february vacation

So in case you didn't know, after every 6 week school term there is a 2 week vacation. Which also means no work for me. Miette's birthday was the Saturday after the last day of school and my folks flew over from Cincinnati to spend most of those two weeks with us. So we've been busy showing them around La Rochelle as well as traveling in the region, with a couple overnight stays in Bordeaux and St. Emilion, and I haven't made the time to post anything till now, problem being that there is now tons of catching up to do. In a nutshell, we visited the big and beautiful old city of Bordeaux, rode the tramway, admired the architecture, visited an amazing cathedral and had fun in a hotel (where the kids had an actual bath! they are bath deprived as we have only a shower stall here) before heading over to nearby St. Emilion which is a ancient tiny perfect town built onto a rocky hill with a church carved out of the rock as well as 2 levels of underground passages and catacombs (many of which are now used to age wine). It is a highly regarded wine area - we stayed that evening in a B&B on one of the many vineyards. We met an interesting Dutch couple also staying there who buy and sell french specialty foods in the Netherlands and they gave us samples of different french saucissons and Pineau (an aperitif). Then after a long day of trying to wind our way back to La Rochelle on the pretty backroads of France, we ran into a city with a citadel thing (kind of a walled in city that is still populated) and other lovely little villages on the way, and eventually got back here in time for me to take advantage of the grandparents here to babysit so I could go out a celebrate a friend's birthday. I can't remember in which order everything else happened, but we spent a day on the Ile de Re, the kids went with gma and gpa to the traveling circus that was in town, I went with my dad to talk to the department of city planning in La Rochelle where I was a partial translator, and got quite an education about many city operations- from zoning laws to governing bodies to funding. And of course, the obligatory visit to the Ludotheque, Mediatheque, towers on the port, and a day's bike ride along the coast from the port in the center of town all the way out the a beach on the edge of the city. The day we took our bike ride, we also had my friend Nellie her friend Kate who stopped here for a day en route to Italy. It was so beautiful and warm that day we all ended up riding our bikes jacket free, and me in short sleeves. Well that is a bit more than a nutshell, and I should move on to more practical matters that need my attention now that we've returned to the work and school worlds. I am so grateful to be here with this sun and warmth, and feel for everyone posting and emailing about being cooped up at home, enduring the miserable weather in Chicago/ Cincinnati / Pittsburgh... It may be a long time before I get to have such a luxurious winter again and I know I am lucky. I am glad I got to share the sun and the time with my family and look forward to the many visits to come. I hope we will continue to be so lucky.

water

On the Ile de Ré, just a 10 minute drive away. A skinny amazing island full of beaches, marshes, herons, egrets, ruins, fortresses, chickens pecking and fighting, and some side roads full of rocks... (this kind of road can be bad for marital harmony when taken on a whim by the husband/grandfather). Water everywhere around.

iron and shadow

St. Emilion

stone

Cathedrale St. Andre

miam miam

Miette turns 8

The Tarbell grandparents were here just in time to celebrate with a birthday diner and amazing chocolate cake from the bakery across the street as well as Greater's ice cream that traveled across the Atlantic in dry ice. I think Miette is 8 going on 30. She is just too grown up these days.

SLAM

it's a shame i don't write much because i have such a bad memory there are so many things that will be forgotten. but who has the time to go back and read it all anyway...? well, last night i went to valerie's friend kristine's slam thing at the bar "les deux tours". slamalamer (translation- SLAM at the sea). it was so great, full of people from all walks of life and an african dreadlocked contingent that one doesn't see too often in la rochelle, especially not in la genette! drums, accordions, guitar, spoken word and a few songs thrown in, one by a beautiful young man that i could have listened to for hours. in the beginning i concentrated to the poetry, trying to catch all the words and follow the meaning but after a glass of wine and many texts, i just listened as if it was music and didn't follow a thing. though i came to the event with a slightly skeptical attitude, and though there were a few duds, overall the effect was one of inspiration and rhythm. it made me want to speak, tell a story, sing, about what i didn't know, but just anything, to take part in the ambiance and the feeling of family that spread throughout those at the bar that night. of course valerie knows everyone and those she didn't know when she arrived she did by the end of the night so there was no shortage of peole to talk to during the breaks. but i also ended up feeling like my french is so far from perfect there are so many words, expressions that i don't know and after an entire evening of speech, poetic and full of slang, though i felt like i was floating in it, after a certain point, i also felt like i was drowning in the impossibility of ever knowing it all.

picture is me and valerie's daughter who came for a bit.

The kids seem to be maturing rapidly...

...and are so full of wisdom! For example, Julian had this deeply philosophical question at dinner the other night - "Wouldn't it be funny if french was english?" Exactly. That's what I always say. These deep thoughts must be causing an accelerated aging process because all of a sudden he also seems to have grown the afeared mustache- he's opting not to shave for now because he's still afraid of the razor, but he's adapting quite well to his new facial hair.