gabriella & jd (and alex! and vincent!)

October 2015 école élémentaire Jules Ferry CM1 (fourth grade) 9 1/2 years old Mme AMALRIC Levallois-Perret, France

pictures Lincoln, Vincent, some good meals, a Chipotle opening in our town, park, some funny France pictures (a very tiny car parked, British granola, sauce L'Americaine), Vincent stacking pancakes. pictures Warhol exhibit at Museum of Modern Art in Paris, lunch at La Billebaude in the 7e, Vincent helping to make French toast and helping in the kitchen. Armistice Day Commemorations of November 11 in our town, then a nice lunch. "Armistice Day (Armistice de la Première Guerre mondiale) in France remembers those who died or were injured in World War I and other wars."  Alex had a lesson in school on "Les Poilus" , = Poilu is an informal term for a French World War I infantryman, meaning, literally, hairy one. It is still widely used as a term of endearment for the French infantry of World War I. The word carries the sense of the infantryman's typically rustic, agricultural background. Beards and bushy moustaches were often worn. The poilu was p...

Outside Alex's school on Monday, November 16 - Flag tied with black ribbon for 3 days of mourning, Ville de Levallois-Perret, France - November 13 Friday, a normal day before the evening...JD and I went into Paris to run some errands, buy Alex's new piano books near the Gare St. Lazare, then some errands by the Grands Magasins which were starting to decorate their windows for Christmas.  We decided to try one of the new BBQ restaurants in Paris, Floyd's Bar and Grill in the 10th arrondissement.  The BBQ was good, but of course not as good or as large of a portion as in the US!  We walked most of the way back home. Other happenings of the day - Alex lost a tooth and Vincent fell and smashed his face into a tree at recess. On Saturday, Alex attended a birthday party for his friend Thomas at a Lasergame venue in Courbevoie. November 22 Eating, Vincent, meal at Cornelius (duck and polenta), and JD's chorus concert. November 30 Park, school, rai...

pictures When we first moved to France 6 years ago, there was little to no Halloween celebration, decorations, or costumes.  The big costume holiday here was Mardi Gras.  Now there's slowly more and more Halloween decorations and celebrations.  The UK based department store Marks and Spencer has several stores in Paris, and English folks celebrate Halloween. No full trick-or-treating in Paris yet, but some people give out candy.  We went to the L'Anjou our corner cafe/bistro/bar to celebrate and Vincent had his face painted. "Halloween, from All Hallows Eve (ie. the day before All Saints Day) – a festival which is seen in France as an ‘Anglo-Saxon’ import but which has been gaining in popularity. It is often said to have been grafted onto a Celtic autumn festival called Samhain.  Toussaint  (All Saints Day) is the Catholic Festival honouring all of the saints. It is often associated with  Le Jour des Morts  (All Souls Day), which ...

JD, Gabby, Alex, Vincent, Kathleen and Carrie's big adventure Basel, Switzerland and Alsace Lorraine region of France October 27 - October 31, 2015 Colmar, France / Barr, France / Mount Saint Odile, France Strasbourg, France Vacation to the Alsace Lorraine region of France, which straddles the border of Germany along the Rhine river and Vosges mountains.  Because the region has changed hands 4 times between Germany and France, and runs right next to the border of Germany, it feels and sounds like Germany with a bit of France. A day in Basel, Switzerland to meet up with Kathleen who was in Basel for work and Carrie who flew over to join us for the adventure. Lots of foie gras, duck, cured meat, pretzel bread, munster cheese, spätzle (egg noodles), and flammenkuchen (flat bread pizza with creme fraiche, onion, and lardons.  Yum.  Oh, and don't forget the Choucroute Alsatian which is sauerkraut served with sausage and cured meat all piled on top. Carrie dubb...

pictures A visit to Vincent's classroom (moyenne section 10) before vacation.  They've been working on their letters.  A walk into Paris, pizza for lunch, a fire in our town (a grease fire at a restaurant), reading. pictures Some more meals, a visit to the park, and a late night visit into Paris.

Enjoying October.  The children are into the school routine, just in time for the 2 week Toussaint vacation starting Oct 17. pictures Double yolk eggs, track and field, birthday lunch with our friend Marie, food fair, bounce slide, and a very large swordfish at the local fish market. pictures Champagne and birthday tarts, birthday lunch, Fall foliage.

pictures From the end of September - lunch at Au Coin de la Rue (we had not been in awhile), touring inside the Levallois-Perret town hall and Mayor's office for Heritage Days (when private spaces are open to the public), walking through the park and across town to the Ile de la Jatte and back, Indian for lunch, reading. pictures Walking to school,  Yom Kippur, park, Vincent's skelton costume, Alex's athletics class, scuba bath time. pictures Alex's "appareil dentaire" the orthodontist removed after 6 months, more pink wig fun, lunch, taking Lincoln to the vet in the stroller, perfumed blue toilet paper (only in France), play-doh, double yolk eggs, Parc Monceau and the merry-go-round.

Trying on the Halloween costume already - 

Some sun before it turned cool and gray and rainy with the storms leftover from Hurricane Henri. Rosh Hashanah, school, and activities. pictures Endive salad, a sunny day at Canal St. Martin, Vincent and his cahier (notebook), Alex's desk and classroom, funny faces and dinner at the Anjou, Rosh Hashanah dinner with white wine braised leeks and sweet and sour fish.  Apples and honey and challah of course.  The French put sugar crystals on top of the round challah, and chocolate chips in another. pictures Rain, snacks in the park before Alex's first piano lesson, dinner second night (lamb, parsley potatoes and brussel sprouts), Alex's athletisme class, fresh fruit at the market, a vaccination for Vincent. pictures Alex took:

On the way to school. pictures Dinner with Shana's friends Alan and Amanda who live very close to us we just found out!  Haircut for Alex.  School, snacks, a heart-shaped pizza at La Trattoria, Saturday in Paris, Tuileries, lunch at La Palette in the 6th, park, Alex building a pool-table with his physics workshop set. pictures Vincent's classroom including "Crocodou" the class mascot, walking to school, Vincent walking up the stairs to his classroom all by himself, Alex's first Athletisme class (each Wednesday at the track).

pictures One more trip to Chantilly on the last hot weekend of August.  We had a delicious meal at Auberge du Jeu de Paume ($$$) and then rented a golf cart to tour all the gardens of Chantilly.  On previous visits we had just walked through the gardens on foot.  Then a nice long walk back to the train station. pictures Celebrating at the Anjou with champagne and fois gras for JD's last day of work before his new job starts. pictures Alex's impressive train and airport construction, sleeping, more trains, park.

Pictures Tuesday Sept 1, 2015. Back to school!  Alex (CM1 - 4th grade) and Vincent (moyenne section 4 yrs old).  Walking to school.  Gathering in the courtyard of Alex's school. more pictures Vincent sleeping, then back to school for Alex and Vincent.  Vincent found a friend Margot from his class last year in the courtyard of Alex's school, and they started running around and climbing the sports net.  Then it was off to Vincent's school.  His class is on the 2nd floor with a nice window facing the pedestrian alley in front of the school.  Vincent was excited to see some friends from last year's class - Joseph, Xavier, Houleye, Come, Basile. and more.  He was happy and very glad to be back at school.  He told us when we picked him up that "He was very good all day".

A whirlwind 17 days in the US, centered around celebrating Z's 70th birthday.  We hit the beach twice, putt-putt twice, and even ate King Crab legs three times!  It will take us another two weeks to recover. Pictures Packing and leaving Paris on an Air France A380 Thursday July 30th.  Hitting the Air France lounge for some food before the flight.  David picked us up at Dulles and we had a chance to visit briefly with David and Carrie.  Around the Beltway to Grannie's. Pictures First day at Grannie's.  We spent Friday getting over jet lag and running errands.  Vincent had Grannie around the block 3 times before lunch.  Testing out the Park Hyatt in DC before Z's party the following weekend. Pictures Lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant Mi Rancho in Silver Spring where Alex ate 4 adult size chicken soft tacos.  Dinner at Carrie's.  Sunday - visit to Rose and Beth in Baltimore and lunch at The Harp. Pictures A day at Rehob...

A very hot summer - 102 degrees on July 1st!  80's and 90's most of the month instead of 60's and 70's.  After camp, Alex went to the Centre de Loisir for a week and half before we left for our US vacation. Alex goes to camp Alex was at camp for the first two weeks of July outside of Dijon.  We have some pictures.  He had a great time, he came back in one piece, tan, and singing camp songs. pictures Park, eating cherries, JD's birthday, Alex returns from camp, pictures Food, trains, bowling, pizza, champagne.

view of Hautvillers, France Three day vacation in the Champagne region of France, a two hour drive from Paris.  We visited Epernay in 2009 and loved it, more than the larger city of Reims in 2011, so we decided to stay in a small town outside of Epernay called Hautvillers.  Dom Perignon (the monk who discovered how to make champagne) is buried in the church in the town.  We found an amazing bed and breakfast we highly recommend, Le Clos Des Armoiries.  We drove through many small towns, a ton of vineyards, military cemeteries, the forest and mountains of Reims, and of course ate and drank as much as we could.  We literally started tasting champagne at Mercier at 10:30 a.m. on Friday and kept going all day! No headaches the next day either.  That's some good stuff. Thursday Leaving Paris, lunch at Auberge de l'Omois in Baulne-en-Brie where we were the only patrons, and the chef told us which neighbor supplied which ingredient for the meal.  It...

pictures We went to watch the parade and military plane fly-over from the other side of the Champs-Elysees. This year the parade was smaller than last year and the public was not allowed to view the military vehicles after the parade, due to security etc., but it was still a fun time.  Nothing beats the fly-over and all those military planes. more pictures list of type of airplanes that flew over:

pictures Monday July 6th Alex left for 2 weeks of camp outside of Dijon.  He took the train from Gare de Paris Bercy with the group.  We have seen some pictures and heard from the counselors that Alex is having a great time and there will be more pictures when they return. pictures The first week Alex was gone, JD had to go to Romania, so Vincent and I enjoyed some leisurely days of going to the park.  We even saw his friend Sandro.  Saturday we walked into town and had a nice lunch at a bistro in the 17th. pictures Monday we went across town to the Canal St. Martin, then walked into the Marais.  We had lunch at a much written about taqueria restaurant called "Candelaria", which was good and legitimately spicy. The guac was good, the chips too dark and thick, the green pepper taco the best, followed by the cactus taco and then chorizo.

pictures End of June - before the heatwave.  School, drinks outside, Vincent celebrating his June birthday at school. pictures Some time in the park before it got too hot.  A cat in the apartment across the courtyard on the second floor cooling on the ledge. Last day of school and the heatwave End of CE2 (third grade) for Alex, petite section (preschool) for Vincent.  We've had a terrible heatwave here for the past week, the hottest we've ever experienced while living in France.  It was 102°F on July 1st and in the 90's the rest of the time. But we survived and it is supposed to be cooling off soon. Lots of underwear time for the boys and cool baths each night. pictures Saturday, finishing up errands before Alex goes away to camp on Monday.  Lunch outside at a new bistro, Alex went to a soccer birthday party, and got a haircut for camp.  Packing for camp and Alex's favorite dinner, salmon with broccoli and rice. potato chip flavors in France a...