Knitting Like a Fiend

Many of you already know that I love to knit. Since moving to France, my needles & hooks have been flyin'. I just have to share.

Here's my only action shot with a French background - Carcassonne!

Toys . . . All 3 kids (even Alex the teenager) love them!







Boleros, etc. . .




Sweaters . . .

And gifts . . .

Love to all!!

The Bouzigues Parcourse

The Billat Family Splits Up!

Last week, we made some new friends. Pierre and Dominique are Emma’s parents, and Emma is Josey’s friend from school. As all the kids were playing in the sunny garden, the adults were sitting around getting to know each other (always interesting in French). They are really nice, and we have some wonderful things in common!

In fact, they invited us to participate in the Bouzigues Parcourse. The Bouzigues Parcourse is a 12K or 23K run through the garrigue, which is the countryside of Southern France. They were expecting up to 500 runners!

Here is Emma (in purple) next to Max & Josey at the starting line.

Mike and I were both planning to volunteer at a drink table – handing out water to the runners. I wanted to run. However, I wasn’t willing to risk an injury from running through the garrigue. Now I know that I could have done it – no problem!

Anyway . . . we kind of got split up. Part of the Parcourse is a 1K run for the kids. So, Mike stayed at the starting line with Max and Josey while I climbed into a Jeep with 3 Frenchies. Woohoo!! It was a super fun ride – 4-wheelin’ – through the garrigue to get to the table. It was awesome!!

It turns out that my drink table was at the end of my normal Loupian run, so completely within the realm of reality for my running! This was also the 6.4K mark of the Parcourse, so the 12K runners turned right to go back to Bouzigues while the 23K runners turned left to run deeper into the garrigue.

It was really fun! I was working with 2 other adults, Teri was the name of the man in charge, and 4 12-year olds. Teri was really nice and friendly. He spoke to me a ton, but I didn’t understand most of what he said. Remember, I was expecting to have Mike with me (to help translate among other things)! I did figure out how the table worked (pretty simple), and we got all the water poured and snacks set out for the runners.

I literally said, “Bravo!!” to every single person who ran yesterday (I’m guessing there were about 200-300). I was the only person yelling “Bravo!”, but that’s so “Gayle” – isn’t it? As the 23K runners came back by our table on their return trip, some of them seemed really happy to see a smiling face and water! Okay, so they were probably just happy to see the water, but I can wish. LOL!

Unfortunately, I did not have the camera. So, you’ll just have to imagine me: huge smile, bright orange “STAFF” t-shirt, white sunglasses, red hair . . . you get the (mental) picture, right?

Meanwhile, back at the port, Max and Josey were preparing to run their 1K. Max had been telling us all week how he was going to sprint the whole way. We warned him not to, but you know how determined my kids are. Hmmm . . . I wonder where they get that?

Check out the great pictures Dado took! The squirrel mascot arrived to start the race. Then, they were off!!

Guess what? Max came in 7^th out of 30 or so kids!! Woohoo, Max!! He really did sprint. Look at that smile of success.

Josey was close behind. She came in 13^th!! Woohoo, Josey! You go, Girl!!

Every child got a bag full of goodies, and they were all thrilled by the whole event. I wish I could have cheered them on!! I got to finish my morning of volunteer work with my own run – running home from the drink table. There was a bit of poor organization, so I didn’t have a ride home. It’s a good thing I was dressed for running.

The afternoon was spent at Chez Sabrina & Franck for a wonderful bar-b-que! More on that later.

Love to all!!

Roquebrun with Friends!

We had a great adventure in Roquebrun recently with our French friends: Sandra, Jean-Louis, Sabrina, Franck, Victoria, Noah, Jordan, and Logan.

It was the first warm, sunny day we had this spring, and we were basking in the sunshine. Here's Sabrina relaxing in the sun!

We were also indulging in a delicious picnic.

The kids had a great time playing in the river. Of course, we packed the swim bag and intertubes. After all, my kids will swim in almost any weather and almost any water! The other children hadn’t expected to go swimming, but we worked it out.

Here's Logan - tubin' it on the beach and Max shootin' the "rapids"!

Those tiny little specks of color in the water are the kids. I wanted to show you Roquebrun in the background, too.

It was a wonderful adventure! Sandra, Sabrina, Jean-Louis, and Franck are so much fun. And it’s always a great learning experience for us, too. So much fast-flying French!

Love to all!!

Brocante Purchases - Winter 2009

We have found some more amazingly cool purchases at the brocante in the last few months. The brocante is much like a flea market in the US.

Check out the fossil collection, which will some day decorate our bathroom in the US. The large piece is a sink, and the nautilus-like fossil portion is a raised, round soap holder. It's hard to get the 3-dimensional idea from the pictures, but they are amazingly unique and cool!

This is a bottle used in the wine fermentation process, which I got for a mere 2 euros!!.

Love to all!!

Dado's 44th Birthday Paella Party

We had an amazing party with our French family on Sunday to celebrate Dado’s 44^th birthday and Michelle’s 67^th birthday. Michelle is Sandra’s mom, and she looks awesome for 67!

We have been looking forward to this party for weeks. Mike had the special request some time ago to have Sandra teach him to make paella. Freshly made paella is common at the farmer’s markets, and he wanted to bring the skill of paella-making back to the US with us. Sandra explained that paella-making is a summer time ritual, but they made a special exception for Dado’s birthday.

Well, we got the coolest lesson in paella-making that anyone could hope for! Merci beaucoup to Sandra, Sabrina, and Jean-Louis!!

And, I had the most delicious Sangria ever. Michelle homemade the Sangria, and I look forward to getting that recipe, too.

Now . . . drum roll, please . . . The Paella Birthday Party!

We arrived at Sandra’s around 11:00am, and the sauce was simmering on the stove. Some of the ingredients were fresh tomatoes, garlic (lots of garlic!), and special paella seasoning. It smelled delicious! Sandra already had the chicken (legs & thighs) and pork (chops) ready for cooking.

Sandra also made guacamole - using Julie's recipe!! Ohmigosh. It was delicious. So delicious that (for me at least) it eclipsed the homemade salsa that both Sandra and Dado made. Yum!

Sabrina arrived soon after. When she arrived, she greeted us with bizous (kisses on each cheek – 3 times for our region) and told us that we are part of her French family, too. Now we’ve been adopted by Sandra & Jean-Louis (and Michelle) AND Sabrina & Franck!! They truly make us feel welcome and loved.

Sabrina is an excellent cook (just like Sandra), and she started preparing the next bunch of ingredients: chopped onion, chopped green peppers and bell peppers, chorizo, and squid.

Meanwhile, Jean-Louis was outside preparing the wood-burning bbq, and Josey was washing the huge paella pan. A paella pan is a special purchase we have to make here to bring home with us.

When the fire was ready, Sabrina put the pan on the bbq and poured in oil. Wow! It was poppin’ hot in a matter of seconds. Watch her toss the chicken and pork in from a distance!

It was so hot that it was flaming – literally. Sabrina started turning the meat, but Dado quickly took over. His superhero coating makes him impervious to the heat. LOL Hopefully you can see the flames in this picture.

And here is Dado's singed hand!

Jean-Louis was smart. He wore gloves!

When the meat was finished, they added the chopped veggies and chorizo.

Next came the rice and sauce.

After everything simmered for about 20 minutes or so, Sabrina added the live mussels. We learned that if you squeeze a live mussel, it squirts! If it didn’t squirt – it didn’t go in the paella!

When the mussels opened and the rice was almost done, Sabrina added the langostinos (similar to crayfish) artistically around the border of the pan. Absolutely beautiful!!

Next came the small paella batch for the kids.

Look how gorgeous everything looked!

And Sabrina made homemade birthday cake, too. She ran out of “e”, so Mike has a new “French” nickname – Miko. Delicious!

There were great gifts, too. Michelle gave Mike a Bouzigues apron and magnet. These were greatly appreciated because it is very difficult to find clothes (like t-shirts, for example) or souvenirs with “Bouzigues” on them. Isn’t that surprising? Franck and Sabrina gave him two great bottles of wine. Sandra and Jean-Louis’ present is great, too, but it’s not here yet.

We gave Michelle a mimosa tree, which she loved! Sidebar: Mimosas look suspiciously like acacia trees!

It was a fabulous day. We love our French family, and we are very grateful for them! Thank you all so much for a great party!!

Right before we left (at 6:00pm!), Noah went back for seconds.

Love to all!

Learning the Hard Way

We have learned two things lately . . . one the hard way!

We received our first French speeding ticket in the mail. It was a shock since we were never pulled over, and we never speed past the speeding cameras (there are big signs warning you that there is a camera, so they are never a surprise). Obviously there was a police officer with a radar gun and camera at the side of the road near Perpignan.

From that lesson we learned that we really have to learn more about the French road signs! Mike is diligent about following the posted speed limit to avoid any tickets or other notice by French authorities.

We also learned that you can very easily pay your speeding tickets online. :)

The other lesson we learned was regarding license plates. We bought our Renault Kangoo back in September. We registered the car right away, and we kept waiting patiently for the license plates to arrive in the mail - you know, like happens in the US. Duh! We're in France now! Why should it be the same here?

In France, they send you your Carte Gris, which is your car registration. You take your Carte Gris to the auto store where they make your license plates for you on the spot. It's really easy! Then, for a few euros, they will put them on your car for you. Now we're legal!

We learned about the license plates on a fluke. One night at judo, Mike asked Jean-Louis about them, since it had been about 4 months at that point since we bought the Kangoo. Jean-Louis explained the whole process.

Le prochaine fois, Jean-Louis, s'il te plait "volunteer" les informations quand nous sommes bete et ignorant sur les chose Francaise. :) Merci!

Love to all!

Carnaval

We had a blast in Bouzigues yesterday afternoon, participating in our first Carnaval. This is a tradition celebrated the last day before Lent begins, and it was wildly fun. Josey’s friend Emma joined us as did Noah.

We started at the school at 3:3 in the afternoon, and we were surprised by how many people were there. Every child was in costume (this year’s theme was Pirates), and so were many adults. Confetti and silly string were flying everywhere.

The teenagers were all in black and white with shaving cream in their hair . . .

There was a decorated truck to lead the parade . . .

And a pirate ship that was pushed through the entire parade through the village. During the parade, the soundtrack consisted of La Vida Loca, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Hit the Road Jack, and Jailhouse Rock (Elvis). I was rockin’ out!

And look at this little cutie!

The parade took a pit stop at the port
for the tradition of Monsieur Carnaval.

From the Web:

Monsieur Carnaval… is responsible for all the wrongdoing people do throughout the year. At Carnival time in France, Monsieur Carnaval is judged for his behavior throughout the preceding year. Usually he’s found guilty and an effigy of him is burned at the Carnival.

While Monsieur Carnaval is burning, people dance in a circle around the fire singing.

Wow! It was crazy. They really lit the effigy on fire, and we all
danced around him while he burned. The song? Cotton-Eyed Joe. It was a bit surreal!

See the kids' expressions? That is Emma, Max, Josey, and Cannelle (Max's great friend).

When Monsier Carnaval was just a pile of ashes, we headed up the hill to the Espace Fringadelle, which is where the parties of Bouzigues are held. There were great snacks for all and a costume contest for the kids where the Prince and Princess of Carnaval were elected (I think they were chosen randomly from names in a box).

The kids ran around having a great time until about 6:00pm. It was really, really fun! There was still confetti in my hair this morning, and there is a blanket of confetti all over the house.

Love to all!