Salut Amis!
I hope everyone is having a lovely fall into winter. It's definitely chilling down here. We're hoping for some snow. Word has it that it does snow here sometimes, perhaps enough to create un homme de neige. All has been trés bien. We have been sticking close to home these last few weeks. It seems like perhaps we are starting to speak the french a petit peu better. The boys are still liking school and enjoying the french way of life. Bob and I are eating well to say the least. We hope to get out to do some skiing soon. I have been trying to get this post out for too long so it is perhaps a bit old and long in the tooth but alas here it is...
As we are in the Beaujolais region of France we got to experience the Beaujolais Nouveau first hand a few weeks ago. All the wineries in the region open their cellars starting on the 3rd Thursday in November for folks to sample the new wine from this last harvest. As you can imagine, this is a very young wine, hence the name, it was just bottled a few months ago. Alors, it is not considered to be "good" for this reason and because this region is not the best for wine. BUT it was quite tasty. I believe that the purpose of tasting such a young wine is for those in the know to try to predict how this years' wine will age. The weekend of Beaujolais Nouveau we were lucky enough to have friends with friends and relatives whom have wineries and were taken through the night, kids in tow, to 3 caves (cellars) where we enjoyed some local wines. That was followed by a grand meal of "choucroute" (sauerkraut) that was representative of the region of Lile hosted by our friends on the rue whom hail from that region. These events were not related but happened on the same night and a great time was had by all.
Unfortunately, the next day was a little painful and we had planned the first of our THREE, yes, THREE Thanksgivings. For those of you whom inquired about Thanksgiving here, yes you can get turkeys, yes we had Thanksgiving, we had three because we really truly are thankful to many people. I would like to think that nobody asked me if they celebrate Thanksgiving here, so I am going to. I wasn't prepared for the high cost of the turkeys, nor their heads being still attached. But we managed to overcome these things and have some great meals with our friends and neighbors.
Other cool things we have done are visit our friend's family's castle in the town. It was built in the 17th and 18th centuries. There is a natural spring on the property that the historical owners built a shelter around and it feeds a pool that is supposedly lovely to swim in during the summer. There are some great stories that Aimé shared with us about it. It seemed that for him it was full of memories of hanging out there with his cousins when he was a boy and teenager. One story tells of a hole shot in the ceiling by some crazy Mongolian soldiers. My favorite story shared during the first Thanksgiving was how our other neighbor Paul, Aimé's older brother, discovered a German soldier hiding out in a "utility closet" after the end of the 2nd world war. Apparently he would sneak out at night and steal eggs to eat. Paul, at the age of 6 or so, saw him and told his family. They in turn, offered him refuge in the house for some time afterward. This may be upsetting to some, I find the compassion of this family inspiring.
D'accord, finally, if you have looked at our Facebook pages you have seen the pictures from the Fêtes des Lumières in Lyon. This was a spectacular event centered around the 8th of December when the city of Lyon pays hommage to the always popular Mary for saving the city from the plague. I am including a link at the end of the photos for the full story. The festival started as people putting multiple candles in their windows on the night of the 8th and has erupted into a full blown international sensation of lights and spectacle. I highly recommend visiting Lyon for this festival, without kids and a full wallet. Though in reality, it was not at all an expensive event, the light events are free and the street food cheap, but if you come all the way to Lyon, you might as well eat like royalty, and that will cost you.
Okay, waaaaay too many pictures to follow. There are a lot from the Beaujolais Nouveau because in an effort to drink undisturbed, we parents gave the children our phone/cameras. I included many photos because I happen to love pictures that children take.
Á la prochain
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| The Beujolais region |
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| This is the first winery we visited, Lachassagne. It was also the biggest |
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| C'est mon derriere |
Le cave des cousins
This is the second winery owned by the cousins of our previously shown amie Elodie.
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| Mano is the uncle of said Elodie. |
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| Much like Utah, children are welcome in most places. |
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| So begins the part where the kids take control of the camera |
s
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| Too much wine, are you seeing double? |
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| Auxence or Hilaire, I may never know |
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| You may recall Castille from our adventures in foie gras |
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| The lovely Adeline and Lison |
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| Just like Utah... |
Le cave des parents de mon petit ami
Choucroute!!
A traditional sauerkraut meal from the north of France
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| Merci Cécile et Lionel! |
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| kid croute, well, not really, noodles and hot dogs... |
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| The ladeez of the Rue |
Thanksgiving, thanksgiving, thanksgiving
Le premiere dinde
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| Les voisins Vermandes |
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| Le dousieme dinde |
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| Les voisins de la Rue |
Le trioisieme Thanksgiving
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| Les amies de résistance!! |
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| French fashion by Alexia |
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| Whew! |
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| We are thankful for Elliot too but he just gets the gizzards |
The Ginko Tree (pronounce Jinko in French)
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| So beautiful from the guest room window |
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| Lison in the leaves |
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| On the way to art class |
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| Kids helping Paul pick up leaves |
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| They were paid in dates from Morocco |
Of course what no one tells you about the beautiful Ginko is that the leaves and fruit smell like dog poo and vomit after they have fallen and you step on them. (Sorry again Elodie and Adeline for the spin class debaucle when everyone else in the class was about to hurl from the smell on our shoes....)
Art at the Anse town hall
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| Treats we pass every day to and from school |
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| First quesadilla in 4 months |
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| Micah art |
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| Micah art |
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| Jasper tennis |
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| Our beloved host Aimé and the boys |
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| The family castle |
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| Micah standing in front of the closet that hid the German soldier |
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| The 17th century wing |
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| Pottery porn |
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| Micah not wanting to go into the 17th century cellar |
From what I understand people stay here in the summer. No one lives here in the winter because there is no heat. Aimé's grandmother lived here...with no heat..brrrrrrr
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| Maybe the only time my kids will dial a phone |
Castle art
La Source (the spring)
Spring art
Le Fête des Lumières
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| Waiting for the show |
This is a gigantic ferris wheel.
here is an explanation in English about this festival
or read the subtitles here
