UN,DEUX,TROIS,QUATRE,CINQ,SIX,SEPT,HUIT,...

tToday Meghan and I had our second French lesson while here in Vannes. Edith is a great teacher and is making it fun for Meghan by drawing pictures and labeling the parts of the body. Meghan can now count to 100 while mom is still struggling to remember how to count to 10. Meghan likes to correct my pronunciation of words but I remind her that "Edith" is my tutor. Dave will continue with his lessons at work with Edith. At his work, the managers must speak English to work there but he still attends meetings in which French is spoken and he has no idea what they are saying.
As some of you know , I have a herb garden at home and like to use herbs in my cooking. I have been missing my little garden but not the weeding. At the local market I picked up some potted herbs. One of the herbs was ciboulette. Your assignment today is to figure out which herb it is. We could not figure out why they have been selling safety vests and the triangle signs at the local market. So during the dinner conversation with our American friend, Josh, we found out that as of July 1, it's a law that all vehicles must have a safety vest and triangle sign in the car. News to us since our rental car did not include one. It's little things like this that we are discovering every day.

Speaking with a local Vannes resident today I learned that the population decreases from 150,000 in the summer to 50,0000 after the tourists leave. One Saturday morning I snapped this picture around 8 a.m. and came back at noon to the same location. So I'm thinking that the top photo is more like what I'll see after school starts.

FLOWERS, FUN AND MONKEYS!

I just love the window boxes which are very typical here in Vannes. If you click on the picture to enlarge you can see the boxes are made of wood and beautifully stained. Almost every home along with their colorful flower gardens are kept impeccable.
Meghan and her new friend Claire on our walk back from the Jazz Festival. I have nicknamed Claire "monkey"or "singe" in French because she likes to climb on everything. The girls are giving me their monkey pose. Above the girls curtsy in front of the Palais de Justice, which you can see from our flat. Claire spent the night and the girls are still sleeping. Wonder what time they went to sleep?
This week the local Jazz Festival is happening at different venues around town. Some are "gratuits" and others you need a ticket. It has been hard for me to try to figure out the schedule but with Claire's help as our interpreter, we found out last night all the tickets have been sold except for Saturday. Dave had a business dinner last night so the girls and I went to get ice-cream and hear some New Orleans jazz on the plaza.
This Rose of Sharon bush and I'm not sure of the purple bush, caught my gaze on my walk back from taking Meghan to gymnastics camp. I continue to be amazed at how vibrant the colors still are at the end of July. It seems like at home by the beginning of August my plants are sufferning from the Indiana humidity. Not sure how I will ever handle humidity again after living here.

Stayed tuned for Dave's blog on the tour.................

WEEKEND IN PARIS

So a free weekend with nothing to do, why not make a trip to Paris for le weekend. Some people might go to Cincinnati, Kokomo or even Chicago. Well, we thought we would just pop over to Paris for a quick weekend trip. Actually the real reason was to see the finish of the Tour de France on Sunday. BTW, in France instead of saying the weekend the French phrase is a little difficult. It is le weekend. Even I can learn French with words like that.

The picture above is Susie, Meghan and I in front of the Arc de Triomphe. A family from Florida offered to take our picture if we would take their picture. Done deal and you see the result.

Here are the directions to get to Paris. Drive 5 minutes to the train station in Vannes and 3 hours later we were in Paris. There is very good public transportation in Paris. We used the Metro to get around. Traffic is Paris is a nightmare and the parking is worse. Below is a typical parking place in Paris. How would you like to fit your car into this space?

We spent the afternoon walking down the Avenue de Champs Elysees. It was a zoo with people everywhere. We couldn't believe how many people there were and most of them were tourists. We've been told that the people who live in Pairs leave in August to avoid the tourists. We walked up a side street and found a typical cafe for dinner. Susie had fish with a red pepper sauce, I had veal stew and Meghan had a bagette with ham and frites (french fries) We are trying to develop her palette for other foods but it's a struggle.

To finish off the day at sunset we went up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. 268 stairs later we were at the top. As you can see the stairs went round and round and round and round.
Meghan knew she could touch the top of the Eiffel tower and she was right.
So back to the hotel and tomorrow we see the Tour de France.

MEGHAN ATTACKS WITH A BANG!

Hi, Meghan here! I just had a very exciting week. I did escrime from 2-6pm (for all you American this is French for fencing)! The first day I was told to bring water and nothing else. So I got there and about 4:15 my instructor asked me if I brought a picnic. I told her no, so while everyone else was eating, I had nothing to eat. On the way home we bought a big bottle of water and some snacks for the next day.


The second day I brought the big bottle of water. After about the first half hour I got thristy. So I walked over the where I put my water and started to open it and all of a sudden it started to fizz. I took my first drink. I realised it wasn't water it was soda. I didn't drink it because it didn't taste very good. At about 4:30 when we were suppost to be eating, I told my instructor I had a headache. She asked me if I wanted to call my mom so I said yes. I called her and told her the whole story and asked her if she could come and pick my up. She said yes. The girl I am fencing in the picture above is Cammie. She is a few years younger the me.
The third day I brought water. In my fencing class they hooked us up to the electronic scoring in the tip of our foil. That is what you see connected to me in the picture. At about 5:00 we got a choice of badminton, ping-pong, footbul (soccer) or tag. I played ping-pong. In the picture above, we are playing badminton & ping-pong. During the hour we had to play games she helped me learn French. She taught me how to say the days of the week, the months of the year and the names of lots of animals.
I met a lot of kids at camp. This is just one of them. Her name is Claire. We met on Tuesday. She speaks a little English. we gave each other gifts over the course of the week. I wrote mine in English and translated it on the computer. Since we don't have a printer, I had to rewrite the entire letter in French. It took at least 2 hours to complete it.

All in all I had a great week at camp!

GOD CONTINUES TO BLESS OUR LIFE IN VANNES

As I was out running/walking this week, I was able to capture this photo. Now what is the chance of the boat coming in just as the baloons are hovering above. Thanks God, for this beautiful scene!
Taking a new trail back, I came across this statue of Jesus' crucifixion. The signage was in French and not having my French dictionary I was not sure why it was there at this spot.

The guide book lists it as "Calvaire de Kerino". Plan to do some research on this one.

A view looking back toward the city of Vannes. The trail goes along both sides of the water.
Meghan and her new friends, Solene and Auriane, at the riding stables. Meghan has always wanted to learn to ride and the opportunity presented itself, so in the fall she and Solene will take lessons after school on Tuesday. Auriane, her sister, is in the advanced classes and has been riding for several years.
My new friend who speaks English!! Anne Elizabeth, who is French but speaks very good English, heard through a friend of a friend that we were new here and that we had a daughter wanting to meet some friends. She has taken us under her wing and made us feel so welcomed. She is sharing some of her rosemary her for me to take home and use on the porkchops we are grilling for dinner. I had NEVER seen rosemary that large. As you can see it is taller than Elizabeth. Their whole family left today for two weeks in the Alps. We will miss them while they are gone.

MEETING NEW FRIENDS FROM ARRADON

Heidi S. who left for the states for a month, gave me the name of some of her friends who speak English prior to her leaving. So, I picked up the phone and called Alix and introduced myself. Alix and her daughter, Leatitia, were so kind to invite us to their home for the day in Arradon, a small community along the gulf about the size of Batesville.Alix was born in France and has lived in the Netherlands and her husband is awaiting his VISA to move to Portland, Oregon.
We spent the afternoon walking and talking and the girls challenged each other to some games. Meghan and I learned that checkers are called "Jeu de Dame" and is played differently in France. First of all, you don't become a king you become a queen when you get to the other side. You also can move forward or backward if you are jumping your opponent's checker. The most challenging difference is the queen can jump the opponent anywhere in the row. So it is even more important to get a queen quickly or you are going to lose. Just ask Meghan!

One of the beautiful homes we passed on our walk to the beach. Alix said these homes are passed down within the family and sometimes aren't always a blessing because you have to be able to maintain them. Looks like this one is well preserved!
Alix along the trail to the gulf, just a short walk from her backdoor. Alix and Heidi also bike with a group once the kids are back in school. Many of the French leave for most of July and/or August. We were explaining that a two week vacation in the states is a long vacation for us.
Another lovely home in Arradon. There is a staue of Mary at the top of the house which faces the local church.

ENJOYING THE DAY TOGETHER!

Every Sunday just before church service, someone cuts fresh flowers from the church gardens to put on the altar. I love the fact that they just go outside, cut the flowers and put them on the altar. No florist, no cost, and how simple! After church we headed to the beach at Point de St. Jacques, around 25 minutes away. It still amazes me we can be at the ocean in a half hour. The temperature was in the 70's, a little too cool for us to swim so we opted for a hike along the shore of the Atlantic. Looking forward to more times at the beach when it warms up. We heard it has been in the 90's at home. We miss all of you back home but not the Indiana humidity!Meghan just being Meghan!!! Dave and Susie enjoying a moment together.

SATURDAY MORNING VISIT TO THE MARKET

Dave's first visit with us to the market was Saturday morning and he was amazed at how many people were there and all the different kinds of vendors. I'm used to Irvington's farmers market so the Vannes market can be a little overwhelming the first time. We bought fresh lettuce, strawberries, melon, pineapple, and red potatoes. We are all three eating so much healthier here because the fresh items are so easily available.
They also have a fish market on Saturday mornings where the fish are so fresh they still have their heads on. Meghan was a little apprehensive about this part of the morning. We decided to buy the salmon because it was a known entity and it had already been deheaded. We hope to learn more about how to prepare the other unfamiliar fish. Josh Shenk, who also works for Hill-Rom, came to dinner and we enjoyed a delicious dinner, all from the market.
Just a little free entertainment along the walk home!

A BEAUTIFUL MORNING RUN

You all know how shy I am so you will not be suprised that I met Isabelle this morning before my run. She was very friendly and is a bike rider so I hope to see her again and ride with her. She took the time to give me a list of places to see while we are here. The bagueetes she was holding are called Paillasse. She said it is a funny name for the baquette and told me what it meant but I did not understand. I plan to research the meaning.

There is a path that goes along the water that I ran for the first time today .As you can see, it was diifucult not to stop every five nminutes to take a picture. It was a beautiful morning with very few people out and about. The French stay up late and sleep in. You would never see someone out running at 5 a.m. like Cindy S. and I did in Indy. Sleeping in has been nice and I think I can get used to this schedule.

FRENCH MONOPOLY

Dave and Meghan cook dinner tonight and give Susie the night off. The french baguettes have become a staple in this house. We have several bakeries within a five minute walk from our apartment. After two weeks of not running I decided today would be a good day to start back up. We do not have the Indiana humidity here so it is very pleasant running weather.Meghan learns how to play monopoly in french! Sabine ,our relocation specialist, is leaving for five weeks of vacation and won't return until late August. While she was driving me around showing me the bike and running trails, the indoor pool, the hairdresser ( who only speaks french), and other important locations, Meghan was home with her children playing Monopoly and scrabble in French. Dave and I are so proud of how mature she has behaved during this transition period. As many of you know she was not real excited about leaving her comfort zone. She played for three hours with children that spoke only French.

The hydrangnas are in full bloom everywhere and the colors are just stunning. This picture was taken on my walk to Sabine's house. Meghan and I walk everywhere because Dave's work is 25 minutes away and he has the car during the day. We love walking but are anxious for our bikes to get here.
Look mom, just like growing up in Batesville with no dryer. The washer is very little and holds about three towels and not much more. Doing laundry early a.m. and hanging it on the terrace is my morning routine. Good thing we live on the fourth floor. I'm just wondering what they do in the winter.