"So, what fun thing are we going to do today?"

Those were the first words out of Liv's mouth when she woke up this morning (a Wednesday, so no school for kids). They *are* leading a pretty good life right now, I have to say. We haven't yet decided what's on tap for adventures today -- a walk, a trip to a castle, some baking? -- but whatever it is we will try to make it fun.

Kate and Liv had a LOT of fun on their field trip on Monday. First, they got to go on "Jack's bus" (which is a full-sized coach, not a North American type school bus, that travels at great speeds on tiny village roads and scares the bejeezus out of me, but that's another story). So just the bus ride was quite the thrill (for all of us, I guess!).

We drove into Dijon where I saw that even France has suburban sprawl. Somehow that was nice to see -- it's not all picturesque villages, rolling hills, historic buildings and cobbled roads in center cities, just most of it. Then we approached centre ville and it started looking more familiar (historic, cobbled, etc) and I saw we were at Place Wilson, a roundabout right near the apartment I lived at with the Harmels in 1993. We followed the road into the city and passed the building where I used to take many classes. I was getting all misty-eyed with memories and tried to share some of my excitement with Kate and Liv -- and they didn't care much at all, I am a bit sad to report ("yeah, that's Mama getting all teary again, if we've seen it once we've seen it a million times...").

The bus stopped in from of the Cafe la Comedie, where I used to get a cafe creme with fellow students and great friends Alex and Kellee after classes (Alex and I were from the same university, and Kellee was from Kentucky and spoke flawless, lovely French with a bit of a memorable accent). I forced the girls to stop for a quick picture in front of the cafe... they were eager to move on so this is all I got:

The teachers were amazing getting the 40-some children across the busy street, down the sidewalk and into La Musée des Beaux Arts, an amazing museum situated in the former palace of the Dukes of Burgundy. It was snowy and cold (which I guess goes without saying lately).

 Kate and Liv wanted to know who all the various people depicted in paintings and sculptures were. I was pretty good at guessing until I made one giant faux pas... I told Liv that a saintly looking sculpture of a woman was probably Mary, the mother of Jesus. Turns out, the sign said, it was Jeanne d'Arc, the French heroine and saint. Oops (but she looked VERY holy). I wasn't able to get a picture of her (we were on our way up some twisty stairs), but here's a bit more of what they saw:

 

  

  

Checking out a painting on the ceiling:  

  

 

 

The tour concluded in the former kitchens of the palace where now the tombs of some former Ducs (and at least one Duchess) have been placed.

  

And the visit ended (as perhaps all good museums visits should) with a group shot of the class in the former kitchen fireplace:

From the museum, the class took a LONG walk through the wonderfully rambling streets of Dijon to a room that seemed to be provided by a school district or authority that school children could use for lunch or crafts (from what I could tell -- I could be completely wrong about how we ended up in a big room in the middle of town). And for the first time in their short lives-- my girls were the first ones finished with their lunch. Yes, Kate and Liv, Canada's SLOWEST eaters, are right at home here in France, where people linger and relax and enjoy their lunches.

From lunch, the class walked again to a neighborhood theatre where the children left their backpacks and coats in a giant pile and trooped in to watch a spectacle involving two dancers/artists/performers. I wish I had written down the name of the theatre, the show, or even the neighborhood, because the show is quite difficult to describe. It was all movement and dance, though, and so Kate and Liv had no language barriers and enjoyed the show as much as their classmates. I was impressed how so many small children could sit SO still for so long.

At the end, we walked a half a block to our bus, and half of the kids fell asleep on the 40 minute drive home (through snowy streets, up twisty roads past vineyards in a giant bus at high speeds...).

They jumped off the bus and couldn't stop telling their stories to Jack and John. And you can see why Olivia is waking up these days and asking what fun thing we are going to do today. There has clearly been no shortage of fun here.