"Excuse me -- but are you from Canada?"

In the rush of preparing for our trip, I didn't get the pictures ready to post from a great gathering last Wednesday with Alli and her three wonderful daughters.

Alli is a friend of Laura's and originally from the U.S. We had exchanged an email or two shortly after our arrival in France, and then one morning at the Beaune market a few weeks ago, she came up to me and said "Excuse me -- but are you from Canada?"

I think I looked a little freaked out (was I carrying a Tim Horton's cup? Had I unknowningly sewn a Canadian flag on my purse?) and she explained who she was and that we had actually emailed each other and that she recognized me from the blog. We hit it off right away (she had recently endured her own emergency room trip in a foreign country with one of her daughters -- how could you not be great friends after sharing that kind of experience?) and we agreed to get together with the kids, all of whom were eager to play with other English speakers.

She suggested meeting at one of Beaune's beautiful parks -- Le Parc de la Bouzaise -- and I can't believe we hadn't been there yet. It was great -- a small petting zoo, a garden maze, fantastic playground equipment (the kind that surely would be banned in the U.S. and Canada -- so dangerous! so fun!), and a pond full of ducks and geese. Our visit was cut short when Jack, showing off his amazing balancing skills, slipped into the pond. Alli kindly offered to have us all head to her Beaune house to dry his pants and let the kids play some more. 


It was kid heaven (and the parents had a good time, too!). I think all five of the bigger kids had really been missing the ease that comes from being around other English speakers. All five are doing extremely well adjusting to life in France, I'd say -- but that didn't stop them from playing a little easier that afternoon. And then , as we were leaving, their daughters did an incredibly generous thing -- they let Kate and Liv borrow many ponies, fairies, and other toys for a few weeks, and even threw in some Pokeman toys and knights for Jack (they have moved here for a longer stay and so have more than the paltry handful of toys we brought with us). Yes, their names are spoken of with reverence around here.


All six kids have been clamoring for another visit (and, not surprisingly, the adults are eager too) -- so we will have them to our place on Sunday afternoon. We can't wait.

(The last picture shows the wet board where Jack was "balancing" before he slid in and cut the park visit short -- and also shows some French fowl!)