Au Revoir Paris!

I know what you're thinking... how on earth does she have time to blog when they're leaving tomorrow? Answer: I don't, I'm procrastinating, of course. I'm fighting every primal urge I have to bake something because that's what I usually do when I'm stressed and don't have time for such things. I figured writing a blog post would be quicker and have less clean up at the end. I'm getting ready this morning to go to my last day of Boot Camp in the Champs de Mars and I can't complain because we have had stellar weather all year but (could you see a big but coming) it's raining today. Who knows, maybe that will make it easier to leave. And for just a little extra mazel for us, after the Eiffel Tower debacle we thought we could take the girls to the Tour Montparnasse which has a great view of Paris, mainly because you can't see the Tour Montparnasse. So we bought tickets on line. Smart , right? Well, it's been raining ever since. And it hasn't rained in months, mind you. I don't think there are going to be any more grand views of Paris from way up high... on this trip. Obviously, we have some unfinished business here and we'll have to come back. We have spent the last week or so saying our goodbyes and I just wanted to share a few photos of the girls with their friends that they made during our year in Paris.

Almost done...

Hi!

It's been so long since I last wrote, so I decided to post a little something about my last days in Paris. So, the day I got out of school, I was bursting with joy(and the two cakes I made for my class), but, sadly being dragged down by my million school books. I decided to make a list of things I should do in my last days(not forever, of course):

Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower(fail, we were going to, but the line was about a 2 hour wait, and I thought,'What's so special about going to the top of some building? It's better to go up to Tour Montparnasse and SEE it,' thus, the epic fail)

Go up Tour Montparnasse

Walk through parks, have picnics, etc.

Eat pastries and FRENCH FOOD!

That was all I had on my list, so I hope we can get that all done. Not much else is going on, my books are all packed up, so that leaves me with about 6 books(possibly 7, if mom takes me to the bookstore) to last me at least 5 days, and a whole plane ride! Other news... I'm a finalist in the YAFf (Young Authors Fiction Festival) contest, there were 88 entrees in my grade, 5 get honorable mentions, and 5 are nominated as finalists! Other than that, I have nothing to say, except wow, I can't believe this blog is almost over. Please comment! It makes me feel like people are reading, and I hope people are... Until next time(which may or may not be on the blog)! ;)

Adios Amigo!

And this post has nothing to do what-so-ever with us leaving France! (Which you may have surmised by the photo above.) I just had to post abut the pseudo grill that came with the apartment. When the last director handed the keys over to us last July she said (in her french accent because she is actually french), "You have no sofa, lamps or chairs but you have zis... it is for you to burn your meat." (Did I mention she was a vegetarian? I know, French Vegetarian??? C'est pas possible!) Anyways, it took us almost an entire year to work up the courage to use it. Mainly because you fill it up with water and plug it into the wall (240 volts, remember?), doesn't that just sound wrong? And coming from the states, it looked super tiny. Last July we didn't even think it would fit one chicken breast. However, being in France for the year has given us a new perspective on size and apparently a new fascination with risk taking because a few weeks ago, we plugged the sucker in and gave her a whirl. For a weird indoor grill that you plug into the wall, it's not too bad. We've done chicken, burgers and veggies and it does give the food a slight charred flavor. Not because it has smokey coals or wood chips underneath but because it is actually catching fire from the heating element below. The water actually catches the drippings so there is less smoke but I wouldn't light her up in a small enclosed space. I just had to share this little jewel with all of you because this will most likely be the only opportunity you have to witness the brilliance of The Amigo. Yes, it's called The Amigo. It's all starting to make sense now, isn't it. In your face George Foreman.

13 Days (but who's counting!)

Departure date: June 8th. Passengers: Tracy, Lili and Noa. Destination: Chester, Connecticut. Yes, this is earlier than expected. No, the school year will not be finished. Yes, the girls are ecstatic. No, Ethan will not be able to join us on the 8th, he needs to stay in Paris until July 15th. Yes, he will be visiting us for a week in June and depositing the dog. I know some of you have already gotten an advanced copy of the headlines but for any of you who haven't, this is the news. Why are we leaving 5 weeks earlier than expected? It's a long story. One, that if you have been following us for the year on What's that Smell?, you can probably figure out all on your own. In short, Lili got sick... again. For a long time. As a family, we were trying to figure out what to do. We were getting close to the end but 6 weeks of school still remained. Six weeks of stress, anxiety and depression for Lili. At the same moment we were contemplating our next step we received an email from our tenant in Chester that she would be moving out at the end of May instead of the end of June as planned. We took it as a sign. We needed to go home. It wasn't an easy decision but we came to the conclusion that it was the best decision for us to get the kids home, let them spend some time in CT before we head to Cali, get things organized (a little) and get started on our project for next year (and many years to come, I suspect) which will be the house. We are sad to be leaving Ethan for several weeks on his own. But he will be in Paris, where there are plenty of restaurants and bars to avail himself of, should he wish. So at this point we have a very limited number of days to fit in the things we didn't do yet. Number 1 on the list: Top of the Eiffel Tower. I know, I can't believe it either, but there you have it. Other than that, walking in different neighborhoods we love and eating as much as we possibly can, come in at a close second. I'm surprised to say that I actually have friends who want to have going away celebrations for me (which, of course, makes me more sad to be leaving). Ethan and I spent the day together today and because I have a nasty cold, we decided to do something low key. We saw the new Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris. What a great film. Go see this movie and see it soon. There are some surprises in it, that if you wait to long, the secret is sure to get out and it will take away some of the fun. I'm so glad I saw it before we left because I would definitely miss Paris too much if I saw it when we were home. And pretty soon, we'll be home.

Noa, the sweet smell of success!

I wanted to take a minute and add a post about La Petite Noa. As Lili has been posting herself, you all have heard about what is going on with her throughout the year but I've now realized that maybe we haven't spoken enough about what is going on with Noa. In short, she is doing great. She has lots of friends, mostly American and she doesn't mind going to school... too much. Noa's biggest problem has always been waking up in the morning, and it remains the same here but once we are out the door, waiting for the bus, she is fine... usually. She is understanding a lot of French. The things she understands the best are command type words you would hear in the typical French class room: Be quiet. Get in line. Move back. Put your things away. No Talking. I'm running out of patience. You're getting on my nerves. Etc. She is still struggling to express herself, although she is speaking up more and more in class because we have now started a small reward system for such efforts (totally unfrench of us). She is a very attentive student mainly because she is scared of getting in trouble (French system working like a charm). Because she is in a French school with some British influence, she has started using words like 'bin' for trash can and 'prefer' when telling me what she wants to do, as this is the word you would use in French. In the beginning of the year, when she was just learning how to read in French and she was tying to write at home in english, she would spell things the phonetically correct French way, like 'snel mel' (accents on the e's) for 'snail mail'. She is also very keen on correcting our pronunciation. And she is right to do so, the little stinker has the best accent in the family. It would be kinder if she didn't laugh at us though while she was correcting us.

Oh, and Noa has developed a love for the extreme sport of Parcour. It is based on a military technique developed by the French Foreign Legion that involves jumping. climbing, scaling or running over all obstacles in one's path. In Noa's case this means climbing up walls, hopping on and off traffic barriers, jumping about the edge of fountains and just about any endeavor that would make an average parent cringe. This of course has turned many of our walks through Paris into an adventure worthy of an American reality TV show. Lili even suggested we start filming Noa for that purpose but this was because when I asked her to go get dressed she came back out wearing her green laundry hamper turned upside down as a "disguise." Yes, she is truly profiting from all the cultural bounties afforded by a year in Paris!

Happy Mother's Day!

Here we are, Sunday, May 8th, Happy Mother's Day to all of the rockin' mom's out there! So last week we booked our tickets home. July 5th for me and the girls, July 15th for Ethan and Chloe. We have a little less than 2 months and I'm starting to have that feeling like we need to do everything Paris has to offer before it's time to go. However, as you might imagine, Paris is getting very crowded with tourists so some things are becoming harder and harder to do. Yesterday though, we did something we've never done and that was go to Parc Floral next to the Chateau de Vincennes just outside of Paris. It was super gorgeous, as all the spring flowers were in full bloom. Plus there is plenty of grassy forest area for you to enjoy a picnic or in our case, an ice cream. I think the girls would agree that the most fun thing we did was rent a quad type bike/carriage thing and pedal around for a half an hour trying to avoid running into french people who refuse to go out of their way to get out of the way (or get their small children out of the way). It was still fun, maybe even more fun with the added challenge of dodging the frenchies. Then last night, while the girls got to chill with a babysitter, we went out to a cool new resto called Grazie. It's actually a cocktail bar with a wood burning pizzas for dinner. Behind the bar was a super talented, super tanned, super tattooed Italiano mixing up the goodies. I had an awesome martini: vodka, basil, grapefruit juice and honey. I had to use much restraint in not ordering a second. Ethan also had a fancy martini, followed by a sazerac, which the bartender was almost overly excited about making (Ethan said it was good but not a real sazerac because he didn't use rye). The pizza was delicious. We both ordered pizzas with arugula on them, so we decided it was healthy. And Ethan even reasoned that there were antioxidants in the basil in my drink, not to mention all the vitamin C in the grapefruit juice. I had to tell him that just because it's green doesn't mean it has antioxidants. And usually if it has vodka in it, that would cancel out the positive effects of the antioxidants, that are not present in basil, anyways. And we've all heard the vitamin C argument before, sounds good on paper but I'm not buying it. Anyways, Grazie, in the 3rd, near the Bastille, if you are in Paris and want to feel young and cool for one night, look it up.

Having only indulged in one cocktail and one glass of wine last night, I wasn't in horrible shape this morning to greet Mother's Day. My kids, with a little help from dad, made me a gorgeous breakfast of crepes, baked blueberry french toast, eggs and fruit salad. Everything was fabulous! French mother's day or La Fete des Meres isn't until May 29th but I'm pretty sure there was enough food there this morning to last us until then so at least they won't have to go through all that trouble twice! Happy Mother's Day!

Toscana Bella!

As you can see, Lili has essentially taken over the blog. I thought I should add something about our Italy trip since it really was fantastic. I'll just start by saying the place we stayed was amazing. It's called Cretaiole Agriturizmo, in case any of you were thinking of traveling to the Val d'Orcia in Tuscany, I would highly recommend it. The really wasn't a whole lot to do, which was part of the whole idea of going to Tuscany. We drove from Paris, which saved us some cash but I don't think I would want to do it again. We stopped overnight at a charming Campinile hotel outside of Torino but you're talking two 7 hour days of driving. Basta! The real problem was that when we finally got there, no one was particularly excited about getting into the car again. And when you're in Tuscany, you need to do a little driving (those tiny towns aren't going to come down the hill for you!). Aside from a lot of driving, we did a lot of eating... mostly pasta, gelato and peccorino cheese. And of course, we drank a lot of wine. I was surprised we didn't see more vegetables, except for a few tomatoes here and there. We went to a cool sulfuric thermal spring in the forest, where we splashed around in milky white warm water. We had a tour and lunch at an organic farm, where we saw a one day old lamb and two day old goats (plus a few wild peacocks). We toured Siena, which was overcrowded but we found a secret spot to eat, on a terrace, overlooking Il Campo and it's hundreds of loitering tourists. We ate home made whole wheat past with mushrooms and truffle oil at a Monastery where they filmed The English Patient. After our relaxing week in Tuscany, we went for 2 nights in Florence, which was much less relaxing. It was very crowded, our hotel room was noisy and our kids were just not into it. We had a children's tour of the old palace which ended with an interview with the Royal Dutchess Leonora de Medici. The kids actually quite enjoyed meeting with the Dutchess as she was very funny asking questions like when Lili would be getting married? Had her parents picked out a husband for her yet? And she asked Noa about the strange substance she just chewed and chewed in her mouth like a cow? The next day we went to the Galileo Science Museum, which was actually totally awesome but the girls had given up by then. Too much travel and culture for one year I guess. So we spent the afternoon wandering the gardens of the new palace across the river but by then we were all just ready to get back on the road to Paris. Paris greeted us with a continuation of fabulous weather and a fairly empty city because of the Easter break. We are now starting to plan our reentry to the US, which as I look back, I can't believe it's already time for but I'm looking forward to seeing what our last two months will bring for us!

Good Food, great gelatos, and amazing cappuccinos!

We are back from Italia, where the food is good, gelatos are great, and the cappuccinos are amazing! So we got in, and I walked out of the car to stretch my legs(after a 5 hour car trip, the second one... the first day was about 7 hours...) and it was rEEEally warm!!!! We go into our room, and it's not just a room, it was about the size of our apartment! I called dibs on the biggest room... tee hee. The place (Cretaiole Agriturismo) was amazing, and the woman who runs the place is REALLY nice, and she spoke English. The first night, she made us reservations for dinner, so we go there, and Noa's stomach starts hurting. Now, I am no stranger to aching stomachs, but she was like, crying, so we had to go home! That night, Noa fell asleep on the bathroom floor. The next day though, she was good as new! That morning, we went on a tour of the "working farm" at the agriturismo. It was actually quite interesting, even if the meat curing room made me feel kind of sick. They had a big pig, and these adorable ducklings, some baby chicks, and a baby bunny... By the time we got to the wine making/processing part, Noa and I were feeling tired, so we just went outside and played with the dog, until the tasting session. The cheese was SO GOOD (peccorino). The olive oil was SO GOOD. It was delicious! On Monday, we went to an organic farm, and it was just beautiful. There were pigs, and sheep, and goats, and peacocks, just kind of walking around, doing their thing. We saw where they made the cheese, and we saw the kitchen. There was actually a baby lamb who was born earlier that day! We tried to take it out, but the mother started freaking out, and tried to climb over the little fence that was holding her in. After the tour, we had lunch there. Boy, was there a lot of food, a salad here, some artichoke here, some pasta there, a bean salad, some asparagus, some more vegetables, there was so much food! It was so good, but I think I ate too much. Oh well, that's the price you pay sometimes when you have such good food. (oh yeah, and on Monday for dinner we went back to the place we had to ditch because of Noa's stomach, it was yummy!) The next day, me and mom went to a private water color art class, and took home somethings that actually looked good! On Wednesday we had dinner at a Monestary, pasta+truffles=yummy! Thursday, we went to Sienna, and boy was it crowded! That night we learned how to make "pici" a really good pasta that we ate with pesto, and yes we have the recipe, so we can teach everyone who wants to learn. On Friday, dad and I went horse back riding, I had a really nice horse, although I'm not sure if he/she was nice because she was just nice, or because she knew I knew what I was doing, and I knew she knew it. Dad's horse, however, steered him into every possible branch, ate when he wanted, and trotted when he wanted. But it was beautiful. That night, at dinner I ordered a special pasta. After it was cooked, they put in a big bowl made of peccorino cheese, and scraped it around so the cheese melted on the pasta, it was pretty cool. We went to Florence the next day, and we went to the old palace, to go back in time to meet a Medici Duchess! The rest of the vacation isn't worth describing, we went to some museums, gardens, typical tourist stuff. It was a beautiful vacation, but I missed being able to understand people! Now, before I change my mind, I'm going to say... "Until next time!"

Lili(an) Belle in PARIS!

Party Time!

Party time, y'all! Noa turned 7 last weekend! Despite all my efforts and endless suggestions of having the party at some really fun venue (art studio, cooking class, magic show, movies), Noa insisted on having her party at our apartment. "If we go somewhere to do something we won't have time to play!", she explained to me. The theme was Rock n' Roll Celebrity. Everyone came dressed as a famous rock star (whom Noa assigned prior to the party). We had Pink, Hannah Montana, Brittany, Gaga, Ke$ha, Sharpe from HSM, Michel Jackson and The Beeber. Noa was Taylor Swift. She had to have a wig. The first one we bought caused a major trauma because it didn't cover her hair. And she was right, poor Taylor looked like she could use a good dose of Rogaine. So we went and bought another one. This one was called the Angel Wig and it had long ringlets. However, when we bought it, we didn't realize how long and when Noa first tried it on the thing went down to her knees. After some consideration, Noa agreed that it could use a trim. So we chopped about a foot and a half so it fell mid chest. That seemed to satisfy her and she even wore it for the first hour of the party but it was really not very 'practique' so she shed it (haha) after that. Lili came as Katy Perry and looked fabulous with her bright blue wig (which I'm pretty sure is the wig that Noa wanted all along but Taylor would never!). The party was a huge success with lots of freeze dance, lip syncing, tattoos and a even a sunday bar. Lili and her friend Nara (a.k.a. Beyonce) helped a lot with the child wrangling and entertaining. It all would have been perfect except that earlier that day, Ethan had to take a trip to the emergency room. This is not a belated April Fool's joke. He had been sick for the week prior to the party and then about 2 days before, he started breaking out in spots. And he continued to break out until he was covered head to toe in these dark red blotches. He had an appointment to see a doctor the following monday and he had alrady seen one doctor on friday who said he didn't know what it was but it wasn't contagious (don't ask me how he knew that). However, Saturday morning (a.k.a. party day) he really was not looking to hot. I kindly explained to him that he really should go to Urgence and, in any event, he couldn't stay at the apartment and scare all the kids (and their parents). Long story short, he is fine now, just a virus that he had a bad reaction to. And as far as we know, it wasn't contagious. We hope.

Celebrate!

Hi!!!!!!! It's almost Noa's B-day, and we have a lot to d0! For her party, we are going to do a rockstar theme. Everyone is assigned a rockstar, and they come looking like him/her to the party. We're having an ice cream sundae bar, and pizza. Noa got first pick for rockstar, so say hello to Taylor Swift! We picked all the guests next. I got to pick last, Katy Perry! We decided Dad was going to be security, and Mom paparazzi. Wow, so much is going on... Thursday Alan and Molly are coming, which means I might be in Noa's bunk for a while..... It hasn't been that long since I last posted, so I'm going to be saying random things, like.... OMG the new Kane Chronicles is coming out May 3. Yesterday, me and Dad went to Champagne, and I tasted my first ever champagne! The verdict? Bitter, grape-y, not very pleasing. We're almost at 100 days of school, on April 5th we will have.... well, we'll have had 100 days of school. Not much else is going on. Wish me luck, let's hope I survive 100 days of school..... (photos: Noa's 100 day objects and me tasting champagne in Reims)

Lili(an) Belle in PARIS!

Home.....

I was just looking back on ALL the blogs, every single one, and I realized we have been in Paris for SO LONG. I was looking back, and one of the entrees said; In 3 days, we are moving from CT to Paris for a full year. Now, that year is almost up, I realize... there is practically NOTHING I'm going to miss! Sure, my creative writing class, but we do things in school, and I can always sign up for another one! Same with hip-hop. School... well let's just say GOOD RIDDANCE! I'm NOT going to miss Mme Panzani, maybe a little bit, like when she brought us crackers, but she is kinda scary. OK, so a little more than kinda. OK, so she's really scary when she's mad. But, honestly she hasn't given my friend Paulina detention yet, which is a MIRACLE! Another of my blogs said; So far school is OK, I like my french teacher... HA I know better by now. Wow.... I'm also realizing that I know SO much more French, and my mom's going to make me keep it up... UUUGH. OMG I'M SO EXCITED TO BE COMING BACK!!! I have 2 more weeks of school, a break, then 8 more weeks, and 9 days of it I'm going to be on a field trip with my class...... ok, so that's not a good thing. What kind of teacher do I have if she puts me and my friends in the same room? Especially with Paulina! Now, I know you probably don't know who Paulina is, and you probably don't care, but I can tell you she is CRAZY! INSANE! BONKERS! OFF HER ROCKER! The weird thing is she's allergic to nuts, I don't get HOW because she IS one! My dad just said," Do you want to do your hw?" I was like,"No" He was so confused, 'cause normally I'm really stressed about finishing homework and stuff, so I finally stopped toying with him and reminded him that I don't have school on Wednesday. That's one thing I'm going to miss. Although, I won't need the break as much. Anyways, I just WANT TO GO HOME!!!! I have nothing else to say, we're having a math test on Thursday, and I'm horrible at dividing decimals. Oh well. I don't know what else to talk about, so I'll just say," Until next time!!"

Lili(an) Belle in PARIS

PS: The pics I posted are of "the good old times".

Do I even have to say it?

As you can see, we spent sunday afternoon making Hamentaschen for Purim (which my daughter tells me is next weekend). The best recipe, if you're interested, is on the Martha Stewart totally waspy goyisha but don't want to alienate my jewish audience since I am still very closely linked with the entertainment industry web site. And I mean that sincerely... the recipe, I mean. It is an awesome recipe, there is orange zest in the dough (as I understand it the jews are not generally into 'zesting' but it is kosher, I checked with the Rabbi, otherwise known as our friend Eugene). The girls picked the fillings (which I believe are Kosher but not all traditional): apricot jam (my favorite), cherry jam (a little runny), lemon confiture, Nutella (we are in France), dark chocolate, peanut butter (recent gift from a visitor), PB & J and PB & Chocolate. Quite the assortment, huh? What made the day of baking extra fun was that I was well rested from a weekend without the children (thank you, Amy) as they both spent the weekend with friends and Ethan and I were able to spend the weekend relaxing together. What did we do, with all that was available to us, you ask? We ate at good restaurants, we saw good movies (American) and we explored a new neighborhood (Canal at Saint Martin, old neighborhood, new to us). What didn't we do, you ask? We didn't rush. We didn't yell or nag. We didn't cook or do laundry or shop. It was really a nice weekend. Not that we don't have nice weekends with the children (thank you, Amy), we do all the time. But this was different and a nice change of pace. And thank you to our new friends who had our kids for the weekend and told us it was their pleasure and that it was no problem at all. (I'm sure if we knew them a little better they wouldn't have lied to our faces but since we are all still playing nice, they did, so thank you.) Until next time...

Prepare the Cabin for Take-Off

Today the smell is decidedly me. I admit it, after a red eye back from CT, I stink. I'm ripe. I need a shower. It was a bitter sweet goodbye yesterday, as we were all sad to leave our very good friends who welcomed us all week long with parties, playdates, sleepovers and Martinis. It was really a non stop fiesta del grande. And the week before we got to have some super nice hang out time with cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, grandparents and friends. However, daddy was waiting patiently in Paris for us to come home to him and we missed him too, so last night we boarded the red eye on Air France to bring us back to the City of Lights, otherwise known as the The City of Dog Poo. Knowing we would be back in the Good ol' US of A in five months helped soften the blow a bit. So, sad to have left but happy to be in my own bed (with my husband, instead of my 6 year old), use my own shower and visit my cheese guy.

I've stolen the computer from my mom, locked her up, and gagged her in the closet. Just kidding! Now, I probably don't have to write about my vacation, because everybody who reads this blog, I've seen over the vacations, and they've already heard the 411, the most important stuff. I will, however, write about the plane ride, and our arrival, and... I could go on and on, and on, but I'll just get to the point. So, anyway we say our good-byes to the McHughs, and Warren drove us to the Maxwells so we could hitch a ride to the airport. The ride was long, and I think I might have slept, but I'm not sure. When we got to the airport, it was practically deserted. The guy at the baggage check-point just opened one of those ropes, and we went straight to the front. The security the line was zero, zip, zulch as well. afterwards we went to get paninis, and then the toy store, and then I wanted to get my nails done, but it was $25, so mom said no, and then she fretted over whether or not she was going to get one of those neck rest thingies.... she ended up getting one for her and me. When we finally boarded the airplane, I was ready to take off, and by the time we actually did, I had read about 1/4 of my book, possibly more, and I was switching off with my french book that I have to read for Monday. After the plane had taken off, and we had some turbulence the captain, or one of the flight attendants announced that someone was not feeling well, and they were looking for a doctor. The guy next to mom said something about passing out. I didn't sleep a wink. Noa slept like a log, she had her head in mom's lap, and her feet in my face, pleasant, isn't it? Anyway, I needed more space than Noa, and she was taking up about half of my seat, so to me, sleeping didn't seem like an option. I actually slept through dinner, and I wasn't awake when they served breakfast, but besides that, I was UP and READING. My mom and dad are cutting my reading time to a limit of 1 hour on weekdays, and 2 on weekends and Wednesdays. I was so sad when I heard, I started crying, no joke. Ask my mother. Anyway, we're having dinner soon, so I gotta go! I'll write as soon as possible!

Lili(an) Belle in PARIS

I Surrender!

How's it going people? It's been a while, I realize, but at the top of my lame excuses list is I am sick! Finally, after everyone else in our family had seemingly succumb to some type of foreign germ (for some of us, more than one), it was finally my turn to surrender. It all started a week ago friday, when my throat was feeling a little but itchy. (Ironically, I had woken up that morning, looked in the mirror and said to myself, 'I can't believe I haven't gotten sick here yet'. Big Mistake.) So the plan for the weekend was to go to the Loire Valley and see some Chateaux. Saturday morning , we piled into our rental car and headed south. The first place we stopped was at the Chateau of Cheverny. The fun thing about this place is that they keep a hunting kennel with about 100 dogs and during hunting season (I'm sure there are several throughout the year) they take the dogs out on a hunt. Let me tell you though, 100 french hunting dogs make a lot of french merde! The other super cool thing about this Chateau is that it was heated inside. We could comfortably wander around the furnished rooms, admiring the paintings, dishes and armor. When we left, it was lunch time and we searched for a place to eat. We knew that January was not high season for the Loire Valley, so that meant the Chateaux would be less crowded but we hadn't counted on not finding any open restaurants. Lucky for us, I had booked a room for the night with a view of the Chateau at Chambord and I knew they had a lovely restaurant. So after a few failed attempts at finding something a little less formal in town (I use the word town loosely, but having just purchased a house in Chester, I'm hardly one to talk) and getting a little bit lost with the help of Mabel, our GPS assist, we made it to the lovely, if not a little run down Hotel Saint Michel in Chambord. And they do have a wonderful restaurant and were willing to serve us some of their beautiful cuisine. After a nice lunch, we went to explore the Chateau Chambord which is an enormous medieval chateau and certainly not heated. They did have an enormous fireplace going on each floor but that was only for temporary thawing out your fingers and hands before exploring deeper into the many nooks and crannies of the huge stone castle. After we finished with that we went to warm up for a bit in our room and then it was time to go to the bar for a drink and to dinner. (All the while I am trying to nurse this cold, let's not forget about poor old me). The next morning we drove to visit Chenonceau, which is a gorgeous structure built right over a river, lending itself to amazing views both of the chateau and from the chateau. Again, however, not heated. We toured the place with our gloves and hats on, visited the cool kitchens and walked the gardens and labyrinth for a bit until we were too frozen to stay outside (or inside for that matter) any longer. After lunch at a local cafe (Chenonceau is probably the most visited of the Chateaux so they had to have something open in town for starving tourists) we decided we would head back to Paris. The next day, I had a tour of the Concierge where Marie Antoinette, among others, was held prisoner during the French revolution. The tour was great but the building, originally built in 1310, was not heated. By Tuesday, my cold had gotten so bad that I decided to cancel my tour that day titled, 'Meet the Cheese Maker'. Can you imagine having to cancel something like that? I was heart broken. By Wednesday I was in bed and have remained there ever since (can you actually hear a miniature violin playing?) There is my big story for my big lame excuse about why I haven't written in the blog. I'm sure I will recover soon, and yes, if I'm not better by monday, I will go see a doctor but I swear it was just a cold! (First 2 photos are Chenonceau, next 2 are from Cheverny and the last is from Chambord).

Updates

Hi everyone who's reading the blog(so, basically, it WOULD mean everyone, 'cause I'm only saying this to the people who are reading... but I won't go any further in that direction.)! My life here is great (not really), at least, it's better than before. I'm just starting to speak en Francais, I don't wake up wanting to throw-up, and we're going to CA and CT soon (that's the best part!)! My mom found me a french girl who is my age, and lives in the building, and when she told me about it, she was jumping up and down and was like," This is so great! She can like, call you, and say 'I'm going out for coffee!'" But then I pointed out that mom doesn't let me drink coffee. I might enter an english spelling bee, and I might take an optional french math test. I seem to love tests, if you didn't know me, you'd think I do them for fun! I went ice skating with my friend Daria today in La Tour Eiffel; # of times I fell on my butt: 0 #of times I freaked out: 9000000000000000000000009. Nothing is going on here, I did OK on my tests... 54.5/ 60 for french... etc. We are having a 9 or 10 day field trip in... May or June I think... but that's all thats happening here. See you soon!

Lili(an) Belle in PARIS

New Years Revelations

Happy New Year! Bonne Annee! Joyeux Saint Sylvestre and all the rest! After returning from the Alps back to Paris with a clear head and tired thighs, I have had some realisations. My daughter Lili is not liking Paris. I knew from the beginning that this would not be an easy transition for her but I was hoping that by the Christmas break, things would have started looking up for her. And I know that it's not too late. She is doing well in school, although she is extremely anxious about going and doesn't talk a lot in class. She understands a lot of french but she's scared to make a mistake when she speaks. At home, she can put together a sentence without breaking a sweat. Mme. Panzani, her teacher, is nice and very charismatic. But as we all know, sometimes our charismatic leaders can turn out to be a little bit scary and very intimidating sometimes. She has friends and is social but she never has anything positive to say about being here. She always talks about going home or going to California. Again, I know things can and hopefully will turn around for her but in the mean time, it's hard... on all of us. As parents, we would do anything to make it better (except, of course, send her home) and we spend a lot of time and energy trying to do that. As for Noa, although she seems perfectly happy here, she likes to mimic Lili's behavior, so then we have to hear it from her too. I've also realized that sending your kids to a bilingual school means exactly that, it's bilingual. There is a lot of english. In fact, all the kids are expected to speak english after the first grade. This is part of the reason it's hard for Lili to find kids to speak french to, they all speak english and most of them do it very well! We definitely didn't want to send them to public school but it would be nice if there was a way for them to practice what they've learned, which is really a lot! Our plan of attack is this: We're looking to hire someone, like a tutor, to talk and play with Lili so she gets more comfortable opening her mouth in class. You would think it would be easy for us just to find some french kids for her to play with. But for whatever reason, it's not as easy as it seems. We did try to sign up for some classes at the community center because we thought she could meet kids through that but it turns out people sign up for these classes in June, so we never even had a chance. I've also realized, for a number of reasons, that it would have been nice if we could have stayed for 2 years instead of just one. Don't freak out, we're not going to stay (I don't think... no really, we're not). We're only just now getting the hang of how things work and settling into our new big city life. We're starting to figure out who we like and want to spend more time with. The girls will just be getting really comfortable with their french by the time we have to leave. And there is so much to do, so much to see and just not enough time! I still think it's great that we have this opportunity to come, even if just for one year but I think it's a little sad that we can't stay for two. I know we still have 6 months left and we've only just reached the halfway point but it feels like the second half is going to be like a slide into summer. Like we spent the fall climbing up the ladder to the top and now the ride down is going to be so quick. I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining because, believe me, I still think it's great that we are here but if you really want to get to the heart of What's that smell, you need to be able to accept the bad smells as well as enjoying the good. (The photos posted are of Chloe getting ready for our "party" on New Year's Eve. She was super excited!)