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If this topic is boring any of you, tough. The spectacle of what is happening in Nantes this weekend is just too great for me to ignore. Add in that Melinda is in her absolute element and it’s a next to impossible for me to chronicle anything else. Forget that I’m posting late because we just returned from a fabulous BBQ dinner at neighbor John’s house (they have been SO kind to us). Forget that Chloe is babysitting and sent me several text messages asking that a dessert be delivered to her. Forget that I’m getting up early tomorrow to run with Laurent. Melinda and I spent 4 hours in town today watching various aspects of today’s Royal de Luxe show!

We arrived on a packed tram to see the girl (the small giant) get showered and changed. Her dog was anxious to get going but had to wait. Then the two walked to the waterfront to meet her uncle (the original giant) who was arriving by barge. We watched him come ashore and be transported into town, where he emerged from his cargo container. Ultimately, the dog, the girl and the giant arrived at the big cathedral in town. The dog arrived first, in time to uncover a garbage can and find something yummy in it. Then the girl arrived, much to the delight of the crowd. A few minutes later the famous giant arrived, walking down the street to arrive at the cathedral. He took a good long look, acknowledged the crowd, then sat down for an afternoon siesta. His handlers were appreciated with huge rounds of applause.

It’s really an astounding show, and on so many, many levels. There are literally thousands of spectators lining the streets to watch. Imagine a huge city-wide party with closed streets and interrupted routines, all to appreciate art and culture. So cool.

Welcome to France.

Who knew that a girl playing with her dog could draw such a crowd… And not just that, but the city closed streets to traffic, tram lines were interrupted, and people left work early. Students were present with their classes and people climbed up on structures to get a better view. Melinda and I were fortunate to be there ourselves. And how about the fact that I had my cell phone video going to capture the exciting goings-ons! Take a look:

There is no way I can fully summarize how tremendously cool this is in my short blog. Melinda is about out of her mind with interest and excitement. Get this…

The city of Nantes collaborates with this company called Royal de Luxe, best described as the maker of these HUGE marionettes, among other things. Based in Nantes, they travel all over the world to put on shows. The excitement in town right now is that they’re returning to Nantes with three days of performances beginning tomorrow, and have already kicked things off with a few surprises, thanks to the cooperative city.

One surprise has to do with making it look like a giant wall fell from the sky and crashed-landed in the center of town (see today’s photo – that’s Bernard in the white hat and Melinda in orange). The secrecy involved in planning this is stunning and the workmanship spectacular. The “installation” took place overnight, better ensuring the biggest surprise.

The other has to do with a huge dog marionette being frozen in a block of ice and being placed outside the ancient cathedral in town to melt. I presume that the melting is timed for a performance tomorrow, likely involving the dog walking or meeting up with the Little Giant.

Anyway, if this interests you at all, go take a look at these links:
Flickr Photos – Royal de Luxe
The Berlin Reunion
Facebook – Royal de Luxe
A Blog Post From 2005
2011 Schedule in Nantes

I had published yesterday’s entry before having access to this wonderful photo, taken last night by Ella as I blew out the candles on my homemade birthday brownies at Christine’s & Bernard’s house. As I mentioned yesterday, we were invited over to share in the pizza bounty, Bernard having made something like 300 pizzas and the family needing help eating them. Let me just say they were delicious, especially the salmon/mushroom pizza.

Let me ALSO say that Christine’s brownies are phenomenal. No, wait. What’s even better than phenomenal? Miraculous? Unparalleled? Because that’s what they are. Chloe told me that I should ask for the recipe, given it was my birthday. So as we ate pizza I said to Christine, “Chloe would like you to give to her your brownie recipe as a birthday present to me.” Christine deftly deflected the request.

On the subject of last night’s dinner, as if pizza & brownies weren’t enough, Bernard made chocolate mousse. There were three candles sticking out of the mousse and four with the brownies. Christine announced I was either 34 or 43 or 4 + 3 or I behave like I’m 4 – 3 or something. Of course I insisted that everyone sing.

On my 9th birthday, in 3rd grade, I was playing tag at school during recess. While running, I turned to look behind me to see if I was being chased. I was, so I quickly turned forward to pick up my pace, only to run into a cement pillar. A huge bump surfaced on my forehead, but I was too afraid to tell anyone about it. I covered the bump with my bangs and went on with my day. That wasn’t such a good birthday.

On my 19th birthday I was living in Alaska. My mom sent me a frosted cake along with 19 candles, all in a tupperware container. That was a good birthday (you can learn more about this through today’s posting on the Kind Living blog).

This morning at around 9, I was greeted at the door by Christine, who had arrived with homemade brownies and candles for me on her way to work. A couple hours later, Melinda and I went out for a sushi lunch. The tuna melted in our mouths. Moments ago, lovely Celeste knocked on our door to invite us over for pizza (with the explanation that her dad has made too much). I’m about to go for a jog in the late afternoon sun. In France.

This is a really good birthday.

Here is the third installment in the ongoing serial, “The Babysitter Americaine.”

When we last checked in, it was November. The nights were long and the days were chilly. On this particular day in November it was rainy, windy AND chilly (and we had chili for dinner!). My parents were in town and Chloe’s charges, Zacharie and Luce, were younger (that’s how it works, you know).

When we first checked in, Chloe hadn’t yet secured the job taking care of Zacharie and Luce. In fact, she was just putting together the flyer that got posted in neighborhood stores. What a bonanza this turned out to be for her, especially with this family. They live within walking distance, the mom speaks excellent English, the kids are over-the-top adorable and the work, combined with her other jobs, has earned Chloe enough money to pay for her tuition this year at the University of Nantes, as I recently mentioned.

Today’s photo actually comes from yesterday. Chloe had a rare Sunday afternoon with Zacharie and Luce and brought them over to our house. After they made chocolate chip cookies, we all went in the pool to play (that’s Luce in Chloe’s arms and Clare nearby). Chloe had one of those grand realizations about being responsible for kids. Taking a 4 year-old AND a 6 year-old into a pool is not easy. But let me just say – those kids had FUN!

Well, technically the expression “Vide-Greniers” means “Garage Sale,” but if you take the words individually, “vide” and “greniers,” they translate as empty attic. And I like the imagery of it. You see, there was an all-day attic emptying that took place today in the parking lot of our neighborhood shopping center (you know, the one with our favorite bakery and the U Express). People paid 10 € to have a table and put out all the things that have been cluttering up their attics.

Of course Melinda and I were curious to see what people wanted out of their attics. Nothing initially caught our eyes so Melinda went to buy a croissant. That’s when I spotted a table unlike the others. This one had vintage French postcards. I ended up buying a handful, some of Nantes but the best were these 60’s era pin-up bathing beauties. We bought 4 of them and are thinking a couple, framed, will look pretty slick in our upstairs bathroom back in Seattle.

Last night’s dinner was exceptional. Sandrine and Laurent picked a terrific restaurant. We sat outside under an awning as the sun went down, sipping French wine, speaking French (and some English), and enjoying a multi-course meal. Some favorite expressions from the evening include “Line Renaud” (sure to make Frédérique laugh) and “Clint Eastwood.” I’m not even going to try to explain.

Melinda and I promised Ella that we would swing by Picard today to pick up her favorite frozen pizza. We took bus line 51 (instead of the tram) to go to a different Picard, one that’s a bit larger and typically less busy than where we usually go. Line 51 picks us up near the tram stop but goes the other direction around the racetrack where it turned out there was much activity taking place. Turns out it was a “His & Her” mini marathon taking place. I’m sorry we missed running in that!. Anyway, this Picard WAS less busy. We were the only customers.

We planned to hop back on the 51 in the opposite direction but it was a 20 minute wait, so we decided to walk into town instead. From a distance we could hear a voice over a loudspeaker. Periodically the voice would say, “Un, deux, trois!” and be followed by cheering. Motivated to investigate, we discovered it was the 2011 Gay Pride celebration in Nantes. Fun! There was music and dancing and flag waving, much of which you can see in my picture. And I snapped this one just as the crowd raised hands and cheered.

Now about Ella having dinner alone. Chloe is babysitting and Melinda and I are being taken out to dinner by Frédérique & Laurent and Sandrine & Laurent (Alice’s parents) as a thank you for the English language lessons we have been providing their children. We’re very much looking forward to it. I intend to report on that dinner tomorrow.

A few minutes ago Melinda said, “This sabbatical has been incredible.” It’s so true. What a wonderful gift we’ve been given, what a luxury this continues to be. And the weather has cooperated in unimaginable ways. Every time we get another report of Seattle’s dank spring, we feel additionally fortunate to be here. There are so many sunny days in Nantes. I don’t know if we’ll be able to tolerate the drizzly days of a Seattle winter next year… To do so we’ll just have to reminisce about days like today.

Today’s photo was taken about an hour ago as Melinda and I walked Ella home from school. I took a picture from a similar spot and posted about it near the end of January. It was very cold that day and Ella and I were bundled up. It was a useful post for me to read as it helped me remember that not every day here has been sunny and 75 degrees.

Before going let me send out a happy birthday greeting to our niece Jessica who turns 26 today. We are very excited to have learned from her that she recently became engaged. Whoo-hoo!

Gesundheit.

Oh, excuse me. IRFFLE. That’s “The Institute for Research and Training in French as a Foreign Language” at the University of Nantes where Chloe has attended school all year. You may be asking why the acronym doesn’t line up. Because it’s a French acronym, silly. The program is really called “l’Institut de Recherche et de Formation en Français Langue Étrangère,” the French as a foreign language program at the university. Get it? IRFFLE.

Gesundheit.

Anyway… Chloe wrapped up the second semester on Tuesday with a 10 minute oral exam. On Monday she had 6 hours of exams. So not only is she getting practice with learning French, she’s getting an experience she’s never really had before, high pressured testing. In the fall she found it a bit daunting but once she found her groove she’s managed with it quite fine. She came home Tuesday very excited, both because she felt she had done well on this week’s tests and because she’s on a short break. Next week she starts up four final weeks of classes, after which she will have finished her formal French studies at the university. Also of significance, she has fully paid for her university tuition here through her babysitting in France. I find that as impressive as anything she’s done student-wise, and her French has gotten pretty darn good.

Today’s photo is of most of the students in Chloe’s IRFFLE section that just wrapped up (note Chloe on the far left). She was the lone American in the bunch, making the common language of all of her classmates, wait for it, French.