Tag: French Sabbatical

When Melinda and I were first “dating” (I put that in quotes because I’m not sure if Melinda & I have ever really had a date – learn more here), I created a little cartoon character for when I left her messages. The character was called Heartman and he was quite simple to draw, consisting of a heart, stick figure limbs, and a round head featuring a baseball cap, goatee and glasses. I’d draw a very simple (emphasis on both very and simple) picture of Heartman at a restaurant, for instance, and caption it with, “Heartman had fun eating sushi with Melinda.”

When Chloe was in kindergarten Heartman made a comeback. Included in the sack lunch I made for her each day was a little Heartman comic on a sticky note. Each comic consisted of something that Chloe and I had recently done, “Heartman and Chloe are watching the Brady Bunch on Nick at Night,” that sort of thing.

So anytime I see a graffiti heart I get a little excited. And I spotted this one yesterday while Dana, Melinda and I were munching on the sandwiches we had for lunch. I got up and took this picture of it. A few minutes later as we were walking, Dana tried to direct my attention to some really impressive graffiti. I thought she said, “Andy, look at that graffiti heart.” I was excited and looked all about me, not spotting it. I think she thought I was blind because she said, “There, right in front of you.” Turns out what she was directing me to was some impressive graffiti ART.

You see, I’ve become so accustomed to hearing French that I assume certain words (like art, I guess) have a silent H. Still, my character will never be known as Artman. You see, I’m kind of art-impaired…

Before becoming a teacher, Dana worked as an architect (in fact, she has a masters in architecture from Yale). So, if you know Melinda’s attraction to all things design-related, it will come as no surprise to learn that the two women spent the day exploring Nantes with an eye on design. I came along for about half of this, including the first stop, which was to Le Lieu Unique.

If you are familiar with the delicious Lu biscuits (cookies), they were created in Nantes and for years made in this building. On January 1, 2000, it reopened as a contemporary arts center. It’s pretty darn cool and I can’t believe today was Melinda’s and my first trip to it. I took today’s arty photo of Dana and Melinda (with the help of a mirror) inside the building. Learn more about the building at Wikipedia.

We exited the old biscuit factory and started heading west, our final destination being the Machines de l’île,
something we knew Dana would love. But as we started walking, there was a long line outside a bakery, a sign that the food was good. So we grabbed some sandwiches (jambon beurre), stopped to eat them next to the river, and then continued on our walk. Dana was excited by the architectural design of several buildings, which pleased Melinda no end. I made my exit as we arrived at the “machines,” which you should really check out at this YouTube page.

It’s Ella’s half day at school today, being Wednesday and all. She put down her iPad long enough to join Dana & Melinda in the living room for an apéritif. She concocted her “mocktail,” something with grenadine. Apparently to Ella, just about any liquid tastes good if it’s mixed with enough grenadine. Shirley Temple would be proud. Perhaps Roy Rogers, too.

Anyway, I took her picture and then downloaded it, before applying a few “retouches” at a fun little website called BeFunky.com. I’ve spent the last couple of hours organizing my various digital photo archives. Ella walked in and saw a couple of her that I had played with at the “Be Funky” site. That inspired me to “be funky” with today’s picture. So here you go.

Chloe is out babysitting. Dana and Melinda are sipping Ricard. Ella is having a mocktail. And I’m playing with digital images. I think it’s time I stopped and joined the gang, or at least started on dinner. Not that we’re too hungry. Dana, Melinda and I had a delicious lunch in town this afternoon. My lunch? Steak tartare. At that point in the day I wasn’t playing around.

Who are we looking at? We are looking at Dana, who was kind enough to take our picture. Where are we? At the Nantes racetrack, enjoying a sunny afternoon of racing. What are we doing? Having a little something, as Winnie-the-Pooh might say, although I don’t recall him sampling much red wine (like Melinda) or indulging in a Kir Cassis (like me).

So here’s the pre-story. Late this morning I asked Dana what she would prefer, going to see the last two races for free, or going to the track to see ALL of the races and paying the admission. Like the perfect houseguest that she is, she said, “I was kinda hoping to see all of the races.” Right answer! 10 points for Dana. Perfect houseguest rating. And she didn’t even need to use her 50-50 or phone a friend.

If you look closely at the photo you will notice that we are a little more bundled up than we were over the weekend (when we were doing “pool work”). The balmy weather retreated yesterday and we’ve had a bit of mist and foggy mornings. But it did burn off today and reveal sunny skies, albeit remain a bit chilly. In American terms, the high today was right around 60, a far cry from pushing 80 like we did on Saturday.

Still, 60 and sunny for a day watching horses race each other? An A+ in my record book.

That’s right! Our friend and colleague from Seattle, Dana, arrived in Nantes this afternoon and will be spending the next few nights with us. Dana is an art teacher in Seattle and serves as the PSCS board president. We are excited to get caught up on all things Seattle-related, and are already having fun doing so. I admit that a fair amount of the conversation so far surrounds PSCS news. Between sound bites, though, we are learning about her trip to Paris over the weekend where her cousin & family live.

As a regular reader of the blog, Dana seems to be getting a kick out of seeing things I’ve featured. Exhibit A, today’s photo. There she is under the new U Express sign. Like the rest of us, the sign obviously induces a big smile. In her hands? Yup, that’s a baguette from Lefort, part of tonight’s dinner. Prior to that, we took her out on Line 2 to Leclerc where she got to see a caddy at work, operate the self-scanner, and be fascinated by the design of the shopping cart, specifically how it doesn’t slide down the inclined moving stairway.

These things were once new to Melinda and me, too, so it’s fun to have a friend from home experience them. As Dana said, “Seeing how things work in another country is so much fun!”

Translation: The Boys of Summer

From a “Sports I Love” standpoint, our year in Nantes has been beyond my wildest dreams. First, in August I discovered that we lived within walking distance of a racetrack and have on several occasions watched live horse racing. Right there, that would have been enough for a perpetual ear-to-ear grin. But wait, there’s more.

Next to a nearby tram stop and even within walking distance exists an ice skating rink that hosts, of all things, a professional ice hockey team. That I would see a professional ice hockey game in France, let alone so close to our home, extended my ear-to-ear grin and added to my jaw dropping. This was beyond perfect.

Add in that I’ve had the distinct pleasure of watching Manon play volleyball and Romain play basketball, both at high levels, and the grin extending and jaw dropping continue.

Today just added to it. Melinda and I watched a couple of innings of a baseball game. In France. And one of the teams was named the Mariners. I’m not joking. It was very, very fun. The game was taking place in the infield at the racetrack. We were going for a little walk when we encountered it. And among the mixture of French and English being spoken (most of the umpire’s calls were in English), was this phrase, “Aller Mariners!”

Go Mariners!

Another day in the mid-70’s so we continued to get the pool ready for the summer (which seems to have arrived already!). Chloe sat sunning herself while Celeste and Ella hopped in the unheated pool to do some scrubbing. Truth be told, Celeste, once referred to here as the Little Mermaid, had been swimming around in the unheated pool for 15 minutes or so before we handed her a sponge. Ella decided to take the plunge, literally. She jumped in, as opposed to easing herself in. When she surfaced, she said something to the effect of, “Arghughafgh.” And I think that’s a direct quote, spelled correctly.

Additional truth being told, I was also in the pool, lest you think I’m a supporter of child labor. And who can call anything you do in a pool on a 75 degree day labor, anyway? Just look at them. Don’t you think they are having fun, blue lips aside?!

We are enjoying Celeste’s company all weekend. Her parents, Christine & Bernard, are away and Celeste requested that she stay with us. She came fully equipped with movies, too. Last night we watched “The Breakfast Club” and tonight it’s “16 Candles.” Nothing like a young French girl to show up with American movies from the 80’s to remind you that you’re not in Kansas anymore. 😉

So the “pool boy” got in the water this morning to clean the pool. Given today is our third day in a row with temperatures in the mid 70’s or above, the time seemed overdue to do the “vacuuming out” of the leaves and other grit that had collected in the pool over the winter. There was some mild algae growth so the “boy” scrubbed that away, too.

He got into the water up to his armpits at one point, no small feat considering the pool heater has not yet been turned on (and probably won’t be until May – to turn it on, we have to turn off the heat to the house). According to the gauge, the pool temperature was a cool 19 (about 66 in Fahrenheit), actually not that bad. The air temperature at the time the “pool boy” was in was around 60. You’ve got to give him some credit.

Regarding this weather we’ve been having… Christine told us it’s very odd to be so warm in April so we’re trying not to get used to it. But the forecast for the weekend remains very nice, around 70 or just above. In celebration, I brought out the lawn furniture. Undoubtedly, that will bring back the rain and cold temperatures… And scare the “pool boy” away.

Nice car, eh? Melinda & I were waiting for Ella to come out of school and this beauty drove in and then out again. I did not see any kids inside the car, but at least one on the outside whistled as it passed. The car got me thinking about several things, one of them being James Bond (don’t you think Bond drove a car like this?).

It also got me thinking about Melinda’s and my day of transportation. We rode 3 different busses and Line 2 of the tram several times. We went all over town, enjoying ourselves all the while. But it wasn’t until I saw this car that I started thinking more about the style of transportation. I concluded that the Nantes public transportation system has a certain style, yes, but it is far different than this car’s. And I’ll tell you. Throughout our travels today we never once had to look for a parking place. The driver of this car didn’t have that luxury. James Bond didn’t have that luxury.

Now George Jetson…

Oh, it hit 79 degrees today. Now that’s style!

I just checked online and that’s the Fahrenheit conversion. Here in France they refer to this as 25. Whatever you call it (heck, call it a rose for all I care, it would still feel as nice), it’s an incredible feeling. It reminds me of when we arrived last July, although it was even hotter then. But after months of chilly, 77 can feel like 90. Chloe just literally walked in and said, “It’s hot!” She’s brilliant when she wants to be.

I got out my shorts this morning and have been wearing them all day. While Melinda and I were out running errands, I asked her to take my picture in front of the fountain at La Place Royale (I had my picture taken in these shorts there on our first day in Nantes). Melinda was having none of that, though. I guess it’s one thing for me to subject the citizens of Nantes to my white legs. But it’s another thing entirely to put up a photo of them on the Internet. She thinks I need some new shorts, anyway, something more European than this plaid pair I bought at Fred Meyer two or three years ago.

Nonetheless, I did just take this picture of me (but I cropped out the shorts for marital bliss reasons). That’s our pool in the background, beckoning me but not yet ready for swimmers. See the beads of sweat on my forehead. I’m ready! The pool isn’t…