Chez Les Duquerroy Sept 24-27

On Thursday Evening Sept 24, we drove to Carrieres sous Poissy in the banlieue ouest (western suburbs of Paris) to stay with our longtime friends Brigitte & Philippe and their two kids Maxime & Yohan. On Thurs evening, we were all invited to dinner chez Isabelle & Christophe who live in Poissy. These were 6 (of the 7) "Frenchies" who stayed with us in the summer of 2007 in our garage for 3 weeks! We all had a wonderful evening together... we wish Paris wasn't so far away.
Then on Friday, the kids and I went with Brigitte to visit Maxime's collège (middle school) and we were guests for his English class. They were thrilled to meet real Americans, and enjoyed practicing their English, while Heather & Brandon attempted some of their new French skills. Brigitte took lots of pictures and video, see attached!

Musee de la Marine / Trocadero

On Thursday, after a looooooooooooooong morning at the ANAEM to have medical screenings so that we could get our Cartes de Sejour, we checked out of the hotel, and took the metro to the Palais de Chaillot overlooking La Tour Eiffel. The kids and I visited the Musee de la Marine (lots of cool boat models) and then back outside to the Place de Trocadero where Heather danced to street music and Brandon enjoyed skating on his Heely's with an impressive background.

Hanging in the Metro

We love the long conveyor belts in the metro that help you get from one line to another. Check out these fun photos!

Visiting Lycee Honore de Balzac

Wednesday, Sept 24, we had the opportunity to observe English teachers at one of the best high schools in Paris. Then lunch followed with the teachers, their principal, and one of the head English Inspectors for the French Government (she inspires awe and respect with a bit of fear mixed in for flavor from every teacher who has the pleasure to be observed by her!) We learned a lot about the French educational system, which has definitely been beneficial to my teaching in Trevoux since then.

Paris Fulbright Orientation

Derek came home on Sept 22, and we drove up to Paris the next morning for my Fulbright Orientation Meetings. That evening, I had the priviledge to attend a concert commemorating 60 years of Fulbright in the Cathedral des Invalides next to the tomb of Napoleon. The concert highlighted artists who have previously participated in the Fulbright Program. Wow!

Sept 21 Les Grottes de Cerdon

The kids and I had an adventure with our friends Jacqueline & Philippe Padet as they drove us into a region east of here called Bugey. On the windy foothill road (we aren't far from the Alps), we passed an impressive monument built in the honor of the fallen members of the French Resistance who were never found after World War II. Then, we had a magnificent meal in the town of Cerdon next to an artisanal factory built in 1854 which still handmakes products out of copper... La Cuivrerie de Cerdon. In typical French style, we arrived at the museum for a tour at 11h45 but they were closing for lunch and wouldn't reopen until 14h so we didn't get a tour. Bummer. The food nearby largely made up for it. After lunch, we visited the Grottes de Cerdon, a underground cave galleries formed during the ice-age. The photos speak for themselves.

The icing on the cake was meeting the owner of the Grottes, Francoise St. Julien. We began talking and after learning that our daughters were almost the same age, and she was interested in arranging an exchange to the states for her daughter, Louise. We exchanged addresses and that story will follow later.

Rafael's 50th Birthday Party

We have been welcomed with open arms, lots of "grosses bises" (big kisses) and amazing dinners.. into the family of friends belonging to Maryline & Daniel Decombas-Deschamps. I went solo to this birthday party, as Derek was still in the states. Rafael invited 50 of his best friends and family to celebrate life with him. His brothers were hilarious, as evidenced by the attached photo. Also pictured are many friends singing an ode to Rafael with lyrics written about his life to replace the song's original lyrics. Finally, at the bottom, a photo of me with Pascal & Nathalie Loriot, both veterinarians, who live on the farm that we almost didn't find the first time that we were invited over. Did I tell you that story? Well, we were on the right road, but hadn't gone far enough, and we were looking at every mailbox to find their name. A man inside his house saw us, came out, and we said to ourselves "hey, that looks like our gardener Bernard... no it cant be... yes it can! We were saved! He got on his bicycle and lead us the rest of the way to the Loriot's farm. We had been in Chatillon only 2 weeks, and we knew about 6 people at the time. In this small town, every time we leave the house, we see someone we know.

Crazy Vehicles in Chatillon

Our town is surrounded by farmland, with lots of corn fields, all destined to be eaten by the cows, not the people... the farmer's market every Saturday doesn't even sell corn on the cob! :-(

Here are some cool crazy vehicles we've seen recently!

September 6, Concert at Eglise de Brou

Our new friends Nathalie & Pascal Loriot invited us to attend a concert at the Monastere et Eglise Royal de Brou, built between 1506 and 1532. The church is gothic flamboyant, and its roof is covered with varnished colored tiles which were very common in this region, Rhone Alps. Nathalie sang in the concert, which featured a Cantique from Jean Racine, a Requiem from the Masse of the Fishermen from Villerville, and its sequel, all written by Gabriel Faure (1845-1924), considered abroad as the musical incarnation of the French culture (I translated that quote from the program). I have the program if you want to know more. The voices of the women in the choir were like angels, and the accoustics and ambiance of the church were the icing on the cake. The entire concert was filmed (it felt a bit like Hollywood) and will air in 2010 I think.

September 7 Pony Rides

After taking Derek back to the Lyon airport to spend 2 weeks on the east coast working, I took the kids to the Poney Club Des Dombes (Dombes is the name of the cultural region we live in) for a "Journee Portes Ouvertes" where we had a tour of their stables. The kids each got to ride a pony, and trot on their pony. They'd both like to go back again for lessons.

First Week For Heather & Brandon

Heather has 11 different subjects in 6ieme (6th grade): Arts-Plastiques (Drawing), Anglais ("My name is Heather, I am American") LOL!!!, History (she is relearning last years curriculum in French... pretty convenient!), Math (too easy... even easier than regular 6th grade math), PE (Heather plays Rugby - she's tough), Francais (update to be discussed in a later post), Education Civique (life maintenance skills), Geographie, SVT (Science de la Vie et de la Terre), and Technologie. She starts her day at 8h00 and finishes at 16h30. She walks home with friends, which takes about 30 minutes.

Brandon and his classmates call their teacher "maitresse". He starts at 8h45 and ends at 16h30, with a 2 hour lunch break. Many students go home for lunch, but Brandon stays, plays, and eats like a king. He told me he feels sorry for kids in South Pas who must eat at the school cafeteria.

More Photos From Trevoux

These photos are also from Trevoux

La Rentree - The First Week of School

It is now the end of October, and I am finally updating the blog. La Rentree was challenging for the whole family: I had to learn how to change classrooms, figure out which of my six groups of students I was teaching, in which room, and remember all of the things I needed to bring with me. There are no bells to START class, only bells to end class. The first week, Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday were orientations, of sorts, and students began classes on Thursday at 10 am. My high school, Lycee du Val de Saone, had a cultural/patrimoine outing/sortie on Wednesday afternoon and we visited the chateau in the town of Trevoux where the school is located. Then we walked back down the hill into the city to visit the court house, still in use, which dates back to ---- . See photos above. Beautiful doesn't describe it properly.