 |
| Bol d"Or sailing race - Geneva |
 |
| Start of theBol d'Or sailing race - Lake Geneva. There were >500 boats on the starting line |
 |
| Geneva |
 |
| The ceiling sculpture by Spanish artist, Miquel Barcelo in the "Human Rights Room" Palais des Nations - Geneva |
 |
| Mary, Elisabeth, Nanie, and Pop - Les Aravis mountains near Annecy |
 |
| Scottie climbing in La Foret de l'Aventure - Talloires. |
 |
| Parasailers over Lac Annecy. This is a popular area for parasailing and sometimes more than 50 sails are in the sky at once. |
 |
| Jimmy and Scottie |
 |
| Mary at the school spectacle with her friends Beatrix, Lea, Emelie, and Penelope |
 |
| Elisabeth's class performing their dance |
 |
| Mary and Elisabeth at their school spectacle |
 |
| Annecy canals after much rain |
 |
| Annecy canals after a week of rain |
 |
| Elisabeth and her friend Pierre |
 |
| Jimmy and Elisabeth's "grand concert" in the Chateau |
 |
Swimming during the lunch break
|
 |
| Annecy evening, looking down from the chateau |
 |
| Scottie and Elisabeth in their school playground |
 |
| Jimmy during our hike |
 |
| Hiking near Annecy |
 |
| Mary's field trip with school |
 |
| Mother's Day gift from Jimmy. In France, Mother's Day is in June. |
 |
| Scottie's last day of school - ski poles in hand, ready to head off to Tignes |
 |
| Scottie receiving his award at school |
The Doyle family arrived from Hanover, New Hampshire at the end of May. BD traveled with Lucy (age 10) and Courtland (age 8) for a short visit to Annecy. Unfortunately Marianne was in the thick of her team’s lacrosse playoffs so she and Zander stayed home. Mary and Lucy were two peas in a pod. I emailed Marianne that upon arrival in France, did Lucy and Mary eat crepes, eat cheese, stroll through the “veille ville,” go to the market, or swim in the lake? Not at all. The two immediately settled down to a game of “school,” did some homework, and translated a few paragraphs from English to French.
While in Annecy, we introduced the Doyles to our friends – the Balays. The Doyles generously offered to host Eglantine Balay - a 16 year old girl who I helped with English this year - for three weeks in New Hampshire. Eglantine then spent about a week with my brother Jim and his family in Vermont. The Doyles and Sullivans kept Eglantine busy – going to pottery classes, waterskiing, horseshows, a trip to NYC, playing baseball, cookouts, and playing with the children. It was a great experience for Eglantine. She was absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to go to America, improve her English, and meet two very nice families. She remarked how friendly Americans were. Even the waiter at a restaurant was happy to meet someone from France and asked her about her visit. We met several families this year who have children who are dying to master the English language, and are looking to organize summer exchanges with American families. So – if anyone is interested in sending a child to Annecy France for a couple of weeks in the summer, in exchange for hosting a French teenager in their house for a few weeks – let us know. We can certainly help you.
My Mom and Dad spent eight days with us in the beginning of June. The weather did not cooperate, but we made the best of it. Annecy was decorated for the International Animation Film Festival, and movies were playing throughout the town, including some evenings at an outdoor venue by the lake. We went to Geneva, toured the Palais des Nations, went up in the mountains and visited farms where fresh goat cheese is made. (Mom bravely survived the drive up the steep, narrow winding road by clutching the door handle, shutting her eyes, and turning her back toward the cliff). We saw Mont Blanc, visited medieval towns, went to Albertville and saw the 1992 Olympic Village and museum, went to an exquisite restaurant in Annecy, and became experts on the history of the French Resistance troops in Annecy and the Haute Savoie region of France.
As in America, June was filled with many end-of- year events for school. My parents happened to be in Annecy for many of the events so the kids were delighted and proud. Jimmy’s school “spectacle” was a real party that lasted from 6-10pm! I was ready to leave at 8, but Mary informed me that the MC had announced that it was only intermission, not the end of the show. Jimmy was the star of his spectacle. He was the pilot of an airplane that was making a grand voyage around the world, visiting countries along the way and other children would perform dances from these various countries. Jimmy said all of his lines in French, and then repeated them in English (like a real pilot). We overheard people in the crowd marveling at how strong Jimmy was in English, “speaking with almost no accent!” Mary and Elisabeth’s final “spectacle” at school also had a “dances of the world” theme. Mary studied Japan and Elisabeth studied India – and each performed a dance specific to their assigned country. The costumes were quite elaborate and both girls took their performances quite seriously. One grade studied the USA and performed a dance with a western theme. The “American Wild West” theme seems to be intriguing to many French people and several have asked me about life in the Western United States. So, the USA performance was the hit of the spectacle, and the audience clapped along enthusiastically. The costumes however, were far from PC, as the children came out in “cowboys and Indian” theme, complete with tomahawks, war paint, loincloths and headdresses.
All year it has been interesting to hear the French stereotype of Americans. Among others things, we usually hear that Americans are obese and love to eat at McDonalds. In fact, one night Alex and I were invited to dinner at our friends house. When we arrived, their three young children were hiding, peeking from behind the door. Later that evening we learned that the children, who were anxiously waiting to see Americans, were spying on us when we arrived because they wanted to see what obese people looked like!
Jimmy and Elisabeth had three orchestra concerts in Annecy this spring. The final concert was held in the Chateau d’Annecy - The chateau was built between the 12th and 16th centuries, complete with 13 feet thick walls and enormous roof timbers. The kids felt very important and were very excited to have the opportunity to perform in this old venue. Elisabeth was rather new the orchestra in the spring, but she was determined to be able to play her parts. I asked her if anyone ever had their violin bows going in the opposite direction than the rest of the group. She replied without hesitancy, “Oh yes, my bow is different from everyone else’s – a lot, mais c’est pas grave!”
We went to Geneva (only 45 minutes from Annecy) to watch the start of an international sailing race on Lake Geneva called Bol d’Or. The race is the largest race in Europe and first took place in 1939. It runs the length of Lake Geneva and back. Some of the best sailors in the world attend this event. This year the winner finished in approximately 10 hours however we learned that in previous years, the race has taken as little as 6 hours and as long as 20 hours. This was an absolutely spectacular scene. There were more than 500 boats participating, the weather was lovely, and to see the boats leaving the port and to watch the start with boats stretching across the lake was really remarkable.
As school continued through June and into July, we thought of our cousins and friends in the USA, many of who finished school in early June. Notes from our schools were sent home to families reminding us that there was still much learning to be done in June and July, children could not be late for school, and homework needed to be completed as usual. This was difficult for us since in Annecy, it stayed light until 10 pm, and no one was in bed earlier than that. We did take advantage of the two hours lunch period during the day and on several occasions snuck to the lake for a picnic and a swim before sending the kids back to school in the afternoon. It was a nice treat.
While the children were excited to finish school, they all started to be a little sad at the thought of leaving Annecy. June was difficult in this way because we had several “lasts” and said many goodbyes. Mary and Elisabeth had their last class with their French tutor Sandrine, who they adored. Monique, our kind neighbor stuck with us to the bitter end and helped the children with their reading, writing, and French until the end of June. The kids had their last music lessons, in France, their last music performances, and saw their ski coaches and many of their friends on the ski team for the last time. We were invited to friends houses for lunch and pony rides, kids went to their final birthday parties, Mary went waterskiing on Lake Annecy with a friend from school. Annecy had a great music festival on the evening of the solstice. Bands were everywhere and the streets were packed with singers, dancers, locals, and tourists. We had picnic dinners at the lake and enjoyed Annecy. June was very busy, very happy, and a bit sad.
Scottie finished school at the end of June. At the end of the year school assembly, he received an award of excellence for overcoming an “enorme handicap ,” according to the director of the school. The director explained to the school community that Scottie did not know a word of French when he arrived, and when he finished the year, he was one of the strongest students in his class.” Bravo Scottie! The same day he finished school, he left for a 4 day ski camp in Tignes, which is only about 2 hours from Annecy. Tignes is very convenient for summer skiing, and this was a nice way for Scottie to finish his year with his coach and ski team friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment