Oui, le vin est bon!

The room was packed, and people of all ages crowded on benches and leaned on tables. The smell of couscous and lamb mingled with the aroma of wine and sweat and rain. The band played over the laughter and conversations, and suddenly I heard the beginning of Chevaliers de la Table Ronde, a song I actually knew (courtesy of Madamoiselle Sullivan and my high school French classes in Colorado).

From the first verse:

Chevaliers de la table ronde/ Knights of the round table
Goutons voir si le vin est bon/ Let's taste and see if the wine is good
Goutons voir, oui oui oui/ Goutons voir, non non non/ Goutons voir si le vin est bon

through the tenth and last:

La morale de cette histoire/ The moral of this story:
C'est à boire avant de mourir/ Drink before you die!
C'est à boire, oui oui oui/ C'est à boire, non non non C'est à boire avant de mourir!

the crowd of people at the open house of a neighborhood winery sang, and drank, and laughed, and danced, and at one point (in between singing the "oui, oui, ouis" and "non, non, nons"), I looked around and just marveled at what I saw, the people, the music, the laughter, the wine. It all seemed so...French... and so very, very fun. I wished I could somehow bottle up that one moment and take it home with me, because it captured so much of what I have loved about our time in France -- friends, food, joy, wine -- and although we tried to get some pictures, I think we will have to rely mostly on our memories most for this one.

It was a great weekend from start to finish. After my quick market morning, we spent Saturday afternoon celebrating Penelope's 2nd birthday at our house. Kate and Liv absolutely adore Penelope (and Jack loves playing with her big sisters, Lauren and Claudia) and they had decorated the house with balloons of every color. After a few years of being the youngest, I think they are VERY happy to have someone else take on that role; they proudly showed off their mature, nearly-five-year-old-girl skills (like helping Penny put on her shoes, and picking up whatever she dropped).

And all five of the kids spent part of the visit trading Pokemon cards (Jack, Lauren and Claudia most seriously, although Kate and Liv got into the game). This is a mixed bag for a parent... the next morning, Katie proudly showed me a card and said "I traded my strongest card for this one because it's just so cute!" Hmmmm... she was happy, so that should have been fine, but we are wondering exactly how you teach a child to barter, bargain, and bluff, too (Jack had no trouble learning these skills). Not an easy task!

At any rate -- after the gouter (snack) and delicious birthday tarte, we all headed to Claire Naudin's, of Domaine Naudin Ferrand in Magny-les-Villers. The local winemaker, a friend of Franck and Laura's (and mother of a classmate of Jack's), was holding the annual winemaker's "open house" in the next village just one kilometer away.

As usual, John and I had no idea what to expect. And as usual, we had greatly underestimated just how great it would be. I think I had pictured it being a time to sample a few kinds of wine, and then we'd eat mediocre food prepared for the masses.

Instead, we arrived to a room filled with wine, yes (from seven different winemakers) but also crafts, locally grown food and specialty items (homemade jams, spice breads, salt), hot crepes, music (the band played off and on the whole evening and into the  night), and a craft corner and facepainting for children. The couscous dinner was delicious, and the wine was, of course, divine. We saw many people we knew -- one of the perks of living in a small village! -- and had dinner with Geraldine and Thomas as well as the parents of Laurie, a "big girl" who Katie has labelled as her best friend.

 

And the music and singing really capped the whole fun evening off. Aside from a Christmas carol or Auld Lang Syne on New Year's Eve, I can't recall a dinner where people starting singing (with great enthusiasm) drinking songs! Clearly something else we might need to bring back to Canada...

We all slept in on Sunday (which means til about 8 a.m.!) and although it wasn't officially Mother's Day here (in fact, it seems I will miss Mother's Day this year... it is at the end of May in France, was in March in England, and was yesterday in North America), John and the kids doted on me all morning, bringing coffee and food to bed, and leaving me alone to indulge in the weirdly addictive Twilight Series (why oh why did I start these vampire tales?).

We took a walk after lunch and came back to prepare a tarte aux fraises (strawberry tarte) for the gouter with my host parents, Denys and Christine. They LOVED the village and our France home, and marvelled at the beauty that surrounds us. Liv seemed to instantly bond with Denys, and spent much of the visit on his lap. I had asked Christine if she would bring her recipe for my favorite gateau au chocolat, and she took me through the process, step by step.

This is what we ended up with. Pas mal, n'est pas?

Denys also brought with him a painting he had done of me, from a picture I had sent them 17 years ago. It is black and white watercolor, and just amazing to see in real life. I am amazed at anyone who can create things with their hands (art, music, food) and will treasure this gift always.

And we returned back to regular French life this morning, with school for the kids and a work trip for John. The kids and I stopped for croissants on the way back from the train station since we were a bit too early for school, and I had to brush the crumbs off all three before sending them into their classrooms. They certainly have taken to French bread (big surprise there, eh?)

This afternoon, the girls (for who knows what reason) asked to hear the lyrics of O Canada on the computer. That led to a good half hour of listening to national anthems from around the world. If you find yourself with a bit of time, it's pretty interesting to read all of the lyrics as well as listen to the songs. The U.S.'s anthem, besides being r-e-a-l-l-y difficult to sing (Livie was NOT impressed with my "lan-and of the freeeeee!"), is SO focused on battle. I rarely thought about that when singing it growing up -- it just always did and still does give me chills when I hear it -- and often makes me cry. But I had never spent much time actually listening to the words (and who knew there were four verses?). Anyway... my other problem is that I always want to end it with an enthusiastic "Play ball!". I wonder if that instinct will ever go away!

France's anthem, La Marseillaise, always brings to mind that wonderful scene in Casablanca, but I had never read the English words until today. It is also a very bloody, bloody song. As the national anthem website explains:

The lyrics, speaking of bloody battles and a call for citizens to take up arms, have been debated endlessly whether to alter the words to suit the more peaceful times that France currently enjoys, but the original words, capturing the spirit of the French revolution, remain. This is probably due to the fact that "La Marseillaise" is now inexorably linked to France in the mind of the world.

The first verse of England's anthem is all about the Queen (later verses touch on everything from confounding the politics of its enemies and frustrating their knavish tricks). Croatia's is all about the land. Poland's anthem speaks to its tumultuous history of partition and preservation (Poland has not yet Perished). And Canada's anthem, which is so wonderfully easy to sing, has such different words depending on if you're singing it in French or in English.

Such interesting stuff.

Tomorrow should be a good day for Kate and Liv -- their class is going to ride ponies. And it will be a stressful (but hopefully satisfying) morning for me -- another haircut. Fingers crossed that it goes as well as the first one!

Fun, fun, fun in France (even with a germ or two)

This afternoon, as Katie was throwing up in the car on the way home from lunch (into a sack and not all over the rented minivan, thankfully), Olivia leaned over and whispered to her Grannie.

"I know why Katie doesn't feel good," she explained. "I gave my germ to her."

And indeed it appears she has. Thankfully, Olivia is back to her usual genki self today (that's the Japanese term for "spirited" and one of a handful of Japanese words that still lingers in our family's vocabulary. We have noticed it is now filled with many new and wonderful French terms, too, including mon coeur (my heart), ma puce (my flea/sweetie), and mon petit chou (my little cabbage/dear). But Katie is clearly in the midst of battling the same bug. At least we know it's not appendicitis, and we're hoping her recovery comes as quickly as her sister's.

And a little sickness didn't stop us from having a good time these last days. We have hung around the house a bit more than we first planned, which is no hardship, and we have also made a few trips into Beaune for various food, shopping, wine, and walking delights. We also had the pleasure of having a gouter with Geraldine and Adele yesterday (who later were joined by Pierre, and the smile on Jack's face when he saw his older friend ride into the drive seemed to illuminate the whole village, at the very least). And today, we kept the girls out of school (this was pre-Kate sickness, post-Liv sickness), said goodbye to Sharon at the gare and wished her bon voyage as she headed north to Brittany to visit dear friends, and then had an AMAZING lunch at a stony cave called L'Incontournable. To all Burgundians... if you haven't been to this fabulous restaurant at 29 Rue Carnot... you should get there as soon as you can!

And in between all of this, there have been tasty meals at home (including a gluten-free goat-cheese quiche I made last night and a Mont D'Or feast tonight), walks to some of our favorite places in the village, and lots of book reading, wine drinking, clothes changing (by Kate and Liv who are thrilled with the sundresses Grannie brought), talking, and laughing. John and I even got our date in last night -- not to Ciboulette, which was "exceptionally" closed on a Wednesday night, but to an Italian restaurant that turned out to be just right.

We're hoping Katie is well enough tomorrow to head out on our Loire trip. Liv was in good form within 24 hours, so fingers are crossed that Kate will be too.

Here are a few fun photos of the last few days. What you can't see in the photo of Katie with the lollipop is that her smile comes not from the sugary sweet, but from the brioche in the bag that I just got for her. She is definitely picking up some French habits. And near the end (I think sixth from the end), you can see mom walking out of my favorite fromagerie in Beaune -- just like me, with a smile on her face.

And in other news...

Now that I have gotten the emotional "I want my mom" update off my chest, I remembered I also have some pictures to post from the weekend.

On Friday, Geraldine, Pierre and Adele came to visit for the gouter. I have made a tarte au citron and we had a great visit. I was asking Geraldine to translate parts of the cookbook she gave me the night of the French fiesta, and as she tried to explain to me the different instructions for gougeres au fromage (fancy cheese puffs), we decided to just give it a try.

They didn't turn out *quite* right -- the first batch, in fact, could have been used as baseballs -- but I think the temperature in the oven here was too high as the second batch turned out a bit better. But it was so much fun to cook with a friend (and one who knew how to mettez, versez, otez, remettez, beurrez, saupoudrez and more).

Kate, Liv and Adele played beautifully. Liv said that Adele was beginning to understand them -- and they were beginning to understand her. At last!

Jack and Pierre kicked the soccer ball around for a while, looked at Jack's Pokemon card collection (who knew it would be as popular in France as it was in Japan and Canada?), and then decided to sit down to play poker. Eventually, John, Geraldine and I were drawn into the fun of Texas Hold'em, where Jack and Pierre promptly beat us (and Jack squeaked out a narrow victory over his friend). Fun French fact of the day -- the phrase for "I fold" in French is je me couche (I put myself to bed). Below, you can see Jack and Pierre sorting out Legos to make them work as poker chips.

Saturday held two social outings for us. First, in the afternoon we went to a gouter at Marine's, the daughter of my host family from Dijon. Her four girls and our three kids all played SO well in their huge backyard. We *may* be starting to make plans to arrange a marriage between Jack and either Penelope or Capucine... I'm sure they won't mind, right?

That night, we went to a dinner at Muriel and Sylvie's, who are connected to the local Buddhist community and who are friends of Geraldine and Thomas (who were invited to the dinner as well). They live in a wonderful old house in a small town about 30 minutes south of Beaune -- full of old wooden beams, great nooks, and twisty stairs. We had a very interesting, fun, and late night out.

Rounding out our incredibly social weekend, we had the great pleasure of having lunch here for a friend from university days who is living in Geneva with her husband and 11-week-old daughter. We hadn't see Cynthia and Lincoln in 12 years (although we had exchanged many an email and letter in the interim), and it was such fun to meet sweet Melina. It was a perfect spring day, with fresh food from the market, a walk up to Coconut Mountain (Mont-St-Victor) and to Rapunzel's Tower (the remaining tower from the old chateau in town), and some lovely cheeses (including a new favorite -- Epoisse). The kids fell in love with little Melina (and so did we).

The other excitement of the weekend is that I decided to give the kids haircuts. In the past, this has not always ended up working so well for us (especially Jack). Thus, this sign:

In case you have trouble, it says "I NOT GITING MI HAIR CUT" (his spelling is better in French at this point in his life). But I just trimmed around the ears, and he ended up looking like this:

Pas mal, n'est pas? Kate and Liv got just a trim, too... and new kerchiefs that are all the rage at their school right now:

We don't have much planned this week -- hopefully just cleaning and getting ready for a visit from my mom and friend Sharon on Sunday night. Fingers crossed for the winds to change!