My kingdom for a portable coffee mug?

Well, we're finding our groove more and more each day, and on the whole it's wonderful (says someone who just, for a little snack, scarfed down half a baguette with real butter from the world's best boulangerie).

But we're not fully there. For one thing, I still find it hard to get to sleep at a decent hour, which means I am not waking up as early as I should to get myself and kids ready for the day. And that means (horror of horrors) that I am not drinking enough coffee before leaving home to take the kids to their various schools.

And that's NOT a good thing.

Yesterday, Kate and Liv started preschool (maternelle) and they did SO well. The teacher was terrific, the girls played with dollies, playdough, AND paint (a trifecta of preschool fun), and they were so happy with themselves and their school when we picked them up for lunch.

It was a rockier start for me. I didn't have the same emotional meltdown that I did with Jack (having a built-in best friend in class with your children clearly makes things easier from a mother's perspective)... but I didn't have time for breakfast, much less un cafe au lait before we left the house. Despite this, after making the various rounds that morning and receiving even more paperwork to fill out -- and then meeting with the woman who runs the school cafeteria program (an experience that merits a post unto itself) -- John and I decided it would make the most sense to get some groceries sans enfants, which is clearly the best way to do it.

But what about the coffee (or lack thereof)? We didn't bring a portable mug with us to France (limited luggage and all) and, bien sur, La Maison des Chaumes is stocked with plenty of beautiful ceramic mugs, but nary a plastic portable mug to be found (not a complaint, Laura! This is clearly my own issue!). So we thought we'd look for a coffee at or near the grocery store. Alas... France has NOT been overrun by Starbucks (which I know is GOOD in the big picture) and so there were no drive-through latte windows on the way to the store and no smell of Pike Place Roast to tempt us as we shopped.

Headache growing, we got the groceries and returned to the car. There was not quite enough time to drive all the way into the center of Beaune before we needed to pick up the girls. So we drove around the outskirts of the town a bit, passing a few places where one could go and SIT and linger and have a coffee... and I know there are other places where one can stand at the counter and slam a shot of espresso (but I usually see men doing this, and always feel a bit intimidated joining them)... but in our short search, we found no where (that we could tell) where one could buy a coffee to go.

And this reality seems so very French to me. If one is going to have a cup of coffee, one should clearly be sitting (not driving or grocery shopping or dropping children at school), lingering, enjoying, and indulging in the act of coffee drinking. One should not be simply trying to mainline the caffiene straight into the blood stream!

I like this idea in principle. And if I finally start sleeping like a normal person, I should even be able to plan to wake a bit earlier to have enough time to linger over the morning cup of joe. That's the hope anyway. On verra (we'll see!).

In other news -- we took a great walk on Sunday afternoon from our house to the neighboring village of Magny-les-Villers. We walked past an ancient chateau (with Katie and Olivia shouting "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair" as they admired the stone tower -- as in Japan, I feel like our children are much LOUDER than everyone else. Sigh...). We then wandered through vineyards to a small shrine with a statue of the Virgin Mary in it, past a mist-shrouded cemetery and then up the hill into Magny. After a short break for the kids to snack on Petit Ecolier cookies, we wrapped around tiny, winding streets of the village where Kate and Liv go to school, and then headed back on a different path through more vineyards. We figured it was about three kilometers (give or take), and the kids were great hikers.








Sunday night, we also discovered the coolest low-tech gadget I have EVER seen. It's called a Pèle Pommes and Laura (our landlady) wrote about it here on her blog, and you can order one here if you want to experience the fabulousness for yourself. It's magical! With very little effort, it peels, cores, and perfectly slices apples, pears, potatoes, and more! We had so much fun with it and peeled so many apples that I had to make applesauce for dinner that night -- and we have been enjoying perfectly peeled pommes every day since. (NOTE: as cool as this gadget is, if you are someone with whom we exchange Christmas presents (Mom -- I'm talking about you here), don't go buying one for yourself, because you just might be getting it under the next Christmas tree!)

Jack continues to enjoy school. He said all of the girls want to hold his hand when they stand in line to head in or out of the classroom to play. Personally, I am amazed that his 7 and 8 year old female classmates are so, well, French! In just three short days, I have seen perfect shoulder shrugs, sighs, pouts, and many flicks of hair with an "eh"... well, it's kind of amazing to witness in person. I haven't yet asked him if he notices this difference... I kind of think (like always), he is pretty oblivious to it.

As far as the actual classroom goes -- well, his class is going to a movie in Nuits-St-Georges this afternoon and he was very excited about that. He is working on cursive writing every night and that seems to be Maitresse Nathalie's biggest worry (and it's not a worry for us... although we do want him to be able to read his teacher's writing at school). His French (at least according to Jack and to his teacher) is actually pretty good!

Katie and Livie are very happy at school -- although Katie has been reluctant each morning to leave the house (this was often true in Lethbridge, too, as well as in Japan) and both girls have had some meltdowns each of the last few afternoons (which thankfully pass). But Maitresse Maud says they are doing great. They play well with others but also are (she said approvingly) very independent. They love riding bikes at recess, painting and coloring, and learning songs. Their teacher has been working with the class on a few English songs... and John and I had to control our laughter last night as we heard Liv walking around the house singing "Clap your 'ands, one two three" with the perfect accent of a French person speaking English (no "h" in hands, and the same lilting tone of her teacher!).

John has done just a small bit of work and writing so far. Now that the kids are in school (and I have now braved the tiny French roads twice to pick up Jack... talk about needing courage!), he should be able to actually do what we came here to do -- his work! Again, I can only say on verra...or perhaps, on espère (one can hope!).