Versaille

An early morning start, prepurchased tickets and a midweek date, was not enough to beat the crowds in Versaille yesterday. As we arrived, so did the buses!!!! Accompanied by another mom and her children, we pushed our way through the many grand rooms of the Chateau. Unfortunately, the children’s only interest (besides food) in our tour was getting to The Hall Mirrors. When we finally arrived at the Hall of Mirrors, it did not disappoint. The girls forgot their stomachs for a few moments and made space, by twirling and dancing amongst the 357 mirrors and 20 glass chandeliers in the spectacular room.

After a short visit to the Chateau, we headed out to the beautiful Versaille gardens and spent the rest of the day, admiring the fountains, picnicing by the canal, feeding the ducks and hours of walking around the canal. It was great to breathe the fresh air and give the kids an opportunity to run. A return to this unbelievable estate in the very low season, is probably in order for the future.

twirling in the Hall of Mirrors

fun in the jardin

The "ça va" moment

Each day after school, the girls and I go to the tiny park across the street from the school, on the Seine. There are four park benches on either side of the park and in general the French parents/caregivers sit on one side and the English on the other.

Yesterday, we were the second family to arrive. A French Mother with whom I exchange smiles and occasional Bonjours, was already there. I decided, enough with the French/English division and sat down right next to her. I opened the conversation in French and she immediately switched to English (which was much better than my French) and we chatted sporadically for the next hour.

Today as all the Parents and caregivers waited at pick up, I said to The French Mom “bonjour” and she responded with “bonjour, ça va?”. “Oui” I responded in surprise “ça va”.

Early on, Rupert’s French Tutor explained to him some basic survival tips for daily greetings. The golden rule is, greet EVERYBODY individually with at least a Bonjour. There is subtle nuance when you want to acknowledge someone as more than just “anyone”. These people you acknowledge with “ça va?”. Rupert says “The minute somebody throws YOU a ça va in group setting, magic energy passes between the two you and you are acknowledged”.

I don’t know about magic, but this was my first ça va outside of my tutor and I was pretty happy to receive it.

A courageous moment, a small cultural gap closed and a personal barrier broken:).

Enchanted Meetings

At least two or three times a week at school pick up, we stop and admire an elaborately dressed princess and her handsome prince, being picked up in a chauffeured driven Mercedes. The girls never bore of delighting in the spectacle, which is, one of the 200 Japanese couples that get married every year, in the church where P& D go to school.

After watching these weddings for a couple of months, I did a little research and found that this is all part of relatively lucrative business. “Our” church is apparently picked from a catalogue of fantasy weddings for the Japanese.

These couples apparently are heading to Paris (and elsewhere) for a wedding, because back at home, they are required to ask their friends and relatives to come to the ceremonies. A party with the family costs on average about $30,000, while they can pay about $10,000 for an entire overseas wedding, complete with rented wedding dress, photographer and travel.

My kind hearted friend who feels so sorry for these weddings without family and friends, always showers the newlyweds with “you look beautiful… congratulations…best wishes” as she walks by on her way to pick up her kids. Despite her pity, the couples are always glowing.

A number of times, while a couple were having their photos taken on the church steps, hords of kids after a day at school, streamed out around them. I am always so curious how these newly weds feel about this addition to their fantasy wedding.

Poisson D'Avril

April 1 - April Fool's day, or as the French call it Le Poisson D'Avril. The concept is the same - play tricks on your neighbour, but the real focus here, revolves around putting a fish on someone else's back. According to the kids, this is hilarious! The girl's carefully hand crafted fish were "secretly" put on our backs a number of times this evening, followed by an outburst of laughter. We played along, ha ha ha, but wondered.... at what age (if at all) in France does this stop being funny?