Sur le pont d'Avignon

Hey y'all,

We hopped on the TGV yesterday morning and had an easy train trip--in the upper deck of a two-level 1st class car. Not quite like the Thalys where they serve a multi-course lunch in first class, but still pretty comfortable. We arrived in Avignon in early afternoon and since it's vacation, spent the afternoon taking naps, then walked around the town a bit in the evening, only to find all but one of our potential dinner picks to be closed. Avignon on a Sunday in the off season is a little ... quiet, but we found a small wine bar and had a nice dinner. Calvin was so exhausted (i TOLD him he should take a nap!) that he curled up in the corner of the booth and fell asleep before we were halfway through eating. He perked up remarkably well for the walk home, and learned a new word: trooper.

Today it's about 65 degrees and sunny. We're heading over to walk through some gardens on the site of the earliest settlements in Avignon (sometime BC) and maybe see the Palais des Papes which was the seat of the Roman Catholic church when it was moved from Rome for about 100 years during the 14th century. We might also take a look at the Pont d'Avignon, made famous by the song.

We do have internet and will try to post on the blog a couple times while we're here. You can reach us on our cell phones if you need. Love you all.

Calvin's mime show movie

As promised, here's a movie of Calvin's school mime show from a couple of weeks ago. WARNING: it's about 6 minutes long and 40 Mb wide, so it'll probably take a while to load. I thought the additional resolution was worth it, but let me know if you'd prefer I post a smaller & lighter version.





We are around tomorrow (Saturday) before leaving Sunday morning for Avignon. Betsy has been working hard all week while us boys have been swanning about town, so tomorrow we'll take it easy, except for packing.

Check out the new chat link over to the right - Michael tried it yesterday and it worked, even though he doesn't have a gmail account. Of course, I have to remember to login, but I'll learn. I think we'll have reliable wifi in Avignon, though of course we won't be sitting 'round the apartment except for evenings - kinda like when we're in Paris, I guess. And the Vonage number should continue to bounce to my cell phone, which is good, but usually without caller ID, which means I've been less likely to pick it up and pay the 21c/min to find out that Hillary really wants my vote!

Presidential

The news here is about a hilarious dust-up with the Pres, Nicolas Sarkozy, and a citizen at the big Agriculture Salon. We'll be going in a couple days, but I'm glad we weren't there over the weekend to hear such potty mouth!

When Sarko approaches while shaking hands with the crowd, the man on the left says (in ungrammatical French): "Don't touch me". Sarko replies: "Then get lost". The man: "You dirty me when you touch me". Sarko: "Then get lost, pauvre con." This translates roughly as "stupid a-hole", stupid sod, or the equivalent. (CVF note: closer to "f--k off, a--hole.")

730

Hard to believe, but we arrived here in Paris two years ago today. 730 days seems like a WHOLE lot, one big number, but the years have gone really quickly in many ways. The boys were barely 4 & 7, and didn't speak a lick of french. (We adults, of course, were 24 when we moved here, and oddly are only 25 now!) We just got their most recent report cards, which confirmed our suspicion that they're becoming french. If not those, here's evidence from Calvin's "spectacle de mime" (mime/dance show) yesterday.




That's his buddy Logan in the background. I took some video footage of the kids, and it's really cute (to family) and hilarious (to everybody, I think). In particular, the segment where they paired up boy-girl and "waltzed" was priceless. I'm going to assemble the clips into a movie with Carter's help, but he has a friend over now and sports this afternoon, so it'll probably be later in the week before it's done. The kids start their two-week winter break Saturday so we'll definitely have time then!

We're going to Avignon, in southern France, for the second half of that break. We'll leave Sunday 2 March and return on Saturday the 8th. The following week, Betsy has a big meeting, and Cathy comes to visit, before I head to Brussels to catch up with Gary that following weekend. But we'll post before then.

Thanks for keeping us company, virtually and in-person, over the first two years of our adventure!

Phone update

Yesterday I set our Vonage number (703.908.0796) to "simul-ring" my mobile phone. Basically, you should be able to reach us via that 703 number, whether we're home or not. That said, the current battery on my mobile is down to about 2 hours of life, so until amazon.fr gets me the new one (hello, it's been 10 days!) it could be dead at any time. Anyway, easier to catch us now ...

Calvin the poet

I was shocked to find I haven't posted a movie in over a year. Ridiculous. So, here's Calvin reciting some recent "poesie" (poetry). Enjoy.

Vonage down

Our Vonage phone (1.703.908.0796) is having trouble right now, please stand by.

UPDATE: Sorry Vonage, turns out it's the phone handset itself that's not working well. We can still talk via the headset, so all lines are open. Plus, if you can dial international, you can reach us on our French lines too. Not sayin' you need to call, just sayin' is all.

(What, Brian, that wasn't what you meant by "post more"?)