Joyeaux Noel! -Christmas is masculine- duh!

Every noun has a gender. They don't necessarily make any sense. It's Christmas eve eve. Had our last francais lessons till January 7th when life resumes at it's normal pace for the Clunysois. Thinking about travel for January. Anja has doctor appointments in Macon, lyme-literate doctor January 2nd, and eye doctor January 11th. My lovely translator, Caroline will accompany us to the first appointment, and we're on our own for the second I believe, though the office has been forewarned as I was the one that made that appointment and explained that the doctor that would work best for us is the one with the most knowledge of Anglais, assuming they all know about eyes. We had the most lovely time skating in Macon by the Saone river the other day. Sofie and I are at about the same level. We both improved greatly in the hour we were skating. Anja and Caleb are far more skilled and were able to skate longer as Sofie's stamina dwindled and her and I took off for the health food store where we purchased gluten free- cookies, pasta, flours, crackers, and beer. I especially liked the beer brewed with Millet in Germany. It's called Schnitzer Brau. I hope they sell it in the U.S. also. Perhaps the brew pubs make a gluten-free beer. Perhaps I should contact Ace in preparation for our home-coming? Wine is gluten-free anyway. I noticed the french put warning labels on things too. There's a cork on our kitchen table that says, "Mis en Botteille," which I took to mean, "put in bottle," (different priorities) though upon reflection it might mean bottled by as it was followed up with,"a la propriete." So you know what I've been busy doing here in the land of booze and food. Caleb's off walking in the woods. I'm making home movies with the kids. It'll be a wonder if I don't weigh an extra ten pounds when I return to the land of sunshine. This is sounding way too much like a diary. Will try to wait till I have something to write about next time.

la reine de neige et l'arbre de souhaite

We watched the snow queen create snow with her magique wand in Macon today. We lit our candles at the tree of hope last weekend in Cluny. Joyeuse fetes, not just Noel, but fetes galore. We intended to skate but the very small outdoor rink alongside the immense Saone river was very crowded as it is Sunday, the girls got cold waiting in line to get to the rink, so we decided to try again on a weekday. Don't know if this will be any better as the local children will probably be out of school then anyhow. Though it will be fun to try. I finally tried the Vin Chaud and it was delicious. I decided it is the reason the French live longer. Warm wine with a slice of lemon in it on a cold, wintery day is delicieux and doesn't even make one sleepy.

Eurwoes

This unsuspecting, happy tourist who doesn't believe in pick-pocketers despite the signs everywhere in three or four languages warning all tourists, had his wallet slipped from his pocket by a savvy, Parisian, femme in the subway station, Abbesses atop Montmartre just before his long descent into the depths of the deepest Metro station in all of Paris, where he discovered the atrocity, a missing wallet. No more Euros!!!!! And it's been one thing after another since, financially speaking. I forgot my pin number, having not used it in months, then my credit card was canceled by the bank, due to irregular activity. I called to ask why it wasn't working. Apparently someone used it in a grocery store in France. Never mind the fact that it was the same grocery store in France that it has been being used in since September. I had another that did work, and they're sending me a new pin number. We've had more occasions for the use of cash in the past two weeks than we could ever imagine though. Luckily Caroline and Tom have loaned us plenty. Just last night we went out to eat for dinner at a restaurant here in Cluny knowing my credit card was working again, and having a back up one we felt safe in ordering plenty of food and drinks, and dessert for the children while we drank even more. I managed to correct an error on the bill and the server, said, "Oh, excuse-moi" and ran off to correct it, then returned to inform us that my card didn't work. They tried both. Neither worked. Caleb left me to beg more money off Caroline and Tom who luckily were home with cash. I stayed to speak drunk French to the server all the while, and believe me I didn't shut up the whole time, How Embarrassing, small town, will have to see these people again , and again. At night as I fall asleep, I have French running through my head. I have these great conversations with myself. In the day I think every thing I say to the kids over again in French, usually muttering it to them as they don't usually want to hear it, though Sofie can count to ten in French now which is close to how high she can count in English. But then when I have an opportunity to speak to someone, it comes out so pathetically, maybe partly to do with the embarrassing nature of the situation already, maybe due to the half a bottle of Bourgogne. Who's to say really? Looking for more people to talk to. In Paris people often meet to speak French half time and Onglais the other half so they can both improve their skills. I need to find a place to hang a sign around here for this purpose.

Shannon et Caleb apprennent le francais

Caleb and I are studiously studying Martine. Caleb is reading "Martine fait de la bicyclette" and I am reading "Martine apprend a nager." Our books are above Sofie's reading level but way below Anja's. Anja's not even entertained when we are able to translate rapidly, as rare as that is. But we keep reading. 501 French verbs is good reading when one needs a break from the vigor of Martine. Caleb is impressed that I can even look at the verb book, but Anja and I just finished Anne Frank and she was studying and learning five irregular French verbs a day while in hiding so I figure it can't hurt to try anyway.

Cluny for Christmas!!

This is our new living Christmas tree. We got it today. We all went to the Intermarche and picked it out. Then Caleb was a sight to behold riding it home on his bicycle. He says it is the first Sapin de Noel that he has ever bought because he always cuts them down, or his dad does from their own yard. I never bought a tree either because we didn't have to buy a tree each year due to the fact that we put the same tree together each December with color coded branch ends sliding neatly into the metal trunk. Anyway, however the tree is done, it is always magical. We have to find lights for it tomorrow and make decorations. But it is nice as is too. That's Dora, the advent calender hanging on the wall in the background, and a leaf Anja pressed before we left for Paris. The leaves have fallen now. We returned home from Paris last night to a delicious dinner prepared by Tom, and Caroline made dessert too. Also we have new lighting all over our house, and there was a jar of Miso Caroline had bought me at the health food store in Macon when she went. Felt like Christmas. Speaking of which, there is a festival of Lumiere this weekend with much singing and dancing. I thought the festivals would slow down as we entered the winter months, but they keep on coming here in Cluny.

Photography Musee

Yesterday we went to the photography museum. There was a temporary exhibit from Harlem which was very popular. There were a few permanent exhibits that were quite intense. One was Larry Clarke who did the movie "Kids" with Gus Van Sant. He got started in photography when he was a teenager as a way of dealing with his increasing awareness of the sad realities around him and the hypocrisy of the society around him in denying these sad truths. There were many pictures of his age mates, pregnant, shooting speed, holding guns... It wasn't exactly appropriate for children especially ours since it was all in English. Then there was an exhibit of art / photos by a young schizophrenic man who believed religion was the root of all evil, not crazy in and of itself (have you all purchased, "God Wants You Dead" yet?) He died in his twenties due to malnutrition as he failed to feed himself after his mother died, who he buried under the stairs as he was unwilling to give up her body. He did get permission to do this. His father hanged himself, and I guess he didn't fall to far from the tree. There was another all nude exhibit which was very tasteful and elegant. After the girls and I were finished with our educational cultural experience we went on to the Red Wheelbarrow bookstore, one of my favorites so far of the english bookstores we've toured, though it was entirely new books. Caleb went on to the Picasso museum where his less delicate psyche (we hope) was bombarded with exhibits on both Bosnia and Rwanda. I thought perhaps they could put a sign at the exit, Coming Soon - Iraq and Darfur!!! Sounds like a heavy day, but we had a great time. Interesting to look at the problems of the U.S. from afar surrounded by this more pro-active climate. Was fun to go to a museum a little off the tourist track, atleast this time of year.

Musee des Herbes

This picture is from a children's exhibit of art by Matisse, at the Musee des Herbes. I thought there might be herbs at the museum of herbs but it turns out an Herbe is a french expression for someone, of any age, developing their talent, according to the man working there. I was again impressed in my own very limited ability to read French that allowed us to understand the exhibits and perform the activities designated for each. The guy who sold us the tickets and explained the word herbe thought it would be more of a problem, probably due to the fact that we didn't even try our limited French with him. Sometimes it gets exhausting attempting to speak French and then having people reply in perfect English, only in Paris, so you start in English on these occasions, and often they speak only French, but in this instance, we got lucky, bon chance! The musee was lovely. Art is more highly respected here, and consequently many people are very creative. It is great how they teach art history and style to children.