My Mom is here

My Mom arrived safe and sound from Atlanta...well....almost. As per usual they lost her luggage and then decided to keep her in the baggage claim for well over an hour filling out the proper forms. This happened to her the last time she visited France so she claims next time she'll come naked or not at all....stay tuned.

Turns out that since the first plane made a late connection she made it to the plane but not the bags...they were delivered the next evening.

We were all so happy to see her and have tried to catch up on our year apart, even though we talk all the time on the phone. The first few days or so she suffered from a major case of Jet Lag and spent many a wonderful hours napping...sometimes in bed sometimes on the beach (the 2nd shall not be repeated as she was burnt to a crisp)

Abigail obviously is in heaven having her Grandmere here, and has enjoyed playing with her as well as her help in learning her poems for school.

Maman has also thus far made her special mayonaise for us (which is almost gone) and her fried banana split. Still to come is a fondue and a Buche de Noel which I'm chomping at the bit for.

And now she is off to see her sisters...more posting later

It is unbelievable to me but my baby girl is now 10 years old! So to mark this momentous birthday we went on a worldwind trip to Italy...our neighbor.

Abigail was so exited, she 

was going to take her first train ride! So off we went to the shopping capital of Italy...Milan. Ohh the stores!

This is beautiful place is actually a type of mall. It is amazing! It included such stores as Prada, Louis Vitton and a token McDonalds for us poor folks.

This beautiful and amazing church is the 3rd largest church in the world and THE largest Gothic church in the world.  It is about 2 city blocks long and all carved with very intricate sculptures and scenes.

Then we were off to Florence where we saw many wonderful things including "David" and "The Birth of Venus" then we were off to Pisa

(this is the copy of David)

When we arrived in Pisa, we took a wrong turn somehow and ended up in an area that was a bit sketchy...it resembled a 3rd world country. I 

suddenly thought this was a mistake, then I saw the Leaning tower...and those thoughts popped out of my head.

It just was the coolest thing to me. We of course had to take the obligatory hold up/knock down the tower pictures. Of course you feel quite silly as you do this but there are people all around you doing the same thing.

Marie-Claude (my aunt) told us we really should climb the tower even though it is a hefty 15 euro pp price. We almost bypassed it but chose to do it anyways and it was SO WORTH IT! It was amazing as you climb the stairs with no outside view and you are thrown back and forth from side to side as you changed sides of the tower.

When you reach the top you have a wonderful view of Pisa...we pretended to re-enact the Galileo. Though I must say we questioned his intelligence as we noted how scary it was at the top and that was WITH the addition of the safty barrier!

Then a worldwind trip back to France, and I for one was so grateful to be back on French soil.

And that was Abigail's 10th birthday...what will it be next year?

Nicholas arrived safe and sound!

Just a quick note to say that Nicholas arrived safe and sound in the south of France. Abigail and I are extremely excited to have him here "for good"....he does miss the 'motherland though.

Since he has been here we've   gone to Beziers to visit family, celebrate a birthday and May day and visit the town which was lovely. We got to see a beautiful church where many people were massacred for their faith and the 9 locks on the Canal de Midi.

Much more with photos 

on this later..it's late.

And tomorrow we're off to see Milan, Pisa (the Leaning tower of Pisa) and hopefully Florence for Abigail's 10th 

birthday. So I'm hoping that the camera will not run out of pics. 

Stay tuned.

Abigail goes rock climbing!

There are so many wonderful things about living here in France, too many to fully express with words. One of the things I love so is that Abigail has gotten the chance to do so many neat things here that she never would of had the chance to do in the States.

She has gone sea kayaking, mountain biking and now with the same sports group she is rock climbing! This time Mom tagged along with the group to take pictures. It was SO beautiful there and I got many pretty pictures but unfortunately my battery was running low so I only was able to take a little over 100 pictures...not many for me.

Here Abigail is being double and triple checked by Frank their trusted leader. He is a very kind and gentle man who loves the kids....he is also around 6'4" so Abigail laughs that my head must be totally cocked upwards to speak to him...just like a kid. So here she is also getting last minute tips as she heads up the rock.

Up she goes! This is the short climb, basically for them to gain confindence in themselves, Frank and the equipment...kind of a warm up. However, it was nonetheless challenging.

The last thing that she had to do before hopping on the bigger rock was to show "confidence" that the equipment would hold her by releasing the rope, leaning all the way back in a laying down position with her arms out to her side. It was a case of trust...otherwise she'd always wonder if she'd be safe and in the end hurt herself.


Well...we can say that my baby girl has the same trust issues that her Mommy has....oh well. She did great!

She finally made it on the "big rock" and had so much fun, and I can't tell you guys how proud of her I am. She conquered her fear! That 'a Girl!

You rock!

A new Roman site found in Frejus

Abigail and I spent our "Pâques" (Easter) very atypical for us. There was no large meal awaiting us, no room full of family..it was just us two. We had a great day doing a partial "pajama day" till we decided to go to the grocery store for some much needed food. We knew that everything would be closed on Sunday and Monday as it was Easter and then "Easter Monday". Well we got to Geant Casino along with the rest of France and an hour an a half later we left...exhausted! Bad decision but it was over...we came home and had a good, long bible study.

Sunday we got us as usual and went to church...it was our week to do the "Accueil" or welcome, something Abigail really enjoys and would like to do every weekend...but for me it's too early in the morning. This Sunday I met a new lady, Svetlana. A lady from the Ukraine, who speaks Russian! Of all things! We share our numbers and had a wonderful time chatting. I think she will be a wonderful asset for Nicholas in continuing his Russian. She can teach him Russian and he can teach her English! She has a little boy who is 8 named Maxime and he and Abigail had a blast playing together before church. Then we came home and just picked up lunch and did more bible study.

Monday we decided to go for a walk...and that we did...3 hours long! It was wonderful, boy did we need it. I brought my camera and took 103 pictures, par for the course for me here. On the way we stopped at the new dig I'd seen before when I walked to arts class. This time with camera in hand I began snapping away. Here when you want to build something you need to make sure that you aren't building on a Roman ruin as it is an ancient Roman city and in this they struck gold..so to speak!

While I was busy taking as many pictures as I could between the little holes in the fence, the guy in the back hoe noticed me and asked me if we'd like to come into the site! Delighted I said yes, his one condition...not to fall into a hole...fine by me!

I peppered him with as many questions as I could....what was this find...I had heard it was the old port of Frejus, only to find no it was a reserve of some sort where they kept fish...kind of bizarre when you look at the structure...but who knows.

I asked if the building would continue as planned and he assured me that the site would not be lost. The builder will preserve it and make a way for the public to go down and tour the site.

Lisa had told me that when she first saw the site there were pots and jars of all kinds that they had just unearthed. So I asked of their location. He told me that they were at the Department of Archeology being cleaned and categorized and will later be brought back on site to be displayed.

You can see in this picture the channal grooved into the rock for a gate or something and then those holes....so cool. I only wish that Nicholas could have been there with me....it's more his area of expertise than mine...though I can here him saying now...I'm not a Roman expert! Oh well baby, you're my expert!

I love the roman arches! Seems like a waste for fish but it's still amazing and it's always the KEYSTONE that keeps everything held together!!

Then after our amazing walk we came home and did arts and crafts...what a great weekend.

And in case anyone is counting with me ... it's 2 wks and 1 day till Nicholas arrives!!

Fete des Plantes

Last Saturday was a gorgeous day in the south of France! Nathalie and Laurent invited us to join them at the Fete des Plantes at the Villa Aurielliene. Originally I had thought this would just be an expo of plants to purchase and that there was. However there were some very beautiful arrangements, paintings, dancers and 'interesting' art on top of an already gorgeous day.

Some of the bouquets were a bit too 'artsy' for my taste but it couldn't take away from the beauty of the flowers themselves. Plus the villa was decked out in flowers top to bottom, roses, tulips, orchids...you name it.

The flowers were stunning, the sold it all...flowers, tools, grass and even as you see 10 year old wine vines...would have loved to have one but who knows how much they were and I know after two weeks in my hands it would be dead...so I took a picture instead...no watering necessary.

They even had this cute little car all covered in grass...yes, real grass....how do you mow a car, I wonder? Thoughts?

Nicholas has purchased his ticket

After many discussions back and forth as to when would be the best time to come and Nicholas' anxiety over leaving his beloved Russia and starting a new phase in his life with us...he finally bought his ticket!! He is due to land on April 29th and we could not be more thrilled!

I have been so happy for him to get this wonderful opportunity to live in his country, the country he has spent the most of his life studying....the history he wants to teach displayed before his very eyes. He has experienced Russia in a way most people will never get the opportunity to experience.

Having said all that, it has been hard being away from him during this time. He is such a joy in my life and that of Abigail's that a part of "us" has been missing. As Nicholas likes to remind me often, this time apart has not been a total waste for me as it has allowed me to experience my life long dream of being in France, my family's country. I also have been blessed to really get to know the family that stayed here...though they used to come every summer when my grandparents were alive, it was hard to really get to know them on a personal basis. Now I've been given that wonderful gift. I love them all dearly.

As I grow to love this land more and more each day, it boggles my mind as to why my parents decided to move to the United States...whatever made them decide to leave? This will be a question for my mother if she can make it here this summer.

I'm excited that we've decided (and was given permission) to stay another year here. It will advance Abigail's rapidly growing French skills, giving her many advantages in her later life, as well as helping mine (less rapid). And now to be able to share the Payee d'amour with my Nicholas will only deepen our love of life and each other.

So count the days down with me....as of this post....31.

Love you Nicholas