August 11, Our Arrival in France

After an ominous storm in Delaware almost delayed our departure, we arrived on time in Paris on a spectacular Air France flight from Philadelphia. Food was great (not joking), everyone had their own TV with at least 20 movie choices, and the plane was 1/2 empty so it was quiet enough to sleep. We had a long layover in Paris, required so Tucker could deplane & walk around, and then we reboarded a one-hour commuter plane to Lyon, arriving around 2:30pm. We didnt lose a single bag, and we had 16 of them including backpacks & computers! Tucker survived both flights, although he chewed up his bed out of frustration... and yes, he was drugged.

On Monday 8/11, two of Maryline & Daniel's close friends (Jacqueline & Rafael... not a couple) picked us up at the airport, and after one dead battery, we were on our way "home". Chatillon-sur-Chalaronne is located about 50km north of Lyon, as you can see from this googlemap link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Ch%C3%A2tillon-sur-Chalaronne,+France&sll=46.119413,4.956718&sspn=0.377907,0.645447&ie=UTF8&cd=1

We live in a little subdivision called Les Noyers which means walnut tree. Before the houses, there were walnut and oak trees, and lots of farms with horses. Attached are a few photos of the surrounding area and the house & garden. We do not yet have an enclosed area outside for Tucker, so he has already escaped several times, first being caught by neighbors (good thing he already had his collar with our phone # in FRANCE! Most recently, Tucker set off the motion alarm in the yard of neighbors who are on vacation...

The weather has been mostly very pleasant, with a few significant rain showers, and if you think it might rain, it will and you should have brought your umbrella!

Brandon & I went to the only pool in town on Wednesday afternoon, the sunniest, warmest day so far, after first going into town to buy a proper swimsuit... American beach swim trunks were prohibited, and so Brandon has a cool pair of speedo type Eurotrunks. The pool had a cool waterslide, which was definitely worth the admission to the pool, and I swam laps (trying to offset the quantity of cuisine francaise that I am enjoying).

Jacqueline, showed us around the town Wednesday morning: the church (built in ____), the location of the open air market each Saturday morning, the wall which remains from the middle ages (1250), the Chalaronne River, which runs through town and has a nice park along it, the elementary school for Brandon which is less than a 10 minute walk from the house, and her home which was built in town before 1850. (see photo) Her husband Philippe was home from work to eat lunch, so we all ate lunch together there! Philippe is an artisan who makes things by hand from steel, like the stair railings in his home, and the bookshelves and entertainment center in his living room... amazing! Later this week, they brought us a full sheet-cake sized crate of pears from their tree... not ripe yet, but I will be making Tarte Tatin (Pear Pie) very soon!

Brandon & I met some new friends for him on the way home from the pool Wednesday, Axel (8yrs old) & Jonathon. They played soccer (foot) at Axel's house for about 2 hours, and I stayed for urgent translation needs (they basically did fine without understanding each other at all!). I also learned from Axel's dad, Pierre, that there is a Club de Foot and Brandon can join the year-long team on September 3rd. WE are THERE.

Friday was August 15th, Saint Mary's Day (Assumption), which is a national holiday in addition to being religious. Our family attended the 10:30 am mass at the church in town, and I translated when able to. Communion was given, and the priest discovered that we were from the US, and so after Communion, he announced to the congregation (standing room only for this service) a welcome to the Americans in attendance. After lunch, our entire family went over to meet Jonathan's family, who live about 100 yards from our house. Jonathon is 8 and will be in the same grade as Brandon, CE2 (3rd in US), and he has 4 siblings, Anais is 11 and in the same grade as Heather (6ieme = 6th in US). Their parents are Eric and Sandrine, and Eric is a baker (bread, mmmmmmmmmmmmm). We look forward to becoming friends with this family, and we enjoyed visiting with them all afternoon! They have an adorable French Bull Dog, and a protective older dog that scares us. Tucker wont be hanging out over there.

While we were visiting the Schulz family (but Derek had gone home to work), 5 French kids showed up at our door to meet us, so Derek escorted them over and we all bonjoured. We later met their parents, and realized that they were all close friends & neighbors of the Decombas-Deschamps family. Charlie is 13 and the son of Rafael, Manon 13, & Charlotte 11 are the daughters of Sophie (finally some more friends for Heather), and Benjamin 10, & Julien 13 are the sons of Florence & Eric.

Saturday morning, we headed to the Marche by car. MISTAKE. We are 10 minutes walking from town, and I thought carrying the groceries home would be too difficult. I couldn't find a parking spot, and I ended up on the other side of town, up hill, at least 10 minutes walking from the Marche. For a town of 5000, the Marche is incroyable! Pictures will follow soon. Words cannot describe it. After shopping, we had a rendez-vous with Sophie at the LIVE chickens at the Marche, and we all went to a cafe. From there, the decision was made that we would eat with Rafael and his family, so we combined our purchases (salade, tenderloin saucisson sec, poulet roti, fromage, pain, et vin) and enjoyed a delightful, very French, patio lunch at his home with Charlie and his 15 year old sister Esther, and Rafael's girlfriend Sophie (new Sophie).

Saturday dinner was at Philippe & Jacqueline's, and they invited a family to join us who had just returned from a 3-week dream vacation to California and New York. We all had lots to talk about, and got along great. More friends, yeah! Nathalie is a prof de francais for 6ieme at the college (middle school) where Heather will attend, and she offered to put Heather in her class, if possible. Derek enjoyed visiting with Lionel, and younger son Antoine (9 yrs) played with Brandon. Jacq & Phil have 3 grown children, and their middle daughter, Eliane, was there as well. She just got a job is Paris, and offered to let us use her apt if she comes down here for the weekend! Culinary highlights were a fabulous quiche aux courgettes and individual serving chocolate cakes TO DIE FOR. We are thoroughly enjoying our new friends, and appreciate tremendously the hospitality that they have shown us.

Today, Sunday, we recovered from the busy week, and while Brandon again played with the neighbor kids, the rest of us just vegged and continued to watch the Pekin Olympics (go Michael Phelps... 8 more golds = 14 total.) We also drove around and found Heather's middle school, and went around the perimeter of the town. We found the soccer fields and the basketball courts, as well as the remains of the chateau fort from the middle ages.