Father's Day on Ile Saint Honorat

 One week ago was Father's Day here in France, just like the USA.  We spent the day with a group of friends on Ile Saint Honorat, part of the Ile de Lerins islands, off the coast of Cannes.  These photos show Thomas and Antonio kayaking across while the rest of us were on the ferry.

 It took them about 45 minutes or so to get across.  And they were movin'.

 Saint Honorat is small - takes about an hour to walk around it.  No cars or anything.  There is a monastery on it, with monks who have a vineyard and make wine.  The other island next to it is much bigger and much more famous, Ile Sainte Marguerite - where the prison is which is famous from The Man in the Iron Mask.

 It was hot as can be.

 The kayak served for exploring this very shallow area which was hard on the feet but in a kayak, perfect.

 We went for a walk to get the babies/toddlers in the group to sleep, and explore the area around the monastery and it's beautiful and active chapel.

 Marco, Estelle's little classmate, came with us for the day.  He was born in Milan and his parents moved to Nice 5 years ago as his father got a job in Monaco.   His Italian upbringing was evident as he went right up to the front kneeler, got down on his knees, then abruptly stood up and removed his hat, and then got back down on his knees.  I fell in love with him right then.

 Please note what time the monks get up.

 On one point of the island is a very tall stone tower/castle which is empty but you can go in and climb up and up and up to many vista points on each level.

 You are rewarded with an aerial view inside the monastery walls.

 In this photo below, we see other friends arriving in their new blue kayak.  Such fun!

Not such a bad way to spend a father's day, with a great father. 

Dance Recital

 June 7th was Estelle & Léna's dance school recital.  It was held in a big theatre way on the outskirts of Nice.  Estelle was in 4 numbers, Léna in 2.  They were in one number together, the first one below:

 Estelle is in blue, and Léna is in the back row on the right.  You can see Louise in the middle row to the left of Estelle.

 Léna holds out her fan night and straight in the back row.

 The little girl below in the red costume like Estelle's is named Valerie.   We don't know her well as we only just met her this year at dance.  By coincidence, she too will be in Estelle's new class at the new music school in September. 

 

 Here Valerie is blocking Léna so you can't see her.

 Next number later on:  Estelle's hip hop group.  Estelle 4th from left.

 That's Estelle down front.

 Here Estelle gets into a pose/hold:

 She stayed like that for like a minute.  We were surprised!

 3rd number:  basket dance.

 Estelle's last number:   another hip hop dance:

 This was the closing number of the first act:  the littlest girls' group, all by themselves.  They all had these huge flowers.  I should add that this was all a surprise.  We didn't know about the tutus or the flowers. 

 Léna did a great job considering it was 9:30 p.m. and she'd had a full day at school.  Louise is born to be a star.  She was a riot!

 

Finale of 1st act:  everyone on stage:  there's Léna to the left of Louise (far right).

So, another year of dance behind us.  Estelle has made a lot of progress, it was amazing.

Masters 2

This paper doesn't look like much, but it finalizes a recent, and intense, chapter in my life.  Amen.