Day One: Family time raking leaves:
Estelle LOVED going for a walk with Manou and getting her to run.
Shelling chestnuts from Calvinet was fun for Estelle:
They soak them in water once shelled and if they float, they're no good (or something like that).
This was hilarious for Estelle:
Another stroll.
A visit from good friends Claudine and Roland Saulnier (to my family: their daughter Virginie is the one in Wisconsin with the Cabot connection who came to the VT wedding with no luggage).
At the bakery, choosing bonbons to bring to the Halloween party at the English Library of Angers (which I never knew about until this trip).
See the meringues on the top shelf? Homemade.
Thursday the 29th, we attended a little Halloween celebration at the American/English library. It was for 3-5 yr olds so perfect for Estelle. I got tipped off to it by Tania Romanoff, who was my neighbor growing up in Jericho, VT, and who, after living in Poland and China, has landed in Angers of all places with her husband and 3 kids.
Above: Estelle as Scooby Doo. Below: Agnieska, (Polish version of Agnes), Tania's oldest child. My family will no doubt see the Romanoff resemblance!
Thomas and our little pumpkin, who was the youngest attendee at the party.
Here's Tania and her son Dominic, who was quite a clown.
There were 9 little girls dressed as princesses. And one Scooby Doo.
Dominic read Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin to Estelle. How bizarre: my kid and Tania Romanoff's kid, together on Halloween in Angers, France. If someone had predicted that 30 years ago........
Here are her 3 - the middle girl's name is Malina (she told me this is Polish for raspberry!)
Back at the ranch, what had been Guy's office (and prior to that his own father's bedroom), was converted back into a bedroom for us. They worked a lot to redo, strip paper, build closets and paint the entire thing and it looks like a magazine!
Lena has her own little corner:
Looking into our room from the back yard:
Outside our bedroom we can see Estelle's swing:
And here's Estelle's room, which is always morphing:
This was Thomas' bed when he was young:
Friday afternoon, there was a little champagne party in Léna's honor. All of the family's good friends came, like Myriam, grandmother to Merlin.
Here's are other good friends and neighbors:
Get out the fine china!
These beautiful roses grow sideways: (sorry, can't make this photo behave!)
A table set for a queen:
Guy's touch with wooden letters:
And of course, CAKE!
One chocolate, the other, berries....
Friday night Agnes arrived from Paris, and Halloween morning we went for a walk along the Maine.
Here's the famous bridge the Americans used to liberate the area during WWII.
A boat on the Maine...
Here's the plaque explaining the history of the bridge.
We had a visit from Celine, good family friend, who had a baby boy Merlin late in August.
Merlin's older sister Lison enjoyed playing with Estelle:
Manou and Léna:
Estelle likes Papi's cozy lap:
Poor Papy didn't get much of a break with Estelle around:
Here I am looking into Estelle's room:
Agnes & Léna:
Like I said, no rest for the weary:
A visit from Anne, good family friend. She had 3 daughters, here are the two older ones, Annaelle and Capucine:
And the youngest, Philomene, trying to grab Léna's foot:
On the plane heading home - she looks happy now but an hour later she was throwing up all over. Ouch!
It was a busy 6 days!
