Giacometti - Fondation Maeght

These 2 girls were ready to go to the beach this morning - bright and early!
Léna doesn't look like she's having fun but she was enjoying herself...
We did go to the beach this a.m. and had a great couple hours from 8:30 to 10:30. Forgot the camera though!
Estelle's nursery school teacher goes heavy on art. They kids have studied a lot of Miro, Braque, Chagall and Giacometti. A private museum in chic nearby St. Paul de Vence opened a new heralded Gaicometti exhibit today. Estelle's school is going on Friday but we'll be on a plane. So we went after naps today.
First, some none-Giacometti sculptures in the garden. Above, Calder. Always liked his stuff. Big! Below you see his signature from '69 - Alexander Calder, "AC".
I never found out who made this funky moving fountain but it was cooooooooool. See video below.
Big colors, Ellsworth Kelly, another favorite of mine.
Chagall, so much to look at, so many stories in a Chagall. And look how small Estelle is in front of it.
Back outside, lots of sculptures by Miro.
The Fondation overlookings St. Paul de Vence. Great views.




Miro everywhere you look!
Inside the Giacometti exhibit - lots of great sculptures.
Georges Braque's fish mosiac at the bottom of this reflecting pool.
Giacometti's cage:
Woman on Venise - 9 different ones. It should be stated that one of his sculptures sold for 14.3 million. Just to put things in perspective.
Estelle liked trying to imitate the sculptures:
More Calder outside.
45 second Video of that cool fountain:

Walking!

Sort of like Chariots of Fire!

Father's Day / More Strikes

This past Sunday was Father's Day over here as well - here's what Thomas got as a gift:
It says: "Léna is dancing in the middle of the stars"
We had a quick trip to the park that morning before a thunderstorm...

Then Thomas made Estelle crepes and she put Nutella on them...bliss!
Even though there are only 5 days left of school, it's never to late for the teachers to have a one-day strike over here in France.
The one-day strike once every 3 or 4 weeks is getting REALLY REALLY old.
For those of us with no family at all around, it makes childcare for Estelle complicated because I am teaching all day at the airport so I can't cancel.
Estelle will go to spend the day with Oana and her baby Serena. Here she is ready to go to Oana's for her special day, with her baby in a matching dress.
She will take care of her baby while Oana takes care of Serena.
Meanwhile, here's what Léna has been up to!

Birthday Beach

2 days before my birthday, Simon and I spent 4 1/2 hours on a beach near Monaco, called Plage Mala.

This is one of those hold the photo at arm's length and squeeze your heads together shots!

This woman below looks 40. Ouch. Oh well, nothing to be done.

A lovely day.
We repeated the same thing the day AFTER my birthday when Thomas surprised me that morning by having taken the day off. After dropping off the girls, the 3 of us headed to the beach in Cap Ferrat (very chic). We had such a good time, we didn't even take photos!
What a great way to ring in the next decade. Thanks Thomas for a great surprise!

The French? Strike? What?

Who says the French don't know how to throw a strike?
Why, even during the World Cup, those Frenchies strike their little hearts out.
Idiots.
What a difference from 4 years ago, when they won, over and over, and went all the way to the Finals (remember the Zidane head-butt, the penalty-kick shoot-out in the 11th hour, remember Italy winning?).
Now, when it looks like things might not go their way right off the bat in the first round (oh the shame!), they do what they know best: STRIKE! Protest! Say it isn't fair! Act outraged! Refuse to work! Refuse to do your job! It's like James Bond trying to create a distraction to throw his predator off the scent.
Except in the World Cup, the only game they should be playing is soccer.
Disgusting.

Pomp and Circumstance

Today in America, two of my nieces are graduating from high school - Chelsea from Harwood and Alexandra from Mount Mansfield, my alma mater.
Hope everyone has a great day!
Léna, meanwhile, is close to graduation to being a walker - close, but no cigar.
2 sisters enjoying some books together:

Meanwhile, videos of our little baby: 1st, playing with chunks of ice in the bathtub. 2nd, happiness is a full belly.

"Kermesse"

Kermesse is the French word for the end-of-the-year school show and fair, with games and a bake sale, etc. It is run by the Parent's Association. It was Saturday morning and we were there right on time, with 2 batches of scones.
Waiting to go on "stage".... this was 9:00 a.m. and it was already hot. Estelle is in the back row, up on her knees, pink sleeveless dress and ponytail, not pigtails.



The class after Estelle's had her 3 little friends from Cathy the nanny's , the little Italian Carlo (far right playing picolo)...And Mila and Marie - the two girls below - Marie really does look like Shirley Temple.

That's Patricia, Estelle's teacher in front

A little bittersweet as we know Estelle will change schools in the fall to attend the school in the "district" where we live now since our move in November. I say "district" since it is like 5 blocks from the current school but in a city, 5 blocks = a lot of kids = another school.
No green fields or cows or trees or grass in this playground. Concrete and barred windows. Sometimes I wonder what the heck I am doing raising my kid in a city.
A few videos of Estelle "dancing" for those who have time to kill - 1st one is the "warm-up", 2nd one is the dance, where Estelle seems to be the Pied Piper.

40!!!!!!!!!!!

As they say, 40 is the new 30. Which was the new 20. So really it's like I'm 19. Or something.
Spent the day at C & D's villa where a fan-tabulous brunch was prepared in my honor:
Good friends, good times: Estelle got a lot of attention in the pool from Simon...

And Doug:
And their friend Gail whom I adore and had not seen in 5 years:Léna also had some fun. She went right down in a strange room in a strange Pack-n-Play and took a great nap - Great Kid!
Great husband:
Meanwhile, Simon always had us laughing! British humor.

Citronella candle on my cake!It's been a BUSY weekend. Beaches, Birthday parties (mine and pals of Estelle), School fairs and spectacles, making double-batches of scones for Bake Sales, etc. Hope to catch up on the photos soon.