School's Out!

     . . . . finally!  July 5th was the last day.  Everyone was ready.  The teachers hadn't been assigning any real work for a long time.  After all, it's been "summer" for a while.  Here's a photo from the last day of school:

It was a great school year.  Everyone was nice to us from the beginning all the way to the end.  Ford and Asha made lots of friends.  And even though the school is a little on the disfunctional side, we think the kids learned a lot.  They sure perfected their French anyway . . . no way around that.

     As the end of the year approached, there were lots of field trips.  One day, Ford's teacher took the class on a 14 kilometer (yes, you read that right!) hike on a 90 degree day.  Ed volunteered with another dad to go along . . . it started at 8:30 and ended at 4:30 and, wow, some of those kids were really dragging their knuckles at the end.  Here's a photo from the beginning and middle of the hike before the sufferin' started:

Ford's Teacher Addresses the Group

Left to Right:  Jules, Soloene, Victor, Shakir, Killian, Victor II, Ford

That same day there was a picnic for the 5th graders and their families:

Averil serves chocolate chip cookies to Ford's other teacher, Madame Mannent

Ed and our friend Dmitri

 As we say, it's been hot and warm for many weeks.  Here we are enjoying Dmitri's pool at his vineyard with his children Nicolas and Jessica.

 On another day we hit the parc aquatique even though it was sprinkling:

  Here we are after seeing "Madagascar 3 in 3D" with Klara and Eliza, whose parents' B&B is behind:

Ivy got dreadlocks behind her ears and went to the dog coiffure to have them shaved off.  She was happy . . . can you see her smiling in this picture?

     With just a few weeks to go until we return to the US, we've been doing lots of things to get ready including, inter alia, shipping some of our stuff back to Seattle, making arrangements to sell our French car (we think we have a deal), making various travel arrangements, and doing odd jobs around the house.  It's tiring!

Host Fail

     When you invite someone to stay with you halfway around the world and then, soon after they arrive, they have to beat a retreat away from you because you pose a danger to their health . . . that's called "host fail."

     It happened to this fine family -- our close friends, Alison and Steve, and their two sons, Nathan and Cole:

     We've known Alison and Steve since law school.  Don't they look nice?  They are.  They came all the way from Portland to stay with us for about 5 days as part of their summer trip to France.  Yet, soon after they arrived, Ed was attacked by a nasty stomach virus . . . and it wouldn't stop.  It was the kind of illness that makes cohabitation unwise at best and impossible at worst.  So Steve and Alison rounded up their kids and headed for the hills.  Literally.  To a hill town about 10 kilometers away where, miraculously, they were able to find hastily-arranged replacement accommodations.  

      We felt bad about it.

     There was a silver lining.  Le General and the Budge kids were not nearly as affected by this French super-bug as Ed.  So, a 10-kilometer buffer zone having been established, the seven of them were able to get together for field trips while Ed slipped in and out of delirium in a dark room.  Here are photographs demonstrating the nice times they had together:

Nyons Water Park

Alison and Ford -- Dinner out the night of Fete de la Musique

Dessert at "Pascal's" cannot be beat

Cole

Nathan

Water Rat

Bike Ride

     After a week (Steve and Alison had moved on, as pre-planned, to several towns south of Vaison by now-- Roussillon and St. Remy) Ed was finally getting better.  So we all got together for one more outing.  The Pont du Gard of course!

Steve and Alison, come back soon . . . . if you dare!

Mr. Budge Goes to Paris

     Last weekend Ed and Ford went to Paris to meet up with Ed's good friend from college, Chris Lovgren.  Chris has an interesting story which cannot conveniently be summarized.  Suffice it to say he has a French son in Paris (Ford's age) and three Dutch sons in Holland (where he lives with his Dutch wife).  Once a month he goes to Paris with one of his Dutch boys to see his French son (Nemo). 

     We had fun and it was great to catch up with an old buddy.  Thanks for the tour of Paris Chris!

On the Train of Great Speed to Paris . . . the Only Way to Travel!

Street Performer in Paris

Sacre Coeur

Hotel de Ville (i.e., City Hall).  From Left:  Chris, Tom, Ford, Nemo

From Left:  Tom, Ford, Nemo

At the Tomb of Napoleon

Posing with a Gorilla at the Paris Zoo (Just Kidding Chris!)

Ed, Chris, Nemo, Tom

In Front of "Breakfast in America" -- An American Diner in Paris?

John Belushi and Dan Akroyd Start the Band Up Again

After Being in France for 10 Months, Pancakes at "Breakfast in America" Sound Pretty Good!

We returned home on Sunday.  Ivy was ecstatic!

France: There Is No Substitute

     French people have lots of ingenious ideas about how to make things run smoothly.  Take shopping carts for instance.  You put in a euro coin, you get your cart.  You return your cart, you get your euro back.  No more carts lying around the parking lot, and there's always a cart when you need one.

     But there are some ideas that haven't caught on yet.  Take the idea of "substitute teachers."  You know, the time-honored tradition (at least in America) of calling in a substitute teacher to take over the class if the regular teacher is ill or can't be at school for some reason.  Well, here in Vaison, they don't do substitutes.  You heard me.  If the teacher is sick or can't show (hey, it happens!) the kids in that particular class simply don't have school.  They're either sent home or (if it's an inconvenience to the parents) the kids will get put in the back of some other class (a 5th grader in a 2nd grade class, please no!) for the day.  There are no make up days.

     We've had it happen to us periodically.  It's been odd.  But for the past two weeks, one of Ford's teachers has been out with an ill child.  So Ford's entire class has basically been cancelled for all but two days a week (when the other teacher is there).  The kids in Ford's class simply aren't coming to school (whereas Asha's class and every other class in school including the other 5th grade has school)!  Ford had only two days of school last week and one this week.  Let me state, as diplomatically as possible:  That's nuts!

     We told some of the other parents about our ingenious American system of substitute teachers.  They thought that sounded interesting, but they might have chalked it up as "bizzare" -- kind of like how they think it's a travesty that American kids have to bring their lunch to school in a paper bag whereas French kids get 4 courses and nearly two hours to eat.  (It always results in looks of concern or pity when we tell people how American kids "brown bag it" for lunch.)

     Ford and some of the boys from his class have basically been spending their days during the week at the municipal swimming pool.  As in, "all day."  Ford packs a lunch, puts his suit and towel in a backpack and heads down to the pool at about 10 in the morning.  Sometimes his friend Victor comes to the front door and the two of them head off together.  Killian is almost always there too.  And then Ford wanders home about 6 p.m., very happy, with bloodshot eyes from all the chlorine:

After Another Full Day at the Pool

     Meanwhile, Asha and Ivy have been suffering from a dual case of extreme lethargy:

      Le General has been working hard!  She has been organizing and doing pre-packing for our return trip, making hotel and car reservations, setting up health appointments back in Seattle, and a host of other things only Le General can do (or at least, that is what I maintain).

     Also, a hippopotamus was spotted on our property:

    

     She lounges in her water environment daily, or hunts for food:

Get ready, hippo!  It's 90 degrees next week!

Municipal Pool!

     Ed's mom, Ronnie, left us on Saturday morning.  That was sad, because we enjoyed our time together a lot.  (We know she loved it too!).

      But on to the subject of this blog entry . . . the municipal pool.  Because there is a great municipal swimming pool in the middle of town that's way better than any private pool (think big pool, high dive, snack bar, showers, changing rooms and grassy spot to lay your towel).  The problem was that we couldn't seem to figure out when it would open for the summer (it seems to vary from year to year and it's hard to get a straight answer from anyone).  

     Thankfully, the town magazine came out this week with the pool schedule . . . and Ford and Asha just so happened to be on the cover of the magazine:

The magazine said the pool would open on Saturday, June 9th!  Naturally, we were there for opening day, along with a number of Ford's chums:

On Opening Day:  Taking a Break with Harry Potter

The "Four Penquins," Ford, Nicholas, Janis and Killian

The Four Penquins Prepare to Take the Plunge Again

Go!

Ford Levitates High Above Board

 

More Ford Tricks

The Boys Watch Ed Do a Quadruple Gainer Off the High Dive (with Reverse Sow-Cow)

Left to Right:  Asha, Ford, Nicholas, Janis, Killian

We love the municipal pool!