Tag: French Sabbatical

Today marks the conclusion of one of the most significant aspects of the sabbatical, Ella’s experience in a French school. This was the thing that *worried* me the most about our year away. Ella was the one least excited about being gone for a year. At 13, she would not only be away from all of her friends, she would be fully immersed in a huge school where she would not know anyone nor would she know the language. Her first day of school in September was one of the most stressful days of her life. She handled it, and all the challenges that came with this school year, with her usual charm. In short, we are very, very proud of her.

So, yes, today is a very significant day. For us, the photo captures several important things. The adult with Ella is her main teacher, Madame LaLaude. Madame LaLaude has been wonderful for Ella. Not only is she is thoughtful and empathetic, she speaks English. In Madame LaLaude’s hand is a chocolate chip cookie. Last night, with Melinda’s help, Ella made dozens of chocolate chip cookies, enough to give several to each of her teachers and enough for each student in her class to have two. Ella also wrote notes of appreciation (in English and with Christine’s translation help, also in French) to each of her teachers.

Of greatest significance to Ella and us is the T-shirt she is wearing. Her classmates surprised her late in the day with it, each having signed or written a message to her on it. Many told her to come back soon and that they would miss her. We are all quite touched by the gesture and the comments, choked up, in fact. Ella described it as being like the “soul food” activity we do back at PSCS on the last day of school each year, where students write heart-felt notes to each other on paper plates that get passed around. That she got something like this from her French school is a tribute to the school, to Madame LaLaude and to her friends.

It is also a fitting tribute to Ella. As it should be.

This morning, soon after we finished our jog home from dropping off Ella at school, Melinda suggested that she & I finish the walking tour of Nantes we started months ago. I had found online an English language guided tour of the city (go listen to it yourself – it’s fun and less than 25 minutes in audio, longer if you’re doing the actual walking part of the tour) when we first arrived. We each put it on an iPod and off we went. But back then we got both sidetracked and a little bit lost. Knowing Nantes better now, and feeling a bit nostalgic for when we first arrived, we decided to follow it today, and from the start.

Today’s photo comes just outside the Passage Pommeraye, the fifth stop on the tour. Note the earbuds and looks of concentration as we learn about the history of what they refer to as an “arcade.” I wrote about it before on March 24. And you’ll see that the doors are open so we were able to enter but didn’t. You see, we’re pretty familiar with this place. The delicious little pastries I wrote about on Monday, the kouignettes, were purchased just inside the entrance on the left (if my big head wasn’t in the way you could see the shop).

We had a great time on the tour and felt so much more aware and informed about Nantes this time around. Let me know if you take the time to listen to the tour. And use the search on the right to look up some of the stops by name. You’ll see which I’ve blogged about.

Let me first say that I’m a day late for a post with this title as the “Fête de la Musique” or World Music Day was yesterday. It’s a new event in my awareness but I learned that it’s a big deal in various parts of the world. It started in France but has since spread. The idea is for musicians to take to the streets on the summer solstice and perform. Both amateurs and professionals participate, and in some places it’s a huge event.

In Nantes yesterday, the main part of town was closed to traffic from 8:30pm-1:30am. Melinda and I decided to head into town to check out the festivities. We boarded the tram at our usual stop and were fortunate to get seats. By the time we approached the center of town the tram was packed. Everyone had to get off two stops short of the hub and walk the remaining distance, but that in itself was fun. We wandered around and saw dozens of musicians and bands getting warmed up. The crowd was immense, which surprised us for a Tuesday night. Beer was being sold on nearly every corner so most folks had a cup in hand. As the bands started to play we weren’t too impressed. But as we wandered further, we started getting into it a little more. There was the Irish punk band featuring a bagpipe player, and the two middle age women singing power pop in French. Great stuff.

We bumped into Christine & Bernard, who had come with Celeste and Claire. That’s Christine with the girls in this picture, waiting on their order of cotton candy or what the French call “barbe à papa” (daddy’s beard). Great name! Of course, Bernard put some on his face.

I made a quick dash over to the bank this afternoon, trying to time it so I could walk from the bank to Ella’s school to meet her at her dismissal time and then walk home. Turns out my timing was a bit off as I had about 15 minutes to kill. I realized this early enough in the walk to make a few detours, including this stop over a creek that runs east-west from the Erdre through the northern part of town. The trail along the creek has become a regular part of my run, as has this particular bridge. Given I was walking instead of running, I decided to stop and take a couple of pictures. Today’s photo is one result.

Also taking place today was a fine sushi lunch that Melinda, Chloe and I shared in town. Chloe is sad today, having learned last night that she won’t get to babysit Zacharie and Luce in July as was first planned. It turns out they can spend extra time with their grandparents. Chloe was very much looking forward to a month with them in which she had no homework or school obligations hanging over her head. She’s going to miss those kids a lot.

Last thing, a happy anniversary to Melinda’s parents, Dwight & Michele! We see Michele is celebrating by getting a Facebook page. Nice!

I’m not sure how this word actually translates so I’m just going with “incredibly delicious.” Come to think of it, I think that would make a great name for any pastry that can make you swoon. That’s what happened to me today.

You see, last week Christine told Melinda about her favorite thing in France, something called a “Kouign Amann.” You can read more about it on Wikipedia (heck, that it has its own English Wikipedia page should tell you something about how incredibly good it is), but let me just say that a taste sensation that combines sugar, butter, and dough in such a way to caramelize the sugar is aces in my book. So anyway, Christine took Melinda to a place to get a smaller version, a kouignette. And today, Melinda took me to get one.

And here I must be honest. I wasn’t really hungry at that time so I decided not to get one of my own. Melinda generously shared a bite or four of hers. Oh. My. Gosh.

We bought four more to have as tonight’s dinner dessert.

How long does it take to run for two hours?

I posed that silly question to Melinda with more than a little pride and excitement. You see, on Wednesday I ran for two hours. Without stopping. And as Melinda correctly answered, it took me 120 minutes to do it.

Now I’m not sure how long it might take someone else to run for two hours. For instance, it might take Laurent a little less time. I mentioned to him that I had run for two hours on Wednesday and he invited me to run with him this morning. As we ran, I realized that he can go at a quicker pace than I can, meaning of course that he could run for two hours but it would likely take him 90 minutes or so. That is, if you get my drift.

Try this one. If Train A leaves Seattle for Chicago at 9am and is going 45 mph, and Train B leaves New York for Chicago at noon and is going 50 mph, for how long can I run once we get back to Seattle?

Those are my running shoes in today’s post, presented as a tribute to the fact that, as Laurent pointed out this morning, if you add up all the running I’ve done in the last 7 days I could have run a marathon.

Lazy day. Yep, that pretty much sums it up. I’ve hardly seen the girls, so late did they sleep in and how hunkered down they’ve been in their rooms. I think everyone is needing a little battery re-charge. This could be due to the weather, which has felt decidedly fall-like the last few days. The amount of wind we’ve been having is really something. It could also be due to school wrapping up. Chloe’s last day was yesterday, meaning she is officially on “vacation.” Ella still has the upcoming week to go, but the wind-down period has begun. Me, I think I’m battling a cold…

Today’s photo is a self-portrait Melinda took after hearing a knock on the door and being presented with these roses. They are a gift from Bernard’s parents, Monsieur and Madame Bertail, and were delivered by Monsieur Bertail himself. The Bertails were in Nantes overnight to be part of an important event for granddaughter Celeste and since we have a spare bedroom, they stayed here. The flowers were intended as a thank you and, believe me, they were well-received by Melinda who immediately set about taking pictures of both the flowers and their presentation.

On the left in this picture is the abbey at Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, our first stop last weekend on our tour of the Normandy region. It’s quite spectacular and I encourage you to learn more through Wikipedia or this link.

As you can tell, it was raining (just lightly) as we arrived. It had just started to fall as we neared the abbey and since it was getting much darker outside than it had been, I thought it appropriate to start humming the theme to the Munsters TV show. I can’t be sure, but I think Melinda got a chuckle out of that.

After parking (by the way, that’s Bernard’s & Christine’s mini-van in front of us), we walked into what is the tiny town, built in circular fashion around the foot of the abbey. It’s unlike anything I have ever seen before. You wind your way around through the town toward the abbey, ultimately arriving and then paying your admission fee to enter. As you can imagine, it’s quite historical inside and the views are spectacular.

Perhaps that’s putting it a little strong but Chloe has been living it up in Paris the last couple of days with her friend Alex. And while I don’t have a fattened calf to provide her, I am fixing one of my favorite meals in France, duck, for dinner tonight. Since Chloe really doesn’t care for duck (Melinda, either), she’ll be having pasta, unfattened. And while we don’t have servants (I’m not counting Melinda, who’s doing the laundry right now), we have hired Christine’s son, Théo, to mow the lawn which he is doing right now. Nor does Ella seem to be expressing the belief that she is getting the short end of any stick. Heck, she likes duck.

I snapped this picture with my cell phone as Chloe climbed off the train in Nantes early this afternoon. You might not be able to tell, but she did see Melinda and me and was heading our way. She even “bisoused” each of us. Examining the photo closely, you may see the coffee cup in her hand, as well as an art print she purchased in Paris for either her room at home or in the dorm at college. On her back is her wonderful backpack, which made traveling easy for her.

Chloe reported that traveling with a friend is different than traveling with one’s parents. By different, I’m pretty sure she meant better. There may be more traveling in her future…

As Melinda, Ella & I were waiting for the tram today a man came up and starting talking to us. It was a little uncomfortable, given his forwardness, his alcohol-laced breath, and him speaking in French, saying something about Melinda’s shoes (I think). I told him that I didn’t understand him and for a minute he switched to speaking some sentences in English, then Italian. After that, he went back to French.

Standing there chatting away, he took out a pad of paper and began to draw my portrait. The tram arrived, what I thought would provide us our separation. Surprisingly, though, he followed us on in order to continue drawing. I stayed near the door with him so Ella and Melinda could have some space. He drew for several stops, people brushing past us to get on and off. In the end, he asked my name and wrote it on the picture, then tore the picture out of his book and gave it to me (that’s me holding it in today’s picture). I tried to give him a Euro but he scoffed, saying, “Gratuit, gratuit (Free, free).”

It was an odd experience, to say the least. Like I said, it was uncomfortable but there was also something relaxing about it as he drew me, almost meditative. He was highly focused on his task and seemed intent on pleasing me. And he was quite insistent about not taking a coin, something that helped make the whole exchange more pure, if that makes sense. I learned something here, although I’m still trying to figure out what it is.

Melinda, Ella and I were on the tram to go get lunch, eating at a crêperie in the center of town. The three of us did a small amount of shopping, too, picking up a new swimming suit for Ella and a scarf for Melinda. Chloe continues to be in Paris with Alex. Last night she and I exchanged text messages, Chloe reporting they had a nice dinner sitting outside the Sacré-Cœur and how beautiful the Eiffel Tower looked, all lit up at night. I responded with something about how I’ve heard people love Paris in the springtime.