Melun Olympics

Saturday the Melun ward had an Olympic gathering of sorts. We played all kinds of team games including the giant tug-o-war. Everyone played hard and "pulled together" for a fun afternoon. Attending these church functions is especially great for the kids because they have no other option...they have lots of opportunities to practice their French. I can definitely see what a difference a year makes in this regard. Everyone has a good understanding and can carry on a conversation. That's a "gold medal" performance as far as I'm concerned.

Dîner en blanc (dinner in white)

There is one château in Bourron Marlotte (our village). It is privately owned & only open to the public once a year for the " dîner en blanc". Basically everyone comes with their own picnic/fabulous dinner and it is mandatory to be dressed in white. You bring EVERYTHING...tables, chairs (these you can rent if you want at the château), REAL china, cutlery, goblets, linens, candles, flowers, food & drink. Let me tell you I felt like I was walking in the scene of a movie when we entered the château grounds. It was magnificent...kind of like what you might picture heaven to look like. The tables were so beautiful. Huge candelabras on some & tiny tea lights in a circle on the grass around the perimeter of others. There were huge long tables for big groups of friends and tiny tables meant only for two. Anything goes as long as it's white.

The kids came for the early part of the evening (this all started at the wee hour of 8:30pm!) so they could see the château grounds and just experience the fun of the evening. They had some pretty cool entertainment as well. It was all very French, almost surreal & quite a beautiful site.

We had a great evening with INSEAD friends the Franks, Adners & Thomas'. It was filled with hilarious conversation, amazingly delicious food and an incredible ambiance. If you are ever in Bourron Marlotte at the end of June I highly recommend that you plan to attend!

La Godinette

At the beginning of the school year we went to La Godinette for a lunch break with our friends the Thomas'. It was the beginning of a fun and yummy tradition. Every couple of weeks Taylor or I would take the kids out of school at lunch and walk to our favorite creperie. Yann is the owner and he is one of the sweetest and most kind people you will meet in Fontainebleau. We have become friends due to our frequent visits to his restaurant. A few weeks ago we ran into him at the local supermarket. He came and gave us the typical French greeting of a kiss on each cheek. It's fun to have a little restaurant where you know the chef & you love the food. Thursday was our last "school lunch" date at Yann's. We took the Thomas kids with us just for ol' times sake!

Spectacle des enfants (children's program)

The end of the year spectacle des enfants was a grand highlight for Lilly. Her class acted out several little fairy tales & Lilly was one of the narrators. She has been practicing for weeks. Her teachers said that she has a great memory & that she's manages to keep all of the other kids on their cues. Lilly seems to love the spot-light & she did a fantastic job.


Here are the maternal teachers from the CAB. Lilly's English teacher is Kim (2nd from the left) and her French teacher is Elisabeth (3rd from the left). We are grateful for all of their dedication, hard work and support of Lilly this year.

Natation à la piscine (Swimming at the pool)

One thing I love that the French school system does is natation à la piscine. They start the kids when they are young, easily encouraged to over come fear and they don't have body image issues yet. Both Lilly and Clara benefited from the swimming program this year. It's quite a grand task if you think about it. They have to transport classrooms of children in big buses to get to the only public pool in town (it's at INSEAD where Taylor works). They have to get everyone dressed in swim-wear and then back in street clothes (most of this happens in the dead of winter when it's cold outside)! Then the biggest task of all - they have to instruct & watch hoards of children at the pool.
In the beginning Clara was quite anxious about swimming. There was NO free-play or free-swim in the pool. ONLY instruction. However, as she gave it a chance she decided she liked it. They used all kinds of floating devices to have the kids swim around, down and over in the water. Lilly's biggest complaint was that they kept her with all of the little kids (the ones her age!) and they didn't let her have a go in the deep pool.

This week both girls said, good-bye to one more aspect of their school life here in France. It's been quite an experience.

Scotland

The second week of June Taylor went on one of those "once in a lifetime" trips (at least that's what we keep telling ourselves...somehow every day something wonderful comes our way and we say, "gosh that's just a once in a lifetime opportunity!) He met Jared Rutter & Steve Earl two of his good friends and golfing buddies from SLC in Scotland where they played some pretty terrific courses. When I find out where his pictures are I'll post them here & have him give some commentary. For now I'm just trying to catch up and keep things in a sort of organized manner.

la mode et du plaisir (fashion & fun)

Clara had a little birthday party with some of her friends. The theme was basically la mode et du plaisir...mostly fun. They started out making bead bracelets & moved onto a bubble gum blowing contest (we had some Hubba Bubba gum imported from the USA for this event), balloon popping & the French fashion show. The girls had gathered every conceivable dress-up from our house & they went to town concocting silly get-ups. Each girl took a turn "walking down the runway" (aka the bridge in our house) and sporting her fashion sense. Afterwards they had a "mini" tea party with everything teeny tiny...little sausages, petite crackers, miniature watermelon slices & fruit kabobs, small cans of Orangina & finger sized rice krispy treats. It was a feast of fun all afternoon & I think Clara felt pretty special.

Jardins de Versailles (Gardens at Versailles)

A couple of weeks ago we had a leisurely afternoon bike ride at jardins de Versailles. It was a picture perfect day. We took our visitors Pat and Lisa Zimmerman along with our newest visitor Kirsten Taylor (from our neighborhood in SLC). Pat and Lisa are some of our best friends from long long ago. We lived in the same neighborhood and ward when we were newly married. It's been a long time (almost 19 years for us!) since those newlywed days and we still have the best time together. Lisa kept us all laughing with her accents (they all sound Chinese even though she tries for French, Spanish, etc.) and jokes.
Kirsten graduated from high school 2 days before her big trip to France. This is her 1st time in Europe and she managed to come all by herself. I think that's a major achievement for an 18 year old to navigate her way through the plane, train and taxi station. All of our kids have loved having Kirsten here. She's just an all around great person!

We rode our bikes all around the grand canal and every other path we could find. Lilly brought her own bike. It's so tiny, but she can ride without training wheels. It was about 5 miles of biking and Lilly did it all on her own. She probably rode 10 miles because she had to pedal two times for every one the rest of us did!


Pat & Lisa wanted to take a romantic boat ride on the grand canal. They made the fatal mistake of asking if any of the kids wanted to go. Yes! of course Lilly and Clara were dying to get on the boat!

My primary objective in visiting Versailles was to retrieve my cell phone. The last time I was at Versailles with Diane I lost my phone in the gardens of Marie Antoinette's chateau. An employee found it and had been holding onto it for 3 weeks. I made arrangements to pick it up & it was quite the production. The security guard took me up to an office and then another person led me through many long back halls...I felt like I might go missing & no one would know where to find me. Anyway I met Madame Aquaviva & she handed over my connection to all of my friends in France. Amazing how dependent I've become on a cell phone!

Barbecue

Barbecue usually brings to mind the all-American summer party. Our church in Melun hosted a spring barbecue that was equally as great. When I asked what I should bring they said, "sausages and salad". I was a little confused and probed around to find out what kind of sausages and how many. Yet another moment of translation humor. When asked to bring sausages to a French bbq they mean any type of meats that you want to cook on the grill. There was quite an assortment that day: marinated pork, hot dogs, grilled chicken, steak, etc. It was a very casual event and the kids raced around, playing soccer and tag and the rest of us enjoyed time to talk and eat together. Good times.

Cours de cuisine (cooking class)

I've been wanting to take some French cooking classes. All year long I've been searching for new recipes and new techniques. As I've mentioned before my friend Xavier grew up in a family that owned and ran a bakery. He agreed to have a baking class in his home one Saturday morning. We all showed up in our aprons & wearing our hats that we purchased the day before in Paris - yes we really are a bunch of wacky women, but we know how to have fun! I wrote down every step of instruction, and took lots of photos at each stage of the process. I'm hoping it turns out when I try it on my own. Xavier's dad came and showed us how to make that mouth watering French bread. He made it seem so simple. Just add a little of this, mix like that and voila! I think it won't be that easy for me...the flour is different, the sugar is different, the air is different...hmm maybe I could convince Xavier and his dad to move to SLC and open a real French bakery. Now wouldn't that be fantastic! Thanks Xavier for opening up your kitchen and your baking secrets.

l'école des projets artistiques (school art projects)

The Leonard Da Vinci Primary School had it's annual l'école des projets artistiques. It was one of the only times of the year we were allowed into the school to see the classrooms & roam the halls. I'm really impressed with the calibre of art instruction. Clara's school class went on numerous "art" field trips including one to the Musee de Orsay! Much of her art focus was on trees. Here she is with her friend and classmate showing off some of their tree scenes.

Much of the art in Olivia's class dealt with the two plays her class did. They painted the scenery & did various scenes based from famous artists. She worked together on projects with other classmates which was a great learning experience.

Roland Garros - French Open 2008

The Roland Garros - French Open 2008 was an event we didn't want to miss. Our long-time friends Pat & Lisa Zimmerman were in town for the event so the four of us went on a double date. We didn't have tickets to a main event, but we were lucky enough to be at the front of the line for general admission seating. It's a huge outdoor complex with tons of clay courts, big screen t.v.'s, food and tennis excitement. We walked around & watched a couple of fun matches. I especially loved watching the wheel-chair games. What amazing athletes! It's cool to see how they care for the clay courts...that is after all what makes playing tennis in France so unusual. They spray it down with water and then go over with rakes to keep the clay even & not bumpy.

Back in high school & college Taylor and Pat played a little tennis together at the community courts. Lisa and I joined in for a doubles match here and there, but I think we all need a little practice if we are to get back into the game at this stage of life. The athletes competing at the French Open were so strong & powerful. It was just a great day!