gabriella & jd (and alex! and vincent!)

Christmas decorations at the cheese store made from wooden cheese containers pictures Christmas decoration in town, bread, brussel sprouts, macarons, Vincent soccer, waiting for choir practice, lunch at Au Coin de la Rue, more cooking. pictures More decorations, Lincoln, snacks, hail, Vincent's artwork, baking, reading, soccer, Harry Potter clothing at the Mall, rain, artwork, chapped hands (Alex!). JD in Romania for business A few pictures. JD judging cheese JD was asked to be a cheese judge, how cool. week before my US trip Poetry book we bought for Vincent (Maurice Careme, they learn a lot of his poems in school), books, food, Au Coin de la Rue Saturday meal after Romania, Hanukkah, pastries, football, a day in Levallois, reading, champagne (De Gualle's favorite house), and more beautiful Christmas windows.  I think the butcher had the prettiest window.

Saturday pictures Time for the Christmas Market in our town.  It was cold but sunny.  Vincent loved all the rides, the roller coaster, swings, driving cars, slide, carousel, and trampoline jump.  Of course there was also crepes with sugar, and "vin chaud"(mulled wine).  Then a big lunch at our favorite Indian restaurant. Vincent driving movie

Saturday in Paris - museum, lunch, marche Into Paris on Saturday to the Musee Maillol for a Pop Art Exhibit from New York.  Lunch at Bistrot d'Henri - we ate there once before last year and remembered it was good and a cosy space.  It did not disapoint - escargots, lentils, boeuf bourgignon, tarte tatin, and griottes (sour cherries) in kirsch. rest of Saturday Then a walk around Saint-Germain including the Apple store and marche.  To a bar to watch the Manchester United game, then a walk across the Seine past the Louvre to take the Metro home! pictures Other happenings - leaves, Vincent soccer, the mall, pastries, walking to school, meals, art, Eiffel Tower, Irving Penn photography exhibit at the Grand Palais, Christmas decorations on our street, and it even snowed one night!

pictures Sunday November 26, Vincent's football game in Levallois.  He really enjoys it and is pretty good too!  The stadium is a 20 minute walk from our apartment.  It's near the commuter train station and right next to the peripherique (Beltway around Paris).  The construction in the first photos is the new Palais de Justice in the 17th in Paris. pictures More November pictures, school, reading, eating, baking, football practice, Vincent lost his 6th tooth (!), a walk in the 17th and delicious Indian for lunch, then a walk home.  More reading and eating.  Vincent loves to read, can you tell?

pictures We always try to make stuffing and some turkey (not a whole one but a thigh) for the US Thanksgiving holiday.  A regular day in France of course.  In the morning we ran errands in town, then had lunch at Cornelius. After school we prepped for dinner.  It was delicious! menu turkey thigh stuffing with sausage and fennel roasted butternut squash apple crumble (kids are addicted lately to this) pomme pettilant (sparkling apple cider)

pictures First week back from the Toussaint vacation.  November has arrived in Paris, gray skies and the leaves are changing colors.  There was some market, a large head of cabbage, bakery goodies, cheese, soccer, reading, Vietnamese food, and Christmas decorations in town. Saturday November 11 was Armistice Day.  It was raining lightly and we did not go to the ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, maybe next year.  Instead we went to visit our friend's restaurant in the 19th for a delicious meal - steak, frites, haricot verts, wine, cheese, yum.

pictures Vincent was able to experience a good ole American Halloween and he loved it!  Vincent put on his Harry Potter costume at 9 a.m. when the tree guy arrived and didn't take it off all day.  We had a nice lunch with Grannie, Claire and Mabel.  Vincent's first Sloppy Joe, yum.  We did a little Trick or Treating at neighbors, and Meagan and Steve's, then out to see Mrs. Mudd's fabulously decorated house and visit with Kathleen one more time before she headed back to Boston.  October 31 is also Mrs. Mudd's birthday. last of the USA trip pictures Exercise class with Grannie, Ruan Thai in Wheaton, naps, errands, packing... Our last two days were filled with enjoying the beautiful Fall weather, visiting friends, running all sorts of errands, and then a traditional stop at Carrie's house before Dulles.  Carrie was so kind to pick us up in Kensington in the middle of the day to bring us around the Beltway.  Such a good friend.  Plus we got a little Natalie

Paris to Washington DC Vincent and I visited Grannie for 9 days during Toussaint school vacation. It's always a whirlwind trip, but this time even more so.  Stay tuned for the exciting news! Also, Vincent took the training wheels off his bike. I saw lots of Carrie and most of her family which was really nice - David, Mitchell (16), Natalie (13), Rose, Beth, Barb...we missed Spencer by a week, he will be home from Marine Corps Base Hawaii before he ships out to Okinawa in December. Kathleen was also in town from Boston so we were able to visit with her and Mrs. Mudd.  Good times.  Last time I saw Kathleen was Lisbon, Portugal in July.  Dropped by Lynn's also and Delia made us do a talent show. Alex had fun while he stayed in France with JD.  He went on a overnight trip with the Pre-Teen Club (Club Pré-Ados) to  " Futuroscope , or Parc du Futuroscope is a French theme park based upon multimedia, cinematographic futuroscope and audio-visual techniques."  He

pictures    Flowers, eating, Zuzanna's party at Kid Zone, sushi, making apple crumble. buildings in Courbevoie We had a nice walk around Courbevoie(next town over) while Vincent was at Zuzanna's birthday party.  Oh, and celebrating Halloween has arrived in France as shown by the merchandising. funny France

mmm, meringues pictures The last of the fizzy apple cider, reading, Saturday night family dinner at Au Coin de la Rue (the green soup is watercress), Vincent ended up eating my duck, Vincent and his 1st crossword, a wonderful lunch at Cornelius (we haven't been in awhile but it was my birthday week and they had marrow bones), vaccine shots at our doctor, Alex arranging the cheese for Dad he got at the Farm (Neufchâtel), Vincent's Wednesday soccer practice. pictures Beautiful sunny warm (77+ degrees) weekend thanks to Hurricane Ophelia which dragged warm air from Africa up over France.  Lunch outside at Le Zinc, macarons from the bakery, a delicious Chinese food extravaganza after Talmud Torah on Sunday with my friend Mindy and her son Alex, warm sunny Sunday afternoon in the park, trying on Halloween costumes, and choir on Wednesday.

DIOR exhibit Amazing Christian Dior exhibit at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs.  Very popular with long lines even with advance purchase tickets, but worth it.  Lunch afterwards at Restaurant de La Cordonnerie, sitting at the chef table in the kitchen, very cool. pictures Then dental appointments for the children, dinner at home (duck, zuchinni, frites), and pastries from the bakery.

the best!

cheers to sparkling apple cider (pomme petillant) from la ferme! pictures Hard to believe only 3 weeks of school left until our 2 week Toussaint vacation.  This week was somewhat normal, except JD is in Atlanta for a week of work.  Vincent had football practice and choir practice. Alex continues to adjust to the life of a 6th grader, a different schedule everyday and more challenging studies.  Thursday his Science class had a field trip to a farm http://www.fermedegrignon.fr/ .  He said the farm stank of manure (duh), the cows were milked by machines so they could not do it, and they saw baby sheep!  He also arrived home with purchases from the farm - sparkling apple cider, cheese for JD, tomatoes, cookies, and yogurt.  It was very sweet how he shared the cider with Vincent. Alex's schedule, not including archery on Tuesdays:

Hospitalier Franco-Britannique Vincent in front of the hospital where he was born, we were waiting for the bus on Saturday and noticed, hey, that's where Vincent was born!  It's also around the corner from Alex's school. We've been busy with school, holidays, sports, choir, reading, cheese, etc.  Take a look: football (soccer) pictures Vincent changed his practice to Tuesday so he can have Levallois chorus practice on Wednesday. pictures more pictures pictures Friday and Saturday, Yom Kippur. Vincent picked out his own outfit including the bow tie for Friday night.  Afterwards there had to be sushi for the kids who were starving.  Services in the 16th arrondissement.  A lovely break the fast at David and Willy's for the choir and their families.  A very late night.

We made a delicious meal this year as usual.  JD chose paleron, chuck steak, from the butcher Philippe. Vincent helped with some breaks for reading in between.  Lincoln really wanted some meat. pictures menu: boeuf (paleron = chuck steak) first piece from Philippe our butcher, second from the Kosher store..it was from Poland - it was closer to brisket but not US brisket white whine braised leeks (a yearly favorite) parsley potatoes challah, apples, honey, wine ...and then there were suits and ties, thank you Marjorie for the hand-me-downs!  Your 3 boys to my 2 boys. awesome.  Vincent, go stand next to your brother.  Ok, Mom! so, I'm just gonna say, and we have discussed this - Alex definitely has a Wright/Banyasz/Fauber head vs. a Deitch/Queller head, right?

Back to school night for Vincent. CPb = cours preparatoire = first grade, b = section Vincent has a really nice classroom and teacher.  Monsieur Steevy DINOU.  The classroom is very serious - learning how to be a student.  Vincent is loving it.  Writing, reading, English, swimming, sport, counting, geometry - he already knows some of it and is thirsty for more. The classroom is on the third floor (US) and faces the street.  I could not stop taking pictures of the cute label Vincent made for his coat rack.  And yes, he is 1 meter 30 cm tall, like an 8 year old French child as our Doctor told us.  Go for it Vincent! pictures this is Vincent's desk on the right:

pictures Now that Alex is in middle school, he can go afterschool and on Saturday to one of the two pre-teen clubs in our town, the Club Pre-Ados.  We toured the facility which has a nice set-up, games, books, video games, TV, a kitchen, plus they go on short trips and overnights, including a ski trip in February.  Cool. pictures Rest of last week - cheese, flowers, Vincent's teeth, homework, Saturday breakfast, Shri Ganesh Indian for lunch.  Alex ate, in addition to his butter chicken, 3 naan and 2 portions of rice.  Vincent kept up.  Nap, then tomato, feta cucumber salad. pictures More pictures - homework, bakery, Levallois Sports Club day in the Park, a walk home. Look at these beautiful flowers in our town hall garden - of course they win awards every year, the most Floral Town in France.  So beautiful.

pictures Vincent is taking soccer (football) this year and had his first practice yesterday.  It was raining but he didn't seem to care he was so excited. Vincent is all the way on the right.

This is a flower made from cheese! We are all getting used to the new school routine.  The weather turned cool the minute September arrived, with some heavy rain this past Friday. pictures Vincent has been practicing his ecriture (writing) and learning his poesies (poems). JD is continuing his "40 days of cheese" blogpost http://www.mfromage.fr/en/blog .  Alex and Vincent are enjoying their new electronic toothbrushes.  Saturday we did some errands, but Vincent was so tired afterwards he ate his Thai food and passed out asleep on the restaurant table!  Vincent also keeps trying on his soccer shoes and socks for his weekly soccer class that starts this coming Wednesday.

Vincent CP/first grade          6 yrs old Alex 6e/sixième, 6th grade  11 years old pictures Back to school, Alex and Vincent were very excited.  Vincent was first at 9 a.m.  He saw lots of his friends from his old school.  Then Alex's middle school (collège) started at 9:30, it's about a 15 minute walk from Vincent's school.  There was a 30 minute speech from the Directrice, then off to homeroom classes.  Alex's homeroom teacher is the math teacher we met at the Open House in May. We spent the evening filling out paperwork and going over Alex's exciting schedule. So many classes! more pictures 

School starts tomorrow, September 4th.  A nice weekend although Friday was chilly.  Saturday we had a long walk, headed into town, walked along the Seine, stopped for dinner, and made our way back home. Friday Saturday

cheese anyone? Enjoying the solitude.  Everyone, and I mean everyone, departs on vacation - bakeries close, restaurants shutter, streets are empty.  It's great!  We love this time in Paris.  We had a visitor from Maryland, Alex's friend since first grade who was in town for a month with his family to visit family.  It was cool and rainy but we went to the "Invader"exhibit again and then the Paris St. Germain store to get a shirt - the lines were out the door due to the new signing of Neimar. Luckily two of our favorite places were open in August:  O'Fam, and the Anjou.  But our sushi place is gone (sniff sniff) they changed menu direction and have gone fast Thai.  It was the best sushi and we went there at least once a week so we are very sad.  We've been trying new places in town to find a good sushi place. a few pictures Saturday and Sunday A walk into town, new shoes for Vincent, lunch, a walk through Levallois to the cemetery where Gustave Eif

Three day weekend in Metz, France, a cool town Northeast of Paris near Luxembourg with many layers of history including Roman, Medieval, French and German.  Kaiser Wilhelm II ruled it in the late 1800's as part of Germany and built many large structures in varying styles of architecture - train station, post office, etc.  Metz also has a massive cathedral, lots of squares and art and plazas on 2 rivers.  Quiche Lorraine is from the region, and small yellow plums called "mirabelles".  We had a great time and would certainly go back.  A "hidden gem".  It was cool and rainy when we arrived, but warm and sunny by the time we left.  And the train was so fun, we even chose first class. After reading the history of the region, my name for the weekend was "Brunehilde".  Just look it up, Brunehilde and Sigebert.  We had no idea of the history.  Fascinating. Saturday Paris to Metz (pronounced Mess) on the TGV, 2 hours via the Champagne region.  Walk into

notice the Beatrix Potter artwork on the wall behind Vincent - Grannie Pauline made that for me and it was on my wall growing up, I loved Beatrix Potter, so does Vincent. full circle! pictures Vincent got a new desk so he's all ready for first grade (CP) on September 4th.  Alex busied himself with his chemistry set. pictures Most of the photos from our phones from July - random and perhaps not in order, but fun! a collage Google made for me: maquiallage at the Centre de Loisir for Vincent -