Tag: French Sabbatical

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!

You know the movie “The Truman Show”? Sometimes Melinda and I think we are living like the main character in that movie, that we are the unwitting subjects of a reality TV show called “Américains Fous à Nantes” (“Crazy Americans in Nantes”). The producers keep one step ahead of us in the building of the sets while trying to anticipate our next move, creating novel scenarios for us in order to see our reactions. All the people we encounter are just improv actors responding to us (maybe even Chloe and Ella – now that is REALLY an interesting thought).

Before dismissing me as a complete nut, consider this. Permanent-looking portable buildings come and go all the time in Nantes. A circus shows up here. A carnival pops up there. An entire outdoor market appears out of nowhere and then is gone. And now it’s a huge, entire “Christmas Village” in the center of town, complete with a full-sized merry-go-round. I think it’s all being done to watch Melinda and me react, all to the delight of people all over France who watch this silly American couple respond to constantly changing scenarios in a French city.

Imagine the enjoyment of the French audience when they saw Melinda’s reaction today to her cup of VERY hot “vin chaud” (hot wine). I took this picture a split second after her first sip. But the French TV audience of the program must have been laughing hysterically. First there was Melinda, freezing cold in the afternoon mist, spotting the “Vin Chaud” sign and asking me if she should get some. “Why not?” I said. “You really think so?” she said. “Why not?” I said in a slightly different tone. What riveting dialogue. You can’t script this. And then the “actor” selling the wine convinced her to buy the large cup AND add a shot of Cointreau to the mix. He then made it extra-hot, causing Melinda to react with this face. Jerry Lewis, who’s still big here, I understand, could learn from Melinda.

Tune in tomorrow to see what the crazy Americans do next!

In some ways it’s hard to believe that today is Thanksgiving. Chloe and Ella both had school and all the stores were open regular hours. Of course, an American Thanksgiving means nothing here in France. But for our family, it is important. And once we met Christine and she mentioned how she hoped her family could experience an American Thanksgiving, there was never any doubt in Melinda’s and my minds that we would be doing something significant today. And as I mentioned yesterday, Christine ordered and picked up a turkey. All Melinda and I had to do was put a few things together.

I’m posting late because our dinner just wrapped up. Given everyone’s work and school schedules, we were operating under more of the French evening timeframe, meaning dinner took place around 8pm. The festivities, as far as I’m concerned, began when 8 year-old Claire (9 on Monday) showed up just past 6pm in full American Indian regalia with her beautiful homemade name tags for the table.

We went completely American traditional with turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, corn bread and cranberry sauce. For dessert we had pumpkin pie and apple pie, as well as a little chocolate side dessert. Vanilla ice cream and whipped cream were optional add-ons.

I took today’s photo just before we began eating. I don’t think Norman Rockwell could have painted anything more American, even though the setting is in France.

Dear Christine’s Mom,

I know we’ve not met but Christine tells me you are a regular reader of my blog. In many ways, that makes us friends, although so far the communication part of our friendship is kind of one-sided. Do you keep a blog? I’d be pleased to be a regular reader. You know, even things up as it were.

Also, you get to see lots of pictures (well, one each day) of things that interest me. Look at today’s for instance. Of course you know that’s your daughter. I took it a while back. She and your son-in-law came over one night. I so liked Christine’s dress that I asked her to pose for a photo, thinking the picture might be blog-worthy. I hope I’m not getting her in trouble when I tell you that’s a cocktail in her hands. She tells me she’s a grown-up and can make her own decisions about things like cocktails. I don’t know. I’m guessing she’ll always be your little girl. Anyway, if you do share with me any blog you may be writing, be sure to put some pictures on it for your new American friend in France.

Before I sign off, I think you’d be interested in knowing that your daughter just left our house. She came with your lovely granddaughter Claire (yes, Celeste is lovely, too, but she didn’t come), and she dropped off a turkey she had just picked up from the butcher. You see, Melinda and I are in charge of making an American Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and your French branch of the family is all coming (you know it’s a work or school day for those people in our neighborhood not lucky enough to be on a sabbatical). I may even post a photo and write about it tomorrow night. We’ll see how it goes.

Bisoux,

—Andy

Once upon a time a wife took her husband on an adventure. Their children were busy doing scholastic things so she thought the grown-ups should have fun. She suggested they go to Ikea! She wanted to buy cloth napkins because two days later people would be coming to their house to experience an American Thanksgiving dinner. The husband wasn’t excited to go to Ikea and groaned, “Maybe I’ll just head back home. Or we could go to the library instead!” The wife teased him in reply, “Maybe I’ll just head back home when you go the library.” But she was smart. She said, “We could try some different buses to take us to Ikea. Look here at the map. We could take bus #80 and then bus #73. It’s a sunny day. It will be an adventure!”

And that’s what they did. They rode on bus #80 all the way through the city of Orvault. And then they got off bus #80 and got on bus #73. It took them almost all the way to Atlantis. No, not the underwater city. The shopping mall on the edge of Nantes where Ikea is located. They went inside and ate lunch at the Ikea restaurant and the wife bought the husband a glass of rosé wine.

And so they lived happily ever after they got back home.

Some interesting facts:
– There are 52 white keys on a piano keyboard.
– There are 52 weeks in a year.
– There are 52 cards in a deck.
– At age 52 Ray Kroc opened his first McDonalds.

Also of interest to some, 52 years ago my parents were married. So I hereby go back in time (to last week) and present this photo of the happy couple on their visit to Nantes.

If 52 is a number that interests you and you belong to Facebook, you can become a fan. I guess you can become a fan of anything these days, even a number. For today, I’ll be a fan of my parents. Without them, you wouldn’t be reading this blog, if you know what I mean.

Happy Anniversary, Al & Carib!!

As they used to say before a Sonics game, when there was a Sonics team, “Let’s get ready to rummmmmmm-ble!” And I hereby interrupt the Name Game to introduce you to this attractive Frenchmen dressed in blue. Indeed, that’s Romain, #13 for Nantes taking on the pesky #4 for Rezé. #4 is quick off the dribble so Romain is playing him loosely here outside the 3 point line. I wish I had a photo of Romain “stuffing” (blocking the shot) #4 or the other Rezé guard, then grabbing the ball and leading the resulting fast break. Romain dished at the last second to a teammate who came dashing up the left wing for an easy lay-in. A blocked shot, a forced turnover, and an assist for Romain all in a span of about 10 seconds. Regarding scoring, he finished with 10 points. Regarding the game, Nantes put a licking on Rezé, blowing them out by over 30 points.

Melinda and I took the tram (Lines 1 & 2) to an area of town we had not been before in order to see Romain’s game today. Before the game, I wanted to take a little walk so I caught the tram, and met Melinda, at a stop further along the line. I walked past the racetrack as a race was taking place (part of my plan, of course). Then I walked past the ice skating rink and peered in the window to see a junior hockey game going on. Minutes later I met Melinda on the tram and together we went on to Romain’s game. So in a short span of time today I saw a horse race, a hockey game, and a basketball game. Not bad.

I took this picture way back in the summer on one of my many excursions. At the time I had no real hope of finding any kind of place with my name on it. I figured I could “cheat” and use André or something. But there I was, having gotten off of a bus and was walking toward a grocery store I wanted to visit and I found this shop. If you can’t tell, it’s a hairdressing salon.

Studying the window on the right, you will see that a man’s haircut is 18€, a woman’s is 26.50€, and a massage for either a man or woman is 32€. Those are very reasonable prices, I think, although Melinda tells me one can’t really judge the reasonableness of a haircut until you see it. I think I know what she means. When she and the girls go out to get their hair done and I hear how much it costs, I offer to do it for half the price. They never take me up on the offer, even though it would save them a lot of money.

Seeing this picture makes me think that I should consider getting my hair cut again. Since I’m keeping it short, it needs to be cut more often (duh). I wonder if I go in singing the Name Game and tell them that my name is Andy I’ll get a discount. More likely, they’ll charge me more or just kick me out…

Andy Andy bo Bandy! Banana fanna fo Fandy! Fe fi mo Mandy! ANDY!

Melinda Melinda bo Belinda! Banana fanna fo Felinda! Fe fi mo Melinda! MELINDA!

For quite some time I’ve had this idea to dedicate a post here to each of our names. The idea came to me when I saw Chloe’s name up on a billboard promoting perfume or something. I hinted at this with food names that contain the letters E, L, L & A (in order, of course). Finding my name proved easier than I thought. The tough one was Melinda’s. Having found it, it’s time to start the series.

And having found Melinda’s name most recently, I’ll begin with hers. This photo was taken last Sunday at a gift shop in Le Croisic, the city on the coast we visited with my parents. Indeed, that’s Melinda’s name on this bowl, although the use of it is less for something like soup or cereal and more for your morning warm drink. You know, you need a bowl of café au lait to get you going in the morning, right?

What also made finding this particular bowl with Melinda’s name of it so surprising for us is the one underneath. That’s Melinda’s mom’s name, Michele, spelled correctly with just one L. And given all the times in her life that people have wanted to call Melinda Melissa, the bowl above seemed apt, too.

Having gotten this started, it’s time to sing now. Can’t figure it out? Here’s some help.

We shipped Granny & Grandad back to Seattle this morning, sneaking them out of Nantes well before the sun was up. I’m not sure what it was they did that required the clandestine getaway and that’s probably for the best. When I’m called to testify I won’t know anything. Oh, a big tip of the hat to our neighbor John who drove the getaway car. And a big thank you to Granny & Grandad for their visit. You are great house guests!

To adjust to life in Nantes without Granny & Grandad, I made southwest duck legs for dinner. What made these duck legs southwest, I’m not sure. Maybe they quacked with an accent or something. And truthfully, all I did was heat them up in the oven. We bought them during our trip to Picard earlier this week (you know, the gourmet frozen food store).

I wanted to try this dish ever since the incredible dinner we had at the Boudeaus last Thursday. Frédérique and Laurent invited us over to meet my parents and show them some French hospitality, and Frédérique served something similar (her southwest duck legs were much better, by the way). Frédérique, Chloe wanted to know where the fruit course was tonight. Like a good father, I turned the question back on her. She has hands and knows how to use a knife.

If you liked yesterday’s post, I managed to post the video I referenced. Check it out here and pay attention to the second rower from the left at the 7 second mark, poor girl.