Another Tri-lingual Experience

Yesterday Estelle entertained another little gal from abroad. Hannah's mother is doing a teacher exchange here in Nice for which I am the coordinator. While they come from London, her mom is Egyptian and her father English. This means that her 2 base languages are Arabic & English (and that ain't no American English, neither. More like Masterpiece Theater).
Between French, Arabic, and two versions of English, it was a linguistic free-for-all for about 3 hours yesterday.

However, crawling into Estelle's crib and pretending to be babies together required no communication. And here's a photo of some karaoke-with-no-borders.
Also please note that Estelle is not wearing her own shoes, but rather Hannah's shoes, which she thought were quite fun.
And just in case you were wondering what they were actually singing, a video.


Meanwhile, Estelle got new digs for the pool. Here she is testing it out, along with a Vermont Fish and Wildlife Hat from Uncle Cedric. Lovely color combination.

Today Estelle had a check-up at her doctor's. She is the model of the perfect patient now. She started stripping off her clothes in the waiting room while I had my back turned. It was all I could get her to do to stay clothed until we got into his office. She is 98 centimeters tall. Literally off the dang charts for height, can't imagine where that comes from. And 14kgs and something for weight. Like I know what any of it means, darn ole metric system anyway. You know your child is growing up when the doctor no longer weighs her in the baby scale but tells her to step onto the normal scale which she lept onto with glee.

Also he stood her against a wall that had a roving tape measure on it to check her height. I glanced wistfully at the baby scale and he said "Don't worry, you'll be back here soon enough for that."

Which leads us to a nice transition to...........



I can hear you all shrieking. Well, many readers have been clamouring for a glimpse so there you have it. Incidentally my OBGYN told me at my check-up last Monday that the baby is already 2kg600. This is when I nod and Thomas says you can hear my brain whirring trying to convert it to pounds. Dr. Max said "Remind me, how big was Estelle at birth?" I replied 3 kg and not a gram more. He said "Eh ben, là, eh ben, on n'est pas dans le meme equipe." Thomas hung his head with a laugh. I blinked like a deer in headlights trying to figure out what the hell that meant. They both took pity and explained: This means literally "We aren't on the same team here." or, loosely translated, this ain't gonna be no 6 lb 10 oz baby. Bigger. Ouch. Darn those bugnes from the bakery downstairs.

Don't Cry For Me Argentina

Today we were in a tri-lingual experience - and for once it wasn't Dutch.
Thomas' colleague, Salvador, who is from Argentina, came over with his daughter Renata (which means "reborn"). A wild and fun afternoon of French, English and Spanish ensued.

Both daddies took both girls to Park Vigier for fun and some games of hide and seek.

What you see behind the girls is the opposite side of the Port of Nice - the white lines painted on the pavement are for cars to line up when you wait to get on the ferry to Corsica.
Yesterday in a tricky move to keep her occupied whilst we were busy with other nesting tasks, I broke out something I've had squirreled away for over a year - a Madeline porcelain tea set that my sister Lisa picked up at a rummage sale at her school for a few dollars. It is absolutely darling. Estelle played with it nonstop for an hour. We had to tear her away to eat lunch. After lunch, she broke the sugar bowl. Oops.
Here's Estelle enjoying tea time - the funniest thing she said, which neither of us had ever heard her say and she must have got from her nanny is "Excuse-moi!". I also can't get over her knowing certain verbs and how and when to use them. I just barely mastered "renverser" maybe 2 years ago (to spill)!


For those who can't charge the video, here's a still photo of the same moment:

Yesterday in the early evening we actually did something social - went for "apero" or "aperitif" at Eliott's house. We were joined by another little boy we have met before, named Lou and his mom. There was a lot of fun to be had playing on Fransiska and Arnaud's bed.
And play dough. Lots of playdough action. At one point Evil Kenival showed up and demonstrated all the moves he has perfected in the comfort of his own home. This involved jumping off the top of the couch (already that in and of itself is a balancing act) and after landing with a bounce, going immediately into a headfirst somersault which then ended with another jump off the end of the couch. Thomas was amazed. I told him I'd seen it all before, there is nothing that kid can do anymore to shock me! Estelle and Lou stood by and thankfully had the good sense not to try it themselves. Only Eliott can pull that stuff off and not break his neck.
A busy and fun weekend! Lovely weather as well.

Happy Birthday Joanie!

I should add that when I start laughing, it's because Estelle had just said to me "I'm not gonna say THAT!" in response to my prompting that she tell Joanie she doesn't look a day over 29!

The Ides of March

Poor Ceaser didn't make it thru this weekend all those years ago, but we have.

We were off to Drauginaun for the day yest, under an hour an a half away in the region called The Var (name of the river). We were visiting the newly built holiday home of the Mallets, friends from Angers whose son Francois is a old old hockey buddy of Thomas' from the PeeWee ages. You've seen him and his parents René and Martine on the blog before.
This property has been in René's family for 6 generations. The building that they have totally renovated used to be the family farm's "abattoir" - or, slaughterhouse. Here is it now:

Estelle loved playing in the rocks and dirt. I'm so glad I dressed her for the occasion.
This landing with all it's railings was a great source of fun.

Outside there was a lot to discover!
Here's doctor René explaining the finer points of renovating a slaughterhouse to Thomas.

They explained to us that this area has very strict zoning laws, and so no one is allowed to construct anything "new". You can only renovate existing structures, and you must keep the same style, etc. of the walls. So this photo below shows the small enclosure to the left, which will be their "poolhouse". Which hilariously used to be the pigpen, or "cochonnerie". They enjoyed making jokes that really them in their own poolhouse will be like walking into a pigpen. This was funny since they are both doctors. I should also add that "cochonnerie" also means "stupid thing", like if you say "Oh mince, j'ai fait un cochonnerie", it means 'oh darn, I've gone and done something stupid".
This big empty space will eventually be the pool. It used to be a big watering basin for the animals. Stacked in the middle you see the traditional clay shingles which the workmen removed from the old structure and have reused on the new. There are no nails, they are just placed in a certain fashion.
Estelle enjoyed this chaise lounge. Meanwhile I kept thinking of the chair that comes alive and battles Snoopy during the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special.
Martine is hiding behind René as they explain the finer points of sunbathing to Estelle.
Meanwhile, a very famous bike race called the "Paris-Nice" was going on this weekend. It always ends in Nice on a Sunday. Ironically, Saturdays "stage" was going right by the old slaughterhouse in Drauginaun! Here's a photo of my leg that was supposed to be a shot of the helicopter which was so close to the house that Estelle was mildly intrigued/terrified and I thought those clay shingles where gonna come right off.
We had to go home a different way in order to avoid the blocked roads.
Back home last night, she had a lot to say before taking a shower with Daddy in his swimsuit.
He had just said to her "tu es nue comme une verre" (you are naked like a worm!) and she interpreted it as "nu comme une pomme de terre" (= naked like a potatoe). This provided several minutes of screaming laughter that ended in hiccups.

Meanwhile, today began with a double batch of pancakes and succulent syrup from my brother Cedric. Some pancakes went wrapped in aluminum with my ever-so-sporty husband and Eliott's dad as they crossed the Italian frontier to hit the slopes for the day. The rest of the batch was devoured by Estelliot and Estelliot's moms. Namely me and Fransiska. Eliott keep saying something over and over in Dutch to his mom, who smiled and told me "he wants more syrup."
We finally rolled our bellies to the car and made our way to Villefranche, to the top-notch playground there. Unlike the playgrounds here in Nice, it is new, very clean, in excellent condition and hardly frequented at all. It also has a lovely view of the sea and lots of benches in the sun or the shade.
We spent a great hour in the warmth of the sun, I was in a light shirt and no coat. The kids had a blast. There are two enclosed playgrounds. Once for ages 2-6, another for ages 6 and up. After 20 mins in the younger, we moved to the larger and Eliott, whose future career is as a stunt man, really got to show his stuff on this massive slide that I wouldn't even go down, pregnant or not!

Estelle remained in calmer waters:

In this photo above, another little boy had a motorized car which Estelle quickly got the hang of. And below we have Evil Kenival in his finest hour.
After about 20 times going down head first (again, this is a slide for 6 year olds, not 2 1/2 year olds!) he did get a slight fat lip but hardly a tear was shed. Estelle went down twice, but she dragged her hands to slow herself down. Not so for her fair-haired friend.
Here's a short film of Estelle practicing for her permit. You can see a bit of the soccer field below this playground with a match going on, and beyond that, the sea in the bay.

Practice Your French

A few videos for those of you who want to hone up on your French skills!

Another Week Gone

This week brought a nice visit from Chantal, my friend from Amiens (north of Paris) and her grandsons Pierre and Paul. You met them in a blog post last August. I met her when I was chaperoning a middle school exchange before I even moved to France. They have an apartment in nearby Biot, famous for its pottery and blown glass works. Down on the coast for their school vacation, they came over on Wednesday afternoon for a nice play date with Estelle.
Here's Estelle pretending to cut Paul's hair.


The hair cutting was using forks from her kitchennette.
Pierre, 12 yrs old, captivated Estelle by drawing stories for her.

Last night I surprised Thomas by calling in the babysitter and going out. We joined Craig and Doug and another couple friends of theirs whom we know rather well for dinner in the very trendy Mougins village. Lots of laughs.

This morning we were at the beach at 10 a.m. with a thermos of tea, croissants and a "ficelle", like a baguette but smaller, thinner and made of flour that is less "doughy". I brought jams, yogurt and bananas and we baked in the sun for 45 minutes before we couldn't take it anymore.

Estelle enjoyed walking along the edge.

The old diving platform that is closed off but in summer the local boys swim to it and climb up the side of the rock to jump off. Terrifies me.
The beach was empty except for divers, swimmers and kayakers. Here you can see a man who just walked up out of the surf in a wet suit and peeled it down to his waist. He was like the Muckle Man crawling out of the sea. Impressive.

Lots of dumping of water. Meanwhile, does anyone else's husband wear a button-down oxford dress shirt to the beach on a Sunday morning?

Back at the ranch, some cooking to do.
Meanwhile, in pregnancy news, I have been not-so-gently encouraged to put my feet up to ensure I make it to 37 weeks. This was a hard pill to swallow but now after digesting it for a few days, I'm kinda looking forward to slowing down a bit earlier than I expected to! Let the "nesting" begin!
Here's Estelle and Thomas playing with blocks yesterday afternoon.

Carnival

Even though Lent has begun, Carnival continues here in Nice.
Sunday afternoon we ventured into the fray, though we did wait until we knew the mob scenes would have dispersed.
With the new tram lines that opened about a year and a half ago, the Carnival and all its parade routes are all along the beachfront and central park, as opposed to up the main axe of the city as it had been for decades.
I kind of liked it better when it was going thru the streets and not along the water.
At any rate, first item of business was a ride on the merry-go-round.

A little video to put you in the mood:


Every year the Carnival has a theme. This year's theme is "Roi des Mascarades", or King of the Mascarades. This involves about 20 enormous floats, including the King and Queen floats.
Various artists, designers, cartoonists and sculptors are solicited from various countries to think up the various floats. This year's floats' ideas come from Italians, English, Americans, Indians, and of course the majority are French.
This one, not a great shot, is by a French artist and is supposed to be a machine or robot that chooses masks.
The float below is from an American press cartoonist named Chad Crowe. It is supposed to be a giant masked Pulcinella, carrying tragedy and comedy masks in his hands.
This next one with several "Russian dolls" is by a French designer and is called "Russian masquerade", saying "who is really governing Russia, Medvedev or Poutine?
I just liked this guys with birds on the backs and blades on their feet. So Bread and Puppet. I got wistful.

Below is a bad shot from behind of an Indian designed float, "Many Faces" where the slogan was "a many-faced suitor has no face of his own".

There was a float by a French painter called "Nice and its monuments" but all it turned out to be was these enormous representations of the "head" that is over the big library near our neighborhood - which you see below:
Another French float by a graphic illustrator - this one entitled "The Enigma of the Iron Mask", representing the muskeeteers and the Man in the Iron Mask.
This one is from France too. Nothing too significant about it.
This next one was called "Masked Justice" and it said it was "Tornado, Zoro's horse".

And here is one of the stars of the show, the King float: He is coming out of a box and has all the masks he has worn over the years.... there is like a whole thing going on underneath. It was REALLY big, don't know if you can get the sense from the photos....


The back of the King:
I just liked these tired troopers. You can see that the "stands" for the people who pay for a seat were all empty at this point.
This next float was far away but you can see the mess on the street. It was representing Carnival's theoretical return to the Old Town of Nice. This doesn't mean much to anybody outside of the city!

This one, poorly photographed in the sole contribution from the Italian press cartoonist, and is the Devil, masked - is he an angel or really a devil? It represents eternal deception.
This one below is also from the American: it's called "The Credit King" - the note said "a masquerade of excessive richness pulled by poor men whose feet are chained to credit cards"
Here's England's contribution: a tatooed man on a harley. No one knows what it means.
Another French float: a "masked boat"
You can see Estelle was pretty interested in this huge things. Look at the blue of the sea behind them.


This float was called "Freedom thru drunkenness, in moderation of course!" the subtitle was "Bubbles lead to drunkenness, drunkenness to freedom". uh, whatever.

Very poor photo below but it was called "The Chameleons' Masked Ball"
And here is the Queen of the Carnival - a truly impressive float - so BIG!

And look at what was going on under her skirts - all these people!

A great float!
And finally, a few videos:
One, a band playing in a gazebo. Whilst there we ran into an acquaintance named Gersende whose little girl Jade was born 6 days before Estelle. They enjoyed dancing together.