking all over the tower. They go off for 10 minutes every hour. We were lucky enough to see them go off twice. 
Clara has been waiting and waiting for the opportunity to see la Tour Eiffel de nuit. We promised her that when our first visitors arrived she could go with them. At the top while enjoying the view she threw her arms around me and said, "I just love you Mom! This is the best night ever!" Those words made the night perfection for me. On the walk back to the metro Clara whispered a poem she had made up while standing on la Tour Eiffel:
The Eiffel Tower at night is such a beautiful sight!
Especially when the lights are blinking
and everyone is thinking
How lucky they are to be there at night.
By Clara Jane Randall age 8
I had a good laugh yesterday while driving through the streets of Fontainebleau. There were a bunch of elfes standing on the sidewalk waving and being silly. My friend Tracie Thomas was in the back seat of my car so I tossed her the camera, slowed and we had a little conversation through the car window with this elfe. This is not a common sight in France. There was no Santa, just elfes. They must be on watch for the naughty and nice list!
It was a cold cold day for the International school Marche Noël. All of the kids had to sit on the freezing pavement in the school yard for Christmas Carols performed by Clara's little choral group. Afterwards they were rewarded with free hot chocolate. There were all kinds of baked good and Christmas decor for sale. The kids were happy even if they were freezing. Nothing like a little Christmas spirit to keep you warm on the inside.
Taylor and I escaped to Paris for a day of Lèche-vitrine. We had hoped to find a few little items for Christmas gifts, but mostly we just wanted to wander around this amazing city and enjoy the ambiance of of the holiday season.
Presentation is a big deal in France. From homework, to cooking to Christmas decorations outside the shops Parisians KNOW how to make things look elegant!
One of Taylor's students from INSEAD knew we were going to Paris for the day. He insisted that we go to Angelina's for a breakfast snack. After getting off the train we headed straight there. It was worth it! Incredible hot chocolate. One of our guide books mentioned their hot chocolate, but said it was so rich you shouldn't order it before noon. That was no concern to us. Bon Appetite!
The dried fruit here at Christmas time is amazing! They have an enormous variety and it's just beautiful. Terribly expensive though. 
I wanted to buy these pears to give the kids for the first day of Christmas. I changed my mind when I realized that 49,95 euros was like $75 for two pounds!
Lisa, Muriel, Beth, Tifiny, Tracy, Tracie, Pip
Marching off to enjoy the sights of our neighboring village of Grez sur Loing.
The geese were thrilled to eat our day old baguette. Grez is a very sleepy town with a magnificent view along the water.
It was the big Telethon weekend. Every village and city in France had banners, bake-offs and sporting activities to raise money. I think the money is to be sent to help the people in Africa. Our village of Bourron Marlotte had football pour vingt-quatre heures. It was an indoor match that took place in the tennis courts. You had to donate at least 1 euro or more to play. Spencer's friends invited him to join them at 7pm Friday night. He called Taylor at 9pm and asked him to join the group. They played until almost midnight. Saturday Spencer went back for more in the morning and then late afternoon. This was paradise for our soccer junkie!
Olivia and Clara stirred up a little Christmas fun Saturday with an echange d'ornement party. We fixed a big pasta dinner, played some fun Christmas games and the girls each took home a new ornament. These ornaments will definitely remind the girls of their Christmas in France. We are learning about all kinds of Christmas traditions throughout the world. When one father came to pick up his daughter he said, "It's so fun to have North Americans here to celebrate American style." There is a fun French tradition regarding "ornements". Père Noël hangs foil covered chocolate ornaments on the tree Christmas Eve. We hope he finds our tree this year.
The past couple of weeks there has been a feeling of tristesse when you walk the streets of Fontainebleau. Two tragic accidents involving children from the local high school and junior high have made us all think how fragile life is. Last week felt like the heavens were weeping. There would be cloud burst after cloud burst. Every glimpse of light brings hope. I happened to be downtown on the day of a funeral for one boy. The street in front of the church was a sea of black. Teenagers crying, parents comforting. The most thought provoking sight for me was this young mans football (soccer) club who had gathered together with their jerseys tied around their necks and they were all carrying white roses. Grief really is universal.
We had been waiting for three months for visitors to come. They all came at once and our house was hopping with fun, food and conversation. Our Salt Lake City neighbors Steve and Ingunn Earl arrived the day after my sister. It was so fun to see them and to show them around our village. We had a big raquellette dinner (I'll give details about this delicious cheese another time) with all our guests and it felt like a big family party.
Here we are at our favorite creperie. When you plan your visit to France plan on eating a LOT of really good food! Thanks for coming Earls. We hope you come again and bring your kids next time.
La Tour Eiffel de nuit is beautiful! We saved this for the grand finale of our girls day in Paris. The metro stop was out of service so we had to do some extra walking to get there. We arrived at dusk and stood in line for about 30 minutes. It was a grand surprise when the lights started blinking all over the tower. They go off for 10 minutes every hour. We were lucky enough to see them go off twice. 
Olivia, Clara and I joined the Oohh Laaa Laaa Ladies for a filles jour. We drove to the closest metro stop in Paris and bought a day pass. The metro took us all over town. We started at the flea market. There were so many treasures, trinkets and junk it made our hearts leap! It was lunch by the time we finished shopping so we headed for the Champs Elysses. We had heard that Pauls Bakery was the best and it was! Somehow we managed to get the only table in the bakery. The raspberry tart was so delicious it's making my mouth water just thinking about it. 
With our tummies full we marched right up the street to the Arc de Triumph. It was a clear day and the view was awesome. Olivia had been looking forward to seeing the round about at the base of the Arc. Apparently it is the largest one in France with 10 different entrances. Traffic was crazy. Kind of like this picture that I can't seem to manipulate in the right direction. Does anyone have an idea of how to fix this problem?
Christmas trees, lights and decorations adorned the streets of Paris. We were there on the 2nd of December. However, just like America they have had Christmas items in the stores since October. It was wonderful to get in the Christmas spirit with my sister. 
It's a lucky day when you live thousands of miles from home and you get visitors. My soeur Valene made the journey to France with 3 of her good friends...they call themselves the "Oohh Laaa Laaa Ladies" (I think that's their favorite French phrase!) It was just awesome to see a familiar face and to catch up with ma soeur. With 17 years between the two of us you would never know. We love to talk, sing and laugh together. Valene offered to bring me a few items from home. It took her a 50 pound suitcase to haul everything over. The euro is so bad right now that it's cheaper to have someone buy items in the US and bring them over. Did we ever think the US dollar would be worth so little? We got things from instant oatmeal to contact lens solution AND my new camera arrived! It was like an early Christmas for the kids. They practically made themselves sick eating Reeses peanut butter cups & fun fruit snacks.
Ma soeur is a little crazy...just like this photo. I have no idea how to get it straight. 
It was just a bonus that Valene brought Mary, Karlan & Marilyn along. the kids fell in love with ALL of them. Lilly gave them each nick-names: Oreo, corn on the cob, bouquet of flowers and popcorn.
We played lots of games during their visit. Marilyn taught the girls how to play "Phase 10". It has become the game to play before bed. Karlan bought "Labyrinth" for the kids and they have really enjoyed learning the strategy to win!
