Scary monsters

If the Europeans had been listening in on the Americans in the same way the Americans have been listening in on them they might have learned a thing or two about one of the greatest days in the life of any red-blooded Yankee-doodle-dandy kid: Halloween!

This being my first, mama and papa wanted to make sure that this day of darkness was firmly programed into my DNA. I mean, imagine you didn't know much, or anything, about Halloween, and someone tells you at age 5 or 6 that in the USA, once a year, you can knock on any door and get candy...FOR FREE!!! It just doesn't seem real when you haven't grown up with it. It's like someone telling yo that Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (which Inès just received as a present from Patrick and Rory's mama and papa) actually happened.

So what do you do? Listen in on the President's private cell phone conversations? No need to bore yourself to death, just get mama to throw a party.

And that's what happened. There were good friends, costumes, a treasure hunt, Jack-o-lanterns, bats, witches' hats, a scary magic potion, and yes, some candy, about as much as Willy Wonka's factory could produce in a millennium. This is France after all, where bon bons are part of every kids daily diet.




Okay, we've imported Halloween. Now it's time to start working on Thanksgiving!

Feeling brave? Check out some more spine tingling photos here: I didn't create a monster, I created three!

The dangerous summer

Summer's been over for a while now, but I notice that most of the family is reluctant to let go. Having never lived through a fall season, or a winter for that matter (I was born on the first day of Spring!), I'm kinda excited about what lies ahead. So far, I like what I see: the leaves changing pretty colors, papa making a big fire in the fireplace at Ata's house, and lots of time with mama when Inès and Gabriel are off at school.

But they still refuse to let go.

Papa even dragged out the barbecue last weekend, cooking in the rain. I mean, come on, wake up papa! It's over, let it go!

But I understand that it can be hard to let go of summer. So much seems to happen in summer. I have to say that going to Corsica was one of the highlights. I was carried by at least a million people. Sun, good friends, powerful cheese, mythical honey, village parties, crazy views, beaches, and high explosives. What more could summer bring?

But there was more!

My baptism for instance. Lots (and I mean LOTS) of family. Friends visiting the Chetif Moulin. And papa contemplating joining the French Foreign Legion. But I talked him out of that.

Fall has been here for well over a month, but that fragrance of summer is only now starting to fade.

Why not check out a few summer scenes at Ata's here: the calm before the storm

Or our road trip to Nice here: Who needs luggage anyway?

And Corsica here: Corse, of course!

My awesome baptism here: Can I get shampoo with that?

Or Sandra & Co.'s end of summer visit here: his name is what???

And finally, the Indian summer here: Stop that rain dance you native American!

Cheers, big ears

To celebrate the end of another school year, mama and papa took the three of us to that world of untainted happiness and eternal smiles, the "worlds of history, discovery and ageless fantasy", the Magic Kingdom. That's right, we went to Euro Disney!

Of course, "ageless fantasy" means a little less ageless than I am at the wonderful world of Disney, but hey...

I could hardly believe all those those wonderful rides that I couldn't go on and the fantastic attractions that I couldn't see or appreciate. The first ride that I didn't go on was Alice in Wonderland's crazy tea cups. After an hour long wait in an interminable line I didn't laugh as the cups spun round and round. I didn't feel dizzy with joy as I didn't step off wondering what I wouldn't be doing next.

Indeed, next, I didn't go on Dumbo's flying elephant. What a magic flight I didn't take!

I didn't climb on the pirate ship, or go on Peter Pan's magic flight. I didn't see the Swiss Family Robinson's tree house or rub shoulders with Pinocchio. I didn't notice that the world is really small or even realize that that nice old house was haunted. I didn't eat ice cream or cotton candy. But perhaps the best thing I didn't do was Pirates of the Caribbean. In fact we didn't do that together; the ride was closed.

All in all I didn't have a magical, great day. I was right, this is a crazy old world. I wonder how many great things there are out there not to do!

Want to see more pictures of our day in the land of make believe? Check out some sunny snaps here: deeznaylond.

A gift from Idun

"As, round the sleeping infant's feet,

We softly fold the cradle sheet;

So plant we the apple-tree."

William Cullen Bryant

Every weekday, papa asks Inès and Gabriel what they did in school that day. The answers are really not very varied. Inès gives a lengthy answer: "rien". And Gabriel inevitably departs on a long story about the classmate who had to sit in the corner of the class as punishment for cutting off some four-year-old's arm. Not much information.

Maybe out of frustration, papa sometimes tells me about what his schooldays were like. He says that when he was a little boy living in Plano Texas, school was very different. He didn't have an hour of homework like Inès does today. They didn't sit in old classrooms lined up with wooden desks (that came later). No, he studied in large carpeted open rooms with desks arranged in all sorts of ways and areas painted a different color for each grade (hey, these were the 1970s). For him, the best schooldays were movie days. All the kids would sit on the floor, some would lie down, and one of the teachers would turn the lights down. Then the projector would start to make that noise that projectors used to make when there were projectors, a few numbers and letters would flash on the screen too fast to make any sense, then the movie would start.

This is where papa first saw The Red Balloon. But also where he learned all that folklore that makes up part of every American kid's DNA. There was John Henry who died on the job (today, his family would have sued the company and moved to Beverly Hills). There was Paul Bunyan. And there was the guy who must have been Paul's nemesis, Johnny Appleseed. Johnny spent his life planting apple orchards in a young United States and generally being an all-around nice guy. He was papa's favorite.

I'm wondering if nostalgia for Johnny Appleseed movies isn't why he planted a tree every time one of us was born. First he planted a cherry tree for Inès. Then an apple tree for the Gongo. The other day, it was my turn. Like Gongo, I now have an apple tree. Johnny would be proud.

Every night, as Inès sits down to do her homework, I get the idea of what's in store for me when I get to first grade. Lots and lots of work. Lots of memorizing long words. Lots of numbers. Lots of stern faces of people who, as children, faced stern faces of people who, as children...and so on. I'm not counting on a whole lot of movies, and certainly none about Johnny Appleseed. But this is France, so at least I get to use a fountain pen.

Why not check out our earth moving escapades here: altissima arborum

5 in 15

I'm not really sure what I've gotten myself into.

There's a toothless ABBA groupie who can be found singing Dancing Queen into a red plastic microphone, hiding under the bed eating chocolates, or terrorizing pedestrians on her scooter.

There's a part-time pirate/part time knight killing monsters by day and mortally afraid of them by night.

Then there's these two stressed out weirdos who run around the house chasing the other two, who in turn completely ignore anything and everything they say. By the looks of it, these two must be the help.

It's only been a month but I can already tell, this is going to be weird.


Why not check out some pictures of my first visitors here: drop by but don't drop the baby or here: you mean there's even more people in the world?

And perk up your mood with pictures of my first visit to Ata's house here: finally, some calm people!

Or just yawn by looking at these: is this what I waited nine months for?