Their part of the preparation includes making LOTS of artwork, valentines, notes, and more artwork and a promise that they will help me find the prettiest flowers at the market. They have also promised to help with my part of the preparation (cleaning and laundry), but we'll see how that works out. They have to finish their artwork first, apparently.
John and Jack went to Paris yesterday (what a crazy thing to write... it just has a different ring than saying "John and Jack went to Medicine Hat yesterday") to pick them up. John used the day in Paris to get quite a bit of work done (and he's been on a streak of great progress on new research projects... which is good news. He's trying to not get too frustrated that his lingering projects seem to be, um, lingering... but that's another story). Jack apparently was a trooper (oooh, The Museum of Immigration! Just what every 7-year-old loves...) and would apparently get his wish to see the Eiffel Tower last night or this morning.
We've had some great adventures with both sets of our parents during our travels and times of living in differents parts of the country and world. In 1996-97, when we were living in Cambridge, England, we met Jay and Judy in Rome for the Christmas break and traveled to Cinque Terre, Florence, Siena, and then on to Switzerland, France and back to England. One of the best memories of that trip (in addition to seeing historic sites, incredible artwork, and a beautiful countryside) was the frantic grocery store trip on Christmas Eve where we bought delicious bread, tomatoes, garlic, cheese, sausage, fruit, basil and wine, and had a feast in our hotel room that night before going to Midnight Mass at the Duomo in Florence. We didn't have all of the kitchen tools needed to prepare such a feast, of course, so we used Jay's knife and a very LONG boot-horn Judy had received with her newly purchased Italian leather boots to serve up the tomatoes when preparing the bruschetta. I *think* we may have taken a picture (but I don't have it on my computer)... and maybe it's the picture I remember, or the real thing -- but I know there were smiles all around (and a bit of self-satisfaction) as we dug into our Christmas dinner that night.
We haven't made firm plans yet of what adventures await during their time here now, and we know they plan to take a few trips on their own, but whatever happens, it is sure to be fun (although most food prep should be able to take place in a kitchen this time around). And on that note, I should probably sign off as the girls are bouncing up and down, begging me to start mopping (maybe they WILL actually help!). On verra!
2 comments:
So, speaking of valentines, how big a deal are they in France? Are all the kids making them for their classmates? Is this one of those things where you'll expect them to be done and be surprised not to get anything in return, or conversely, where you'll be unprepared and overwhelmed when Jack gets flowers from all of the girls in his class? :-)
- Joy.
I tried to ask a mom about that yesterday but didn't get a definitive answer. They don't do cards like in Canada/U.S. (for everyone in the class). Her daughter is secretly working on them for a few friends (and maybe others?). Thankfully, we'll still be on break, so there won't be a school party or anything (to either over-do or under-do). But I wouldn't be surprised if we somehow missed the ball on it anyway!
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