Le Lac des Cygnes (Swan Lake)

The Kiev National ballet company performed Le Lac des Cygnes last night in Melun. Taylor and I went with the Ponnell's. The Ponnell's do not speak English so it was a good night to practice language skills. The ballet was spectacular. At one point Taylor asked me about the story line. I said we probably should have paid more attention when Lilly was watching "Barbie Swan Lake".

Amitié (Friendship)

Real "amitié" lasts a lifetime. Lisa Pace is one of my dearest life-long friends. We met when we were 15. Back in the day we were silly high school girls always scheming for adventure. Our lives have changed a lot since then, but we still have a wonderful time no matter what we do or where we are. Considering we were in Paris to celebrate our 40th birthdays I think we definitely know how to live it up! Saturday morning we took the 6:30am train and tried to find some new flea markets in Paris. We found flea markets, but most of them were swarming with fleas...after a couple of hours and several subway rides we opted for the "tourist traps". We both loves art and Lisa knows so much about it. I loved visiting the Louvre with her and being taught a little art history along the way. Since it was just the two of us we moved fast. We were able to see a lot of the Louvre and the Impressionist section at the Musee de Orsay, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower at night, the Opera House, walk along the Seine AND we had a great break at Angelina's for that famous hot chocolate. Were we tired by the end of the day? Maybe, but given the chance I think we'd do it all over again. Thanks for visiting Lisa. Here's to more of life's adventures in the coming years!

Le Concert

Last Friday night Olivia, Clara and Lilly performed with the "In Tune" anglophone choir. All proceeds went to help fund an orphanage in Russia. Le concert was held in a beautiful old protestant church in the center of Fontainebleau. There were candles lit throughout the church and each performing child wore a real rose. During the songs they showed slides of the orphans and their school. It was humbling to be reminded of the comfortable circumstances in which we are privileged to live.

Valentines Day

They might not celebrate Valentines Day in France the way we do in the USA, but that didn't stop us from having a "red banner day!"
Lisa Pace, one of my best friends all the way back to high school days arrived today for a week long visit. While Taylor and Spencer were gone to football practice we had a great Valentine dinner with just the girls. Lisa's suitcase was packed with all kinds of candy and goodies from home. I used the assortment of candy to make a candy bar poster for each of the kids.

I tried to make mousse au chocolate for a Valentine dessert. I made two different attempts, but didn't really succeed. Luckily Taylor didn't mind. He just scooped it straight from the mixing bowl. Happy Valentines Day!

Le gui (Mistletoe)

I know "le gui" is usually something you think about at Christmas time. However, on this sunny Valentines day I couldn't help but stop and photograph all of the mistletoe hiding in these trees. After all, this is a day of hugs and "kisses". I wished I could have climbed up the tree to grab a little snippet to hang in our doorway. It's not really needed in France though. Upon greeting a close friend and sometimes a perfect stranger you find yourself being "kissed" on each cheek with a typical French greeting. It has taken us a couple of months to know for certain that the clumps of green growing amongst the trees is actually mistletoe. At Christmas time you could find HUGE bunches of it for sale in the open air markets. Yet another perk of living alongside a great forest of trees.

Tennis

Tuesday is tennis. Clara and Olivia are taking a class with the Reed children. Considering that our girls were total beginners they have really progressed in just a few short months. Each one can hit the ball back and forth over the net and they are learning how to give a mean serve. Tennis lessons in France are subsidized by the government. For us, this means a years worth of lessons at only 90 euro a piece. The French want to make sure their people know and love the game of tennis. The French Open is after all... French.

Ma Petite Fille (My Little Girl)

Ma petite fille Lilly is growing up. It's easy to see just by looking at her. Because she is the youngest she is a bit more "grown-up" in her interests. She has been begging and begging me to get her some deodorant. I guess deodorant is better than make-up right? She has two unusual interests right now. First, she is addicted to "Webkinz". This is a virtual computer game that allows her to take care of her pink poodle Molly online. We had to set a 20 minute a day maximum on her "computer time" because she was constantly throwing a fit if anyone else needed the computer. Second, she is in love with the movie High School Musical 2. She watches it in French, but all of the songs are sung in English. Lilly loves the music. She is often heard around our house singing, "5, 6, 7, 8, na na na na YOU are the music in ME!"

This little four year old fireball is the music in all of us. Her ability to draw detailed pictures, learn her letters, make up fantastic imagination games, dance, sing, be silly and yet warm and cozy with her hugs pulls our entire family together. She has definitely amazed us with her ability to learn a multitude of French words said with a perfect accent. We love Lilly and don't want her to grow up, yet we are excited to see her talents develop and her little life unfold before our very eyes. She tells us everyday that she is going to be a zoo keeper, an artist and a lady who takes care of children in an orphanage. Keep the dream alive Lilly! We are cheering you on.

Pain Perdu (French Toast)

What our family calls French toast the French call "pain perdu". Literally this means lost bread. You know, the old, stale, "lost" bread finds new life when soaked in eggs, milk & vanilla and then it's fried in butter. Are your taste buds waking up? We like to make our pain perdu using sliced brioche (a sweet bread sold in all of the grocery stores here). The French usually eat their pain perdu as a dessert sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with jam. However we are Americans and we are addicted to sugar so this is basically a breakfast or sometimes dinner dish for us. Some habits are hard to kick. This morning I fried up a big hot batch of pain perdu and then Clara made Grammie Randall's new syrup recipe. Yum!

Buttermilk Syrup
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup buttermilk (you can substitute 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 Tbl. vinegar)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon soda
Cook above for 5 minutes
Add 1 Teaspoon vanilla and enjoy

I know this recipe is loaded with butter and sugar, but it's soooo tasty. You really only need a few drops to dip with your French toast.

Courageux (Courageous)

The morning started normal as usual. While I was walking Clara to the school gate she mentioned that her gum was bothering her. I took a quick look and knew instantly that she needed dental attention ASAP. Her gum had a big old abysses right next to the tooth she had filled three weeks ago. Panic filled her entire face, but I quickly assured her we would not go back to either one of the two dentists we had been to before. Luckily Tifiny had found a terrific dentist in Paris who speaks English. Dr. Dimitriou was a lifesaver. I called him on his cell phone and he told me to be at his office at 3:30pm. All I can say is thank heaven for our GPS system. He is located in the middle of Paris and I was able to drive right up to his front door. It took us one hour to get there, but 2 1/2 to get home (rush hour!).As nervous as she felt Clara didn't flinch during the 1 hour and 10 minute procedure! the infection was bad and Dr. Dimitriou had to clean out each root of her tooth. Basically is was a root canal and unfortunately she is not finished. We are hoping the infection drains and we are to return tomorrow afternoon so he can fill the tooth.
Our friend Alysee accompanied Clara to this appointment. She has never been to the dentist before and it was fun to watch her expressions from the moment we walked into the office. Alysee stood watch the entire time and Dr. Dimitriou spoke French with her explaining each step of the procedure. When Clara was done we left the office and started walking to the car. Alysee turned to her and said, "you're so courageous!" I couldn't have said it better myself. Clara has really learned a lot about being strong even when it's hard.

Déjeuner (Lunch)

Everything about today was unexpected. You will have to read my next post to get the entire story. The most pleasant unexpected event however was déjeuner at Magali's house. She called me on the cell phone and asked if I had time to stop by her house for lunch. Yes! Of course I always have time to stop by for lunch. Just give me the directions. Clara and I were treated to some real French food faire:
Croque Madame was delicious. It is a French version of a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with an egg on top. Delicious.
Eating lunch with friends was good medicine for Clara...she was headed for the dentist after this party.
The crown jewel was Magali's mousse au chocolate. This is the best chocolate mousse I have ever tasted. I forgot to get the recipe so I'll have to post it later. The stuff literally just melts in your mouth. Merci for a lovely spontaneous lunch Magali!

We couldn't stay long because we were headed to Paris for yet another dentist appointment. Magali's daughter Alysee offered to come with us so she could keep Clara company and offer comfort if she got scared. Talk about a sweet friend.

Rome

Italy was fantastic. A place we could visit over and over again. The history, landmarks, food, weather, people and overall experience were so enjoyable. Here are a some photos of our journey. If you are interested in seeing the entire trip start at the post labeled Formula 1.

Coin

The Vatican has their own euro. The guide books said they were not easy to come by because coin collectors snatched them up. Spencer, our resident coin collector was quite happy when he found one.

Pizza & Pasta

We consumed a large amount of pizza and pasta. Our new family favorite is the roasted potato pizza. It's a thicker crust with no sauce, a little cheese and thinly sliced potatoes drizzled in olive oil with a touch of rosemary. Heaven!


Every restaurant was so welcoming to our family of 6. Whenever we saw the older retired Italian men sitting out front chatting we pretty much knew the food would be great inside. It was a lot of fun to go to some "local hangouts" instead of the usual tourist traps.

Orange Trees

The orange trees were in bloom in February! It felt just like spring. We asked our taxi driver if it was ok to pick an orange from the trees, but he said, "They-a no good-a to eat-a." Too bad because they are so pretty and HUGE. Our mouths were watering as we passed each tree.

Gelato

It really doesn't matter how much you have eaten there is ALWAYS room for gelato. We are hooked. Typically they allow you to choose two different flavors for a small cone and we tried pretty hard to try as many flavors as we could. Olivia's personal favorite is chocolate and mixed berry. Spencer is a cherries and cream fan. Clara always goes for mint chocolate chip and Lilly is a fruit girl...anything with mango, strawberry or lemon.


There is literally a gelato stand on every street. You don't have to walk very far to find a really good cone. How is then that we stopped into a shop for one last cone before heading to the airport and who should we see, but friends all the way from Salt Lake City?!!! Lynn & Kelly Brouse were standing in line behind us. We didn't have any idea they were traveling in Italy. Makes me realize that the world isn't so big after all.

Villa Borghese Park

Villa Borghese Park was a wonderful respite from pounding the pavement in Rome. It's full of natural resources, playgrounds and fun activities. We oped for the 6 man bike. How awesome is that!? Our entire family fit on the bike! Of course we had to take turns pedaling & steering.



After looking at so many statues Spencer decided to try posing as one himself.

Italian Open Air Market

I'm a big fan of open air markets. Living in Europe has been the best because there is always fresh produce just around the corner. Our first morning in Italy Taylor and I left the kids to relax in the apartment while we went searching for some Italian pastries and fruit for breakfast. You can only imagine my excitement when we walked right into a big old Italian Open Air Market. It was just like the market I used to shop at when we lived in Philadelphia. Not quite as refined as the markets in France, but really fun and brimming with all kinds of delicious food, household supplies and clothing. We took the kids the next morning and let them choose a variety. I think eating in Italy might be better than sightseeing! The food here is just fabulous!




We have a big population of wild boar that roam our forest in Fontainebleau. The Italians also have an abundance and they like to roast theirs for yummy sandwiches. This Italian butcher sliced a bunch for our breakfast meat. Lilly thought it was the best meat she has ever eaten. Olivia and Clara didn't like the thought of eating wild boar so they gave Lilly their portions.