Skiing in downtown Marseille

This past Saturday the girls and I went downtown to do some shopping. Imagine our surprise when we saw a "skiing for kids" expo in the middle of one of the main squares! The "snow" was a floor made of plastic. Of course they both wanted to ski, so I signed them up! Alexa was a bit nervous and never let go of her instructors hand, but Alana was ready to go and now wants to ski the Alps! That is what the expo was actually about - all the ski centers in the southern Alps promoting their winter deals.

We spent the rest of the day checking out new Christmas decorations, window shopping, and having drinks "flavored syrup with water" at a cafe on the Vieux Port. It was sunny and 55 degrees - not bad for November!

A new era...

Waking up on November 5th, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. With the time difference we could not know the outcome of the election on the 4th, so I woke up at 6 am and ran to the tv to put on CNN World News, and..aahhh! What a great morning!

About an hour later, CNN replayed Obama's acceptance speech. It's a moment I will never forget. All four of us sat on the floor, Alexa on my lap, as we watched the speech together as a family. My favorite quote: "Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope."

The French love Obama. Walking around Marseille this morning, something felt different. The French were just giddy. Alana made an Obama signs, and the girls carried them around downtown, and got lots of attention! A cafe on the Vieux Port had a huge Obama sign hanging from the awning, with red, white, and blue balloons. Really, you would have thought this was their election! It was a great day to be an American in France.

The world loves Obama. This election is a transformative event that could repair the battered reputation of the United States, lift the aspirations of minorities everywhere and renew the chances for diplomacy rather than war.

Halloween

I was told that the French, at least here in Marseille, don't really celebrate Halloween. If you live in a neighborhood, sometimes there is trick-or-treating. Otherwise it's something more for young adults dressing up and going to bars...

The girls of course were sad not to trick-or-treat, so I promised them a little Halloween party (just the 4 of us!) We made Halloween cupcakes, decorated the walls with pictures of pumpkins and witches, and danced to the Monster Mash. So, imagine our surprise when around 6:00 our doorbell rings - and it's a group of 5 kids trick-or-treating! It was one of Alana's friends from school who lives in our complex, and it turns out they came to our apt since they knew Alana lived there. So of course the girls looked at me pleading...can WE go trick-or-treating, too?! Sure, why not! We had no costumes, so we quickly improvised with their ballet leotards and some jewelry. We're on the 8th floor, so I said we could go to a few floors in our building, then one other building....

BUT - apparently trick-or-treating does not usually happen here, those kids were the exception! Keep in mind most of the residents of our complex are older, retired folks. They were not exactly prepared for strange kids knocking at their doors! But it was a blast! We had a few older people who had no candy, but gave my kids BOXES of cookies! Another lady tried giving them 10 Euros, but I wouldn't let them take it. Another gave some coins. They came home with quite an odd collection! We really only knocked on a few doors, but it was a great way to meet our neighbors, and they just loved the girls! Oh, and of course did not have pumpkins for trick-or-treating, so we improvised with bread baskets. Yes, my kids went trick-or-treating with bread baskets...see Alexa's in the picture!

A few more pics...

For some reason I could not upload the all the photos I wanted..so here are a few more. These are from our B&B, Vaison-la-Romain, where we explored Roman ruins, and our new favorite wine.

Our trip to the Cotes du Rhone

So keeping this blog updated is not going so well - sorry!

Two weekends ago we rented a car and headed out of Marseille for 3 days. We went up to the Cotes du Rhone valley, for a weekend of wine tasting and exploring medieval towns. Of course the kids are not used to being in a car anymore, so after only 30 minutes we were getting the "Are we there yet" and "I have to potty" complaints! So what should have been an hour and a half drive took over two with some stops along the way...

Driving into the country we were happy to see some fall colors and leaves on the ground, something we don't have in Marseille. We stopped at the first vineyard that caught our eye...the kids were happy to get out and run around. We were allowed to walk thru the vines and eat some of the grapes, since they were done harvesting for the year. While we visiting many wineries over the weekend, this was our favorite. Why? They had a box of toys in the tasting room! We could actually relax and enjoy our tasting while the kids played. The owner then proceeded to tell us they are selling the winery and moving to California (her husband is American). Bummer - the wine was wonderful! We bought a few bottles and moved on.

We stayed in a great little B&B in the middle of nowhere - just down the hill from a medieval town. We were the only guests, and had fantastic breakfasts of croissants with homemade jams. The girls had a great time exploring all the nooks and crannies of the old town up the hill, climbing 600 year old stairs. Both nights we ate four course meals, and bribed the girls with ice cream to keep them happy during the 3 hour feasts! They'll do anything for ice cream....

We drove to the top of Mt. Ventoux, which is the tallest mountain in Provence at over 6,000 ft. It was a clear day and we could see Mont Blanc in the Alps!

We returned home with a trunk full of wine, happy kids, and memories of a great weekend!

A day out with the girls

Since there is no school here on Wednesday's, the girls and I like to take the day to explore. Yesterday, we went to a great market, ate at a nice little cafe, rode the Metro and the carousel, and ended with a chocolate eclair! I love wondering around the city with the girls - they are so willing to go anywhere and try anything.

Last Saturday the girls and I, along with another family, took a boat to the Chateau d'If. It's the famous prison from The Count of Monte Cristo, and today is basically France's Alcatraz. It's a fortress that was built in the 1500's, but was used as a prison. Today it's run by the French tourist office, and we had a lot of fun climbing in and out of the prison cells. Afterwards, we took the boat to the Frioul Islands, about 5 minutes from Chateau d'If. Here we hiked, found a private area to swim and climb rocks, and enjoyed some ice cream!

Paul has been back in the US for almost 2 weeks, he'll return to France this Sunday. It's been a long 2 weeks for all of us, but you can see the girls and I have been trying to stay busy.

Alexa is doing much better at school now - mornings only seem to have helped a lot. Her French is finally starting to come out. She sometimes says a French word in place of an English word. For example, the other day she was telling me about her imaginary friend (an idea from her sister!) - she said "my imaginary friend is un chat (a cat)!" Yesterday I asked her something in English, and she responded "Je ne comprends pas" - "I don't understand."

Alana still loves school, and is always telling me about a new friend. She is taking Tae Kwon Do on Wednesday nights. For her it's a double lesson - martial arts and French!

School lunch

The French learn how to eat well from a very young age. Here is today's school lunch menu:
Starter: Lentil salad
Main course: Roasted lamb au jus
Vegetable: Zucchini with becehmel sauce
Cheese course: Camembert
Dessert: Fresh melon slices

Sometimes, there is flan or chocolate mousse for dessert! Of course, there is always a fresh baguette. As you can guess, Alana LOVES her school lunches - Alexa, well, she likes the bread.

You could say this is just a bit of an improvement on the "pretzel with cheese sauce" that I recall as a main dish in Ithaca last year!

Catching up!

It's been a very busy couple of weeks, as I adjust to taking 3 graduate courses! I knew it was going to be tough, but it's been harder than I thought! I've spent most of the last week reading, trying to get papers started, etc.

As a result of my new full-time status, I really need Alexa to be in school in the afternoons. We've done it twice now, and she seems to be doing ok! They basically just take a nap and play, but at home I can never get the child to nap. At school, she sleeps, so I'm happy. Of course, all the French kids are there all day. For French families it's very serious stuff and starting full day school at age 3 gets them ready for their academic future. For me, it's a really long day for a 3 year old. There seems to be such a push for independence at such a young age. The 3 year olds are expected to completely wipe themselves after potty (yes, #2), cut their lunch with a fork and knife, stay in school 8 hours....but yet EVERY kid, except Alexa, has a pacifier!! It's completely normal to see even a 4 year old with a pacifier. I think it's to keep them from crying all day in school! Check out the pic of Alexa's bathroom at school - they all go together!

Alana is already correcting my French. She can pronounce words like a native, and is all too happy to point out my accent! In France, kids learn to read in the 1st grade. Since Alana is an advanced reader, she is already reading the little books her teacher sends home. Her teacher is quite impressed with Alana's reading skills, and predicts that she'll be one of the top readers in her class, in French! She's making lots of friends, and even attended her first birthday party this weekend. She has such curiosity about the world, loves to meet people, enjoys travelling, and will always try a new food - she's really an amazing kid.

L'Estaque

This past Sunday we visited a neighborhood of Marseille called L'Estaque. It's on the opposite side of town from us, but still on the sea. Without a car we had to take 3 buses to get there, but fortunately the kids love the bus! L'Estaque is well known in the art world as one of the most important places of modern painting. Cezanne was its most famous resident, living there between 1870 and 1882. While many other impressionist painters lived in L'Estaque at some point, it was Georges Braque who gave birth to the cubism movement while living and painting in L'Estaque. Okay - sorry to bore you with a brief art history lesson....

Visiting L'Estaque you can see the draw for the artists. The mountains, the sea, the port full of boats...

The day we visited was a festival, and we wandered around the many arts and crafts, then got to take a free boat ride along the coast. There was also a tournament for the ancient Provencal sport called "Joute Nautique." Basically there are two boats, and the "player" stands on the top, back end of the boat and holds a very long stick (see photo above). As the two boats approach each other, the two players raise theit sticks and once they are withing reaching distance - they try to knock the other one off and into the water! The one left dry and one the boat wins. It's fun to watch!

L'Estaque is also famous for a special treat called a Chichis Fregis. It's basically a long, cresent shaped doughnut with a hint of lemon in the dough. It's either sprinkled with sugar or coated with chocolate. We opted for the sugar - it was divine!

We decided to do the Sunday afternoon sit and eat lunch for 2 hours bit- so we found a great cafe along the waterfront. As an appetizer I tried the local fish soup, which is served with breath-killing garlic sauce. It was absolutely fantastic! Alana, always being one to try new foods, tasted it and loved it. I let her finish it up. We also ate huge prawns, salt cod with aioli, warm goat cheese salad, chocolate mousse, flan, and a nice carafe of wine...Paul and I are still full days later...

School updates

OK, so I need to get in the habit of updating this blog a bit more often!

Alana's last two days of school were great. She is continuing to make friends, and understanding a bit more French every day. On Friday, she stayed a school for lunch, which means she was there from 8:30-4:30 - quite a long day! When I picked her up, the first thing she wanted to tell me was what she ate for lunch. Let's just say it's not quite the cheese sticks that count as an entree in Ithaca! Her lunch consisted of - fresh watermelon, fish with shrimp sauce, celery puree, white cheese, french bread, and chocolate flan. She loved it! It's no wonder the French appreciate good food...

Alexa, again, was not quite as successful. Both Thursday and Friday mornings were fine, it was the pick-up where she was crying. Her teacher said she did much better on Friday, and Alexa also wanted to bring a flower to her teacher that day, so at least she is making a connection. On the bright side, I learned that she does not have to go to the afternoon session. The little kids can go home in the afternoon, since they just nap and play outside. So I am going to just send her in the mornings for now, and hopefully we can work up to the afternoons. With my grad classes starting this week, I'll need that extra time! I have already prepaid for the girls to eat lunch at school on Mondays and Thursdays for this month. So tomorrow I'm going to see how it goes with Alexa staying until 1:15, instead of 11:30. I'm hoping for the best!!!

This picture is Alexa walking home from school with our baguette in her backpack!

First day of school!

Yesterday was the kids first day of school. Alexa goes to the "maternelle" or preschool, and Alana goes to "primaire", the primary school. The two schools are right across the street from each other, and about a 15 minute walk from our apartment. The school schedule is very different here. They go from 8:30-11:30, then home for lunch, then go back from 1:30-4:30. You can choose to have your child pay to eat lunch at school, then they are there all day. Also, there is no school on Wednesdays.
Alana's first day was a great success! She loves her teacher, made some friends in her class, and practiced the alphabet and days of the week. She is very excited to go back tomorrow.
Alexa's first day, on the other hand, was a bit more emotional. Surprisingly her drop off went very well. There were lots of crying kids, but she was ok. We reminded her that we would be back soon and we would all have lunch together. However when we picked her up at 11:30, she was crying. The teacher said she did well and only started crying about 10 minutes before we arrived. At lunch she said she did not want to return to school. We managed to bribe her with a trip to the pastry shop and a bus ride downtown to the carousel after school. So again she did ok on the afternoon drop off, with visions of chocolate in her head. But, at 4:30 pick up she was crying. Again, the teacher said she had a good afternoon, took a nap, and only started crying about 10 minutes before we arrived. I suspect this "10 minutes" thing is what they tell all parents! I think she may have been crying longer...
So of course off to the patisserie we went! The girls chose chocolates in the shape of little pigs, and we hopped on the bus to go to the carousel!
Paul and I enjoyed our first free morning, and walked around our neighborhood and enjoyed some espresso at a cafe. It was our 8th wedding anniversary, but we don't yet have a sitter, so we decided to postpone our nice anniversary dinner!
Alexa tells me today she is ready to go back to school tomorrow - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed - there may be lots of chocolate pigs in our future!

Our first week in France

It's been a long and crazy week of sightseeing and adjusting. When we first arrived at our new apartment, our landlady (who lives in Paris), along with her two daughters, welcomed us with a wonderful lunch on the balcony. She then took us for a walk around the neighborhood, pointing out the best boulangerie, butcher, fruit stand, etc, and the schools for the girls. We are in a really nice residential area, but still only a 15 minute bus ride from the city center.

Marseille is a very hilly city, and our apartment is at the top of a big hill. Leaving the apartment is easy...all downhill. But the return home is quite a workout!

Paul finally has set up his "office" in our bedroom, after numerous visits to local electronic stores and some interesting language barriers. Surge protecter in NOT in my dictionary!

During this past week we have toured much of the city, spent time at the beach, and consumed too many chocolate croissants (they're just so darn good!). Paul generally works from about 1:00 on, to stay on east coast time, so it's the girls and I in the afternoons. Fortunately they're at ages that make it easy to get around, so they are already used to riding the bus, holding my hand on the narrow sidewalks, and looking out for dog poop (it's everywhere here on the sidewalks!)

Over the weekend we took the bus to the nearby port town of Cassis. It was a scary bus ride, following a narrow and winding road up and down the mountains. Cassis is a beautiful little beach town, with cafes and ice cream shops lining the port. We took a boat tour of the Calanques, which are the white cliffs that go in and out of the sea between Marseille and Cassis. They are simply beautiful, and many of them have little sandy beaches. These are only accessed by boat, or by hiking in from more than a mile away, and rock climbing down to the beach!

The girls have been amazing and are adjusting very quickly. Alana has been very outgoing towards other kids at the beach and playgrounds, and has had no problems finding someone to play with. She's very excited about learning French and going to french school. It think she is the perfect age for this year abroad. Alexa is having lots of fun just out and about. She loves to be outside and exploring. She could care less about the french language, and I think she will understand a lot before ever really speaking french. For me, my French is coming back very quickly!

Welcome!

Okay - so we've been in France for a week and have been planning this trip for a year - you would think I'd have started a blog sooner! But those who know me know I procrastinate, so the blog is finally born!
We are in Marseille for 9 months, until the end of May. We have rented a beautiful apartment overlooking the sea and the mountains, and have decided to toss our English-speaking kids right into the French public school system. Check back often for glimpes into our crazy new life!