First, the weather has finally turned warm. We've had an unusually cool (according to our French friends) May and June . But, this week it is back in the upper 80's with beautiful sunny weather. We are enjoying the sun and getting accustomed to a constant layer of sweat. (Air conditioning is pretty much non-existent here.)
Secondly, we got to experience our first ever Music Festival in Paris. This festival takes place every year on the first day of summer to celebrate the arrival of summer. We've heard it's pretty amazing, and we've just witnessed that it is truly wonderful!
Here's how it works. People go out on the streets and play music. If you check the local newspapers, you can find out where groups will be playing, our you can just wander down the street and see group after group performing in the squares, at the cafes, in various public buildings...or where ever. It was pretty neat. Here are a few photos we took as we wondered through our neighborhood:
This gal was a fabulous violinist. I especially liked her boots. Her outfit is so typical French. In this next video, you can hear this girl and another very talented violinist playing a duet.
Not bad for music you just "happen upon" on the street, huh! Here's another group that we heard at a cafe:
Or, there's the young choir performing in the square:
Here are all of their friends hanging on the gate watching them perform. Kids are kids where ever you go!
I like this photo of Mark and Todd watching the performances.
And, we got to watch this couple dance the Tango together. The kid's eyes were glued, and their mouths were unashamedly hanging wide open watching this performance as we sat just feet from where they were dancing.
The crowds were just as interesting as the performances. Here are a few photos.
Here's a very typical family...holding man bag, French bread, baby and all!
As you can imagine, slings are very big here.
The day before summer officially began, though, we had a very important celebration in our house: FATHER'S DAY!
Mark has definitely earned his stripes this year! With me in full-time language school, he's been holding down the fort in more ways than one. He's done almost all of the grocery shopping, all the laundry, gotten the kids to and from school each day which includes picking them up for lunch and feeding them...among that millions of other things that he has done around the house and this doesn't even include all the work he's been doing with our team. It's been quite the year for this DAD!
To celebrate, I took him to Chez Bebert, a couscous restaurant. Here are photos of our food. It was FABULOUS!!!!
Finally, I want to share one more thing that I just love about France.
This is something I especially love now that it is summer. Sunset is at 9:57 p.m. right now. It's tough to put kids to bed when it is so light. (You must remember, we still have one more week of school here.) Were it not for the fabulous window shutters, I don't know what we would do! Here's a series of photos I took to illustrate what I am talking about.
Here's a photo of Lena's window in broad daylight.
Now...just seconds later...the shutters are down, but not closed tightly.
Now, here are the shutters completely closed.
How do you like that? Instant and complete darkness! It's like sleeping in a basement. It's power to make the kids sleep in when we get to bed too late, and it's power to make a room dark and say "it's time to go to bed!" Glorious!
And, so, with all of this we say "Happy Summer to Everyone!"
Or, there's the young choir performing in the square:
Here are all of their friends hanging on the gate watching them perform. Kids are kids where ever you go!
I like this photo of Mark and Todd watching the performances.
And, we got to watch this couple dance the Tango together. The kid's eyes were glued, and their mouths were unashamedly hanging wide open watching this performance as we sat just feet from where they were dancing.
The crowds were just as interesting as the performances. Here are a few photos.
Here's a very typical family...holding man bag, French bread, baby and all!
As you can imagine, slings are very big here.
The day before summer officially began, though, we had a very important celebration in our house: FATHER'S DAY!
Mark has definitely earned his stripes this year! With me in full-time language school, he's been holding down the fort in more ways than one. He's done almost all of the grocery shopping, all the laundry, gotten the kids to and from school each day which includes picking them up for lunch and feeding them...among that millions of other things that he has done around the house and this doesn't even include all the work he's been doing with our team. It's been quite the year for this DAD!
To celebrate, I took him to Chez Bebert, a couscous restaurant. Here are photos of our food. It was FABULOUS!!!!
Finally, I want to share one more thing that I just love about France.
This is something I especially love now that it is summer. Sunset is at 9:57 p.m. right now. It's tough to put kids to bed when it is so light. (You must remember, we still have one more week of school here.) Were it not for the fabulous window shutters, I don't know what we would do! Here's a series of photos I took to illustrate what I am talking about.
Here's a photo of Lena's window in broad daylight.
Now...just seconds later...the shutters are down, but not closed tightly.
Now, here are the shutters completely closed.
How do you like that? Instant and complete darkness! It's like sleeping in a basement. It's power to make the kids sleep in when we get to bed too late, and it's power to make a room dark and say "it's time to go to bed!" Glorious!
And, so, with all of this we say "Happy Summer to Everyone!"
1 comment:
It's so funny that you posted about the shutters because I was just thinking about how I can't wait to have them for Emma. She goes to sleep like a dream (no pun intended!) once it's dark outside, but fusses and fusses when it's still light!
Thank you for the pictures of the people, too. In my quest to stock up on clothes, I have really been wondering if I am stocking up on things that we would never wear over there. Also, will you do a car post some time? I have really been wondering what we would drive with 4 kids. We'll probably be starting out in Albertville so we will need a car. (But we will still definitely have to visit each other!)
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