Before leaving Seattle in July, everyone expressed their wish-list of things to do during our sabbatical year. At the top of Ella’s list was seeing the new Harry Potter when it came out, ideally in London. Well, we couldn’t quite swing the trip to England, but we did make it a priority to see the movie as soon as we could, and to find a place where we could watch it in English. So today, Melinda, Chloe, Ella & I took a 45 minute train ride east from Nantes to the town of Angers in order to see the movie. The particular theatre where we went was the nearest one that was showing the movie in its V.O. (“version originale,” meaning in its original language) form. It did have French sub-titles which were fun to follow.

Today’s photo was taken moments before the movie started. You can see the eager anticipation on Ella’s face. What you can’t see (or hear) is that she was so excited she was talking a mile a minute about all things Harry. We all thoroughly enjoyed the movie, after which Ella started talking a mile a minute again, quizzing us about our favorite scenes, that sort of thing. She is already plotting how to see it again and again (“First, I want to see it again in English. Then I want to see it in French. And, oh, we should buy the DVD and then leave it in the house when we leave so Olivia, the girl who lives here, has it. Then we’ll get another in Seattle.”).

What a grand adventure, just the kind of thing our sabbatical should be about. Riding the train is fun in itself, but taking it to a nearby city for the purpose of something like seeing a movie one of us is so excited to see makes it all the better.

Regarding those French sub-titles, apparently “wand” in French is “baguette.” Funny!