Join the adventure of a small town American girl, her husband, two young children and their dog as they navigate life in the South of France. Follow their everyday trials and tribulations, their joys and frustrations. Life is an adventure! Live it!
So Grandpa says that the moon and sun are in perfect alignment right now so the oceans will be a bit crazy. WELL, he sure wasn't kidding!!
Take a look out our windows at what we had in store today..... (not usual for the South of France!)
Now, let me remind you that this is NOT normal for the South of France and that these are the beaches that we swam in just a month or so ago!
For those of you new to this blog, we live in the La Reserve building pictured here getting pelted by the waves. Luckily, we live on the top floor!
All photos shot by me, not taken from the media coverage. Just in case anyone wants to purchase one or two. :) ...gotta pay for that pricey French cafe somehow!
Aanywayyyyy, it's still going on and we hope we don't float away overnight. I'll let you know. :)
Update...we're still here and all is calm again. :)
After a rocky first week in her half day French pre-pre-school, she is now queen of the class at the end of the second week. She whimpers ever so slightly when we part, but joins in with all the activities and seems to have a great time. They say she even comprehends them without a problem. That's what you get when you watch hours of French cartoons each day. :) (Merci to "Little Einsteins", "Dora and Diego", and "Jake and the Pirates" en Francaise for helping out!)
The teachers even took some video to prove it to me, so I'm sharing it with you....enjoy...
Ahhh, less tears and more smiles. A much better ending than the first video, don't you agree??
T...coming along very well. His teacher says he's doing great and seems to comprehend everything. Although, I have trouble comprehending her, so I'm pretty sure that's what she said. :)
I wonder about the "everything" part, but do believe he gets at least 80% of what's being said in class. And he's communicating with other kids really well too. He understands a lot of what they say to him in French and he's even coming out with some French of his own. Every once in a while he throws out a sentence. Summer tutoring has definitely paid off for him! And lucky for him, he has a couple friends in his school that also speak English fairly well so he does get a break here and there.
Me....coming along. Little by little my brain is actually accepting this French language and it's strange sentence structure. I'm now able to sound more like a 3 year old than a 2 year old. There is hope for me yet!
End note...I'm super proud of them! They really are taking the big change all in stride. I'm soo amazed at the strength and flexibility in kids. Now I can use my cafe time to study my French rather than worry about the little peanuts. :)
We're really looking forward to taking drives to see the country, which makes buying this car our number one priority this week. So, back to shopping.
Today we went straight to the dealerships to see a couple we didn't see yesterday, and one I kind of liked again. Hoping one of them might have a nice, slightly used, automatic for sale. I'll tell you, go into a dealership with two young children and they leave you alone to browse! :)
A little video of our adventure....
Well, it was a short visit in each shop. As much as I liked the shiny new cars, we were quickly ushered back to the big used lots with all the possibilities in our range, and for J's much desired automatic.
Tomorrow we jump back on the bus. Fingers crossed we have better luck!
Since we've gotten back in the USA we've been buying our food from Fresh Direct. They've got a pretty decent Organic foods section and since we saw "Food Inc" we've re-directed much of our eating habits. I do LOVE that America caters to those of us with little time or patience to do their "chores" through internet buying and home delivery (I'm a big sucker for browsing the Ann Taylor and Gap sites), but I do admit we REALLY miss going to the fresh food market.
So...in honor of the French and their version of the Farmer's Market, here is the next "...in a minute" video for your enjoyment. Yes, finally got something else edited. :)
Tuesday through Sunday until 1pm there is a food market in the Old Town of Nice in an area called the Cours Saleya. It's a great experience and when you live here and go often you find you make friends with certain sellers and return to their stands each time. It sure beats trying to get through the French version of the Super grocery store, Carrefour. What a nightmare that can be. And why do it if you can go to the market?
After the Market ends they turn the whole area into seating for the restaurants that line the streets there. It's crazy how fast they turn it around!
The Carnaval is such a fun event that all of Nice gets involved. The Patisseries make special cakes, stores decorate like it's a holiday, and the kids wear costumes to the events. At the parades people throw confetti and the kids spray silly string and everyone has a good time.
We went to the floats parade today and all I can say is...WOW. Taylor, Emmerson, and I sat in the stands in awe as each float rode by us thinking the next one couldn't be better than this one. Here's a short video and a bucket load of pics so you can see for yourself....
The theme was a tribute to the history of the Mediterranean with a special nod to their neighbor Italy.
Ready for the fun!
The King's float, "Nice, the capital of the Mediterranean"
The Queen's float, "Nice, the pearl of the Mediterranean"
"Children of the She-wolf"
"Cleopatra runs the show"
"The Six Queens"
"Song of the Mermaids"
"Flying Scorpion Fish"
"The Modern tourist"
"Garibaldi"
The jolly Italians, gotta love 'em
"La Dolce Vita"
"Fellini, King of Rimini" (one made by the USA)
"Don Corleone, the Sicilian Godfather"
"King of Greek Loans" 1 of 3 pics-this is a big one based on mythology (another one of USA's floats)
"King of Greek Loans" 2 of 3 (USA)
"King of greek Loans" 3 of 3 pics (USA)
"Bulls of Picasso" (and another one of USA's floats)
These walk in front of the Picasso float
I almost wore the same costume!
"Balloons Released for Peace"
"Cousteau in the Spotlight" This is a far as I got before T pulled me away to go home. After 2 hours he was TIRED! :)
The great thing is that they do the parades several times throughout the three weeks so you can choose which day works best for your schedule and return if you couldn't stay the whole time. :) Also keeps the crowds from being too crazy.
If you plan a trip to Nice, during CARNAVAL would be a great time to come! ...and plane tickets are usually low this time of year. :)
Every once in a while I am going to do what I call "...in a minute". I will attempt a one minute video about the subject matter of the post. Today it's about the Christmas Village in Nice, France.
I know...a bit late for the holiday, but it's taken me this long to get myself caught up. :) There were stalls with lots of wonderful artsy things to buy, yummy sweets, rides for the kids, an ice skating rink, loads of decorations, and even Santa was making an appearance doing a bit of pottery.
So, a quick view of our evening in the Christmas Village here in Nice, France. Enjoy...
