Halloween in France

Apparently Halloween is not really a "thing" in France, which was a huge bummer for the kids. A little research revealed that some of the bigger cities adopt some of the Halloween traditions but it's generally kept to costume parties and festivities at bars and restaurants; nothing much for the kids. Other than a few select neighborhoods, most villages don't participate in trick-or-treating, and I haven't seen even one house with decorations or jack-o-lanterns out front.  I guess I just assumed Halloween was the same everywhere but that's definitely not the case in France.

It falls right in the middle of a nation-wide school holiday (Vacance Toussaints) so there aren't any school parades or parties.  Besides the sweets (bon-bon) obsession here Halloween also happens to fall on the night before the French Catholic Holiday of "La Toussaint", which translates as All Saints Day and is a national holiday.  This is a day when French people traditionally visit cemeteries, freshen up tomb displays, and pray to their ancestors and favorite saints.  According to Marc, as a kid he found it boring and much less festive than what we know as the Mexican tradition of Day of the Dead.  Seems to me like Halloween would be a perfect fit but........apparently it hasn't caught on.

So no trick-or-treating for us but we were lucky enough to get to participate in a Halloween school fundraiser the Saturday night before Halloween.  Most importantly the girls still got to get dressed up in costumes.

 Our petite sorciere (little witch) and chatte noire (black cat)

This was actually really fun and most of the families in Anthy came out to participate.  We gathered at the local community center and started the evening with a story for the kids about how some monsters escaped a mad scientist and the village policeman needed the kids to help him catch them. We then proceeded to walk through the streets of Anthy "hunting" monsters.  The actors really got into it and I think some of the younger kids were genuinely scared.

On the hunt.

Found one.

Ugh!!  And another.  Creepy, right?!?!

The hunt ended in front of the church where we all gathered around the mad scientist to help him turn the monsters back to their nice selves.  The kids had to find a magic book that was hidden in the square and then repeated an incantation after the scientist. 

Don't you just love that he's standing on top of the village's water fountain.  :-)

The kids were totally enthralled

I have to admit, it was all pretty hilarious!  After the theatrics, we walked back to the community center where we ate quiche, crepes, and pumpkin soup, drank beer, wine, and soda, and the kids got to dance and play games. Not a bad night at all but still missed our annual trick-or-treating with all our neighbors back home.

Our Expanding Family

What started as fish has now spread to chickens!  I had to introduce you to our newest members of the family; 3 delightful Poule Rousse chickens that the kids insist on calling Sadie, Reese, and Zoe after their friends from home.  Ha!  :)

Marc and I have bounced the idea of owning chickens for several years now.  We, of course, love our pastured eggs and what's better than FRESH, pastured eggs!  Yum!  It just so happened that our set-up here was perfect for including chickens and once the girls got to play with their friend Chloe's chickens, well, let's just say the pressure was on.

So after several weeks of research by Marc (as most of you know, nothing is included in the Detraz family without tireless research by Marc first) he ordered the coop and all the supplies.  We decided to try and time it with Teah's birthday.  Everything arrived the weekend before her birthday and between bouts of rain Marc put together the coop and got everything set-up.

The day before Teah's birthday the girls got out of school at 11:30.  After lunch at Mamie and Papi's house, we drove about 30 minutes into the mountains to buy our chickens.  We were lucky to find a chicken farm not too far away that actually raised their chickens completely organic and free-range.

One side of the chicken farm

Teah excitedly waiting for her birthday chicken.

Some chickens coming to visit us while we were waiting.

We did everything we could to make their transition to their new home smooth.  Apparently, you don't want your chickens stressed or else they won't produce eggs.  We educated ourselves on the essentials of raising chickens (aka YouTube) and followed the rules by keeping them in their coop the first couple days so they would know it's their home.  And keeping the girls away from them because of course all they wanted to do was hold and snuggle them.

So excited!  All they want to do is get in there with them.

The chickens exploring their new home.

At night-fall, 2 of the chickens went right into the house, but the 3rd did not.  After we put the girls to bed we went straight to the experts (YouTube again) to find out how we were supposed to get the chicken to go into it's house.  You can picture Marc and I out there in the dark, gently trying to coax the chicken up into it's house; me with the light and Marc in the coop trying to guide it.  We finally got her in and closed the door.

The next morning we went out to let them out of their house and we had our first egg!!

Of course Marc named it our 400 Euro egg! 

The chickens proceeded to give us 2 more during the course of the day and another 3 the next day!! Woo hoo!!  Not only were we excited about the eggs but of course Marc and I had to pat ourselves on the back for feeling like bad-ass chicken raisers who managed to have happy, stress-free chickens right out of the gate.  Ha!

The 2nd day we let the chickens explore the yard and surrounding field.  Happy free-range chickens!

Of course, Teah can't resist grabbing one.  The chicken proceeded to fart on her as soon as Teah picked her up; thus the look on Teah's face.

I'm sure this is just the beginning of our chicken adventures but so far we're off to a good start!

La Bise

I've decided that I have to do a blog post about La Bise.  This refers to the kissing on the cheek the French notoriously do to greet each other.  It's a very real thing.  This is not just some stereotyped thing you see in movies.  And depending on where you are in the country the number of kisses varies. Where we are living it's customary to greet others with 2 kisses but because we are so close to Switzerland sometimes this means 3 kisses; as is the custom in Switzerland.  In Paris, it's 4 kisses!! Who has time for all that kissing??  Although it's starting to feel more natural for me, the kids are still pretty freaked out about it.  The fact that they're supposed to greet every adult they meet with kisses is way too much for my shy little birds.  At this point I've let go of the potential offense and rudeness this causes when a family member or close family friend is refused a kiss from the girls.  They're much better at hugging.

I apologize in advance if the language is offensive to you (he swears a lot) but I recently came across this perfect (and hilarious) video to explain La Bise and the real impact it makes on social gatherings.

From personal experience, I have to say the required kissing of every single person at the dinner party when you arrive and when you leave is exhausting.  Not to mention the fact that dinner parties here don't even start until 8pm and generally linger well after midnight.  So you're exhausted, half awake, and still have to make the round of kisses.  On one night in particular, actually the night that Marc ended up in the ED, we came home to a dinner party already underway.  After putting Marc to bed I joined the party.....kissing everyone of course.  At about 1am when the party was still no where close to wrapping up, all I wanted to do was excuse myself politely and head off to bed, and yet I actually chose not to do this because of the requisite kissing I was going to have to perform solo around the entire table.  I waited it out until 2am and then bid my farewell to everyone with, of course, kisses all around.

Making Friends

Back home I consider ourselves lucky to have lots of friends.  We're a pretty friendly bunch.  :)

I knew we would eventually make friends here too I just wasn't sure how long that process would be considering the language barrier.  Marc still has some friends here from when he was a child and of course their families are an easy-in to some new friends.  

As kids will do though, my girls continue to teach me things, and lessons on making friends is no exception.

As discussed in an earlier blog post about meeting that sweet English family at the park, the girls are immediately drawn to anyone speaking English.  It's funny how we have all these factors at home that one must meet in order for us to come out of our comfort zone and attempt to make a new friend. When you live in another country, sometimes the only thing that matters is that you speak the same language.  The very first day of school the girls met a sweet older girl who spoke English.  Her family had moved here from Gibraltar 4 years ago because her Dad took a post as Chief Surgeon at the Red Cross in Geneva.  She made a point every day to seek out the girls and help make them feel comfortable and more easily integrate into the school.  Her mom ended up being just as sweet as her and had me over for coffee one morning.  I thanked her for her daughter's kindness and she told me that her daughter felt like it was her responsibility to help Lola ad Teah as she remembered what it felt like to be in their shoes 4 years ago.

What started as just one English-speaking girl quickly grew into many more.  It wasn't long before the girls started telling us stories of the friends they were making at school, despite a common language.  From the sound of it, it seemed like some kids were just interested in the shiny newness of these 2 American girls in their small school and found entertainment in watching them deal with the language.  As a side note to this idea, keep in mind, that although the girls don't speak French, in every other way they look like the kids at the school.  I can only imagine how this "shiny newness" would be translated to a country where the children didn't look anything like them.  It certainly puts in perspective being the new kid on the block.  Others seemed truly interested in them and trying to develop a relationship.  Marc's Physical Therapist (who just so happens to have her kids at our school) told Marc one day how she found her daughter looking up English words on the computer so she could talk to Lola and Teah the next day! So not only are our girls working on their French the other children are working on their English! How totally wonderful!

That first week of school as we were struggling with releasing Teah at the gate another mom was having a similar issue with her daughter, who just so happened to be in Teah's class.  Although they were French they had just moved to Anthy from Brittany and her daughters also didn't know anyone at the school and were having a hard time adjusting; especially the younger daughter. Well, we naturally were drawn to each other and our shared experience.  We decided to have a "play date" over the weekend to see if that would help the girls settle in and feel like they're starting to make friends. Again although the language barrier was a challenge we met up at the lake and the girls had a great time with each other.  This weekend we're inviting them over for a dinner party.

Within a few weeks the girls had been invited to their first pajama party by a very sweet girl in Lola's class who Lola had connected with by braiding her hair at recess; neither of them sharing any common language.  Not only did that not seem to matter at school, but this little girl enjoyed her so much that she actually wanted Lola and Teah to come over for a sleep-over.  Can you imagine spending a whole night with a new friend where you don't speak the same language!  The girls were excited but understandably a bit nervous too.  When we spoke to the little girl's parents we quickly discovered that both of their English was quite good.  Her Dad works for an American company in Switzerland and her mom has lived all over Europe and actually knows several languages.  Needless, to say they had a fabulous time and couldn't wait to do it again!  (I'm sure the 11 chickens they got to play with helped!)

Not long after, the girls were both invited to birthday parties for kids in their respective classes.  As a parent, all you want is your kid to make friends and integrate into whatever environment they find themselves in.  I can't tell you what a relief it's been to see this unfold, again despite a common language.  Teah's birthday is coming up and it went from just a simple party at home with the family to a sleep-over party with 5 friends from school!  

I've been trying to use the girls' example and put myself out there as well.  Not being afraid to use my limited French (franglish) with the wives of Marc's friends and with new people I meet at the many dinner parties my sister and brother-in-law throw.  I feel like I know just enough to sometimes get myself into trouble.  A good example of this, I was talking with one woman about yoga and how much I love it.  I understood her to say that she wanted to start a class with some of her friends and if I would be interested in participating.  Bien sur (of course), I replied.  Later on the way home from the party Marc proceeded to express his surprise that I felt comfortable enough teaching a yoga class! What?!?! Apparently I had agreed to teach the class rather than participate.  Oh, mon Dieu! Thankfully that got straightened out and she found a REAL professional yoga teacher and I actually am now participating in it; every Monday morning.  It's all in French with 4 other ladies.  I don't understand everything and am constantly sneaking peeks to see what I'm supposed to be doing but I love it!  One of the other ladies picks me up and drives me back and we both use our French/English on the car ride.  It works and honestly it's kind of "nice" to be forced to use my French more.  So myself, like the girls, continue to navigate this new country and language and in the process are actually starting to find friends!

Family & Food - Month 1

It's hard to believe it's already been over a month since we arrived in France; 6 weeks to be exact.  It probably took us almost an entire month but I think I can safely say that we're pretty settled in at this point.  The girls are making friends and getting used to school.  Although I still don't think they like it very much they're not complaining as much and thankfully no more melt-downs at the gate.  We've settled into our house, have a car, and Marc and I have a nice work-day routine set-up.  It's such a treat to not have to commute to work and to actually take a proper lunch break.  Except for the days I'm meeting with clients, it's also been nice to be able to go pick up the girls from school and actually spend the late afternoon / evening with them and have dinner at a normal hour.  Back in California, we have such a crazy schedule, it's not uncommon for Marc and I to both not be home until after 8pm.  Although there's still some challenges here and there I'm definitely not taking for granted the sanity of our schedule right now.  It's been a real treat so far.

We've also been able to spend quite a bit of time with Marc's family; generally eating as you'll see from the photos below. :)  Every Wednesday afternoon we pick the girls up from school and then head over to Marc's mom and dad's house for lunch.  The afternoons we get to spend together.  Most Sundays we gather with his parents and brother's family for Sunday lunch.  It's been such a treat to have so much time with all of them.  Here's a picture essay of some highlights from this last month; feels a little like a culinary essay.

A Wednesday afternoon walk along the lake.

Finally got the girls art cabinet outfitted with coloring books, pencils, markers, paints, and brushes.  

They were so happy to finally do art again!  

That was a sorely missed activity; especially since the art in school is really limited.

A pre Sunday lunch rose.

No meal is complete without a delicious cheese spread and some sort of delicious sweet treat.

My sister-in-law made this tart with fresh blueberries her parents had collected from the mountains!

 Celebrating Lola's half-birthday (7 1/2).  Mami surprised her after lunch one weekend.

Most weekends we get to Skype with friends back home.  The girls love this!

First dinner in our new house -- pizza and salad of course.

Sushi dinner with Marc's brother and family.

Visiting Tata Gisele (the inspiration for Lola's middle name) and celebrating her 82nd birthday!   

Playing with Tata Gisele's dog, Fleur.  She actually let them put a ponytail in!

Enjoying "American Pancakes" with everyone

Marc with his brother and Dad.

Lola helping me prepare an afternoon snack.

Marc's Dad caught us some delicious fish (Omble) from the lake.  

We enjoyed it on a salad with fresh walnuts that Marc's Mom gave us.

Sunday lunch at Mami and Papi's.

Some flan and cake to follow.

  

After lunch play time with Mami and Papi's Dog, Louki

I love these drinkable fountains dispersed throughout town. 

We're lucky that Thonon is fed by a spring, like Evian, so the water is really good.

A view of Thonon Harbor.

One of the large fountains in town

The girls are enjoying their new Thursday after-school tradition of chocolate croissants with Papa.

A Saturday afternoon in Evian.

Crepes for lunch.  Yummy!!

Looking forward to the changing season and seeing what October will bring us!  Happy Fall everyone!!