Marilyn is here

Just sneaking under the "blog stale for one month" wire, here's an update from Marilyn, who's in town for a couple of weeks and is a much better documenter of our experiences than we are!

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dear friends -

on sunday afternoon we took a constitutional, we walked on a perfect spring day in as lovely a setting as one could want on sunday afternoon we took a constitutional, we walked on a perfect spring day in as lovely a setting as one could want.  promenade plantee (planted stroll in english) is an old railway right of way which is now a lithe and lovely garden pathway on the east edge of paris.  there are calm stretches of exotic greenery, cascades of early summer blossoms, shaded arbors of grape and wisteria vines, vegetable and herb plantings to incite the palate, occasional light clouds of fragrance along the path, grottos with trickling waterfalls, and expansive parks now and then which open onto lawns, playgrounds, soccer fields and the city itself.  much of the promenade is elevated, some heads directly through the old train tunnels.  a bike path accompanies the promenade, sometimes taking the high road and sometimes the low road.  a long stretch of viaduct has promenade above, and installed in the arches below are ateliers with shops for artists and designers of all sorts.

on the way home we stopped for gelato.  the fruit flavors are exquisite.  though so are the nutty flavors and those with chocolate.  i'm glad i don't have to choose between the sensual delights of the promenade plantee and delectable french treats.

both my darling grandsons love to cook.  calvin spent a late afternoon shopping and cooking with me this week.  he is an excellent chopper and will taste what he's preparing infinitely many times.  the watermelon was cut to my specifications - at least two sides of each piece had to be smaller than the width of calvin's fingers so that it was politely bite sized.  calvin had to check any number of times to confirm that bite sized pieces did indeed fit comfortably into one's mouth.  and we made a nice potato salad with apple, radishes and lightly cooked carrots.  the sauce calvin tinkered with a dozen times til he got the right balance of mayonaise, mustard. vinegar, celery salt and habanero sauce.  in addition we had fresh bread, fine pates, cheeses, blini, caviar, borscht, wine and company.  it is hard to beat such a combination.

french schools are quite different from american schools.  progenitors are tolerated as necessary but they are more or less held at bay by the schools.  children are dropped at the gate in the morning, and at about 4 there is a sort of parental feeding frenzy.  a child is only released to a guardian outside the gate when the teacher has made eye contact with the designated adult.  carter is in the upper school now.  the same drill holds there too.  though with the proper paperwork, an older child can leave without the requisite eye contact.  carter is now documented and can be released on his own recognizance.

french schools are more regimented and standardized than american schools.  there are significantly more tests and fewer alternatives as a result of one's test results, pretty much for the rest of one's life.  in addition to national tests in almost every subject, there is an international math test which is administered to all but the earliest grades.  this is the kangaroo math test, designed to stimulate interest in logic and mathematical thinking.  (the kangaroo test is available in the u.s., but it not widely taken by american kids.)  carter loves math, is competitive and enjoys being tested.  he ranked 74th out of more than 23,000 kids in france who took the kangaroo test.  the #1 student got 100 euros for his achievement.  even finishing out of the money, carter was very pleased.

both of my grandsons are great delights.  to me and many others.

love,

m