Monday, September 20, 2010

Clouds and more Firsts

This weekend was a great weekend filled with even more firsts!

Yesterday was the Bonneville "brecante" where many locals sold different things such as clothes, Cd's, old car parts, stamps, candy and much more. That lasted all day and then in the afternoon and evening were competitions at the Skate Park for skaters and break dancers.  Adélie and I showed up right as the breakdancers finished so we missed them!  There was food, hamburgers along with crepes and other grilled foods, and after the prizes were awarded, there were bands that played into the night.

We were late because we had a "répétition" at the "Harmonie" which is the musical group that we are part of.  We have rehearsals every Friday night from eight thirty to ten thirty and Saturday afternoons from four thirty to six thirty.  Friday's rehearsal was definitely tough, but the music is great- we are playing the Muppet Show theme and a selection from Cats, I know it will make Mr.B proud :).   Saturday's rehearsal was tough too and there were a lot of people missing which made it harder for us to play, but we got through it and I think that with a lot of practicing and scale work, (Cameron, there are so many chromatic scale parts in the pieces!) the songs are going to come out great.  The Harmonie is made up of about 40 people ranging in age from ten years old to sixty and in instruments from the euphonium to the picollo.

I am really missing Pirates of the Carribean though, because after Adélie and I went to the Skate Park and met up with a few of her friends, they all came back to the house and we watched Pirates of the Carribean the Curse of the Black Pearl.  I still cannot get the music out of my head!

At the Gymnase at the Skate Park yesterday I had one of my awkwardest moments yet, and all I have to say is thanks Mom and Dad for warning me.  So Adélie and I went into the Gym to go to the bathroom and I look into the stall and all I see is a tiny little hole and a button.  I am totally serious, I would not be crazy enough to lie about something like that, it was a hole  in the ground!! I know that you are probably laughing your butt off right now, but imagine you were in my spot!  I was absolutely terrified, but enough on the awkwardness...

I was in a cloud today!!
Since this weekend was Patrimoine Weekend in Europe, that is the celebration of it's history, there were many attractions and historical sites open to the public that normally are not.  We went to a pottery museum in the mountains about thirty minutes from Bonneville.  There was pottery from the eighteen hundreds to now, and from bowls and plates to cow bells and christening water holders. They were all made from clay!

Later in the afternoon we went to La Roche, a neighboring town of Bonneville, to see an antique car show.  The American car species were not very well represented though, I have to say that I am dissapointed, but there were so many gorgeous European antique cars.  I noticed that all of the American cars that were there were at least two times the size of the European cars.  I am not kidding, there was a Mustang next to a little Triumph convertible, it looked like me standing next to CJ, there was such a distinct difference it made me laugh.  There were a couple Fords, a few Mustangs and three USA army trucks that were pretty cool.

We went with Joelle, the oldest Denizot sister at 25 years old, and we drove to the top of a mountain to eat lunch with her before seeing the pottery.  The altitude of the restaurant was 1,380m high!  The temperature was significantly cooler at the top of the mountain, but it was so worth it, because the view from the top was amazing, you could see ALL of Geneva!  This was on a very cloudy day nonetheless too.  You could look straight out and see Geneva, look to your right and see the city of Annecy far off and look up to your right and you see Mount Blanc in all of her snowy peaked glory.  So, to explain the cloud thing, we were so high up that there were clouds surrounding the mountain-top, where we were.

It was awesome, you could see the cloud moving around you and the trees.  You would look at the trees and see this layer of white that was moving rather quickly to the right.  Since it was a relatively cloudy day at first, when you were climbing the slight hill to get to the viewing area, all you could see of the sky was white, it was almost as if you were lost in the sky.  I was afraid that I would not be able to see the city at all because of the clouds.  For lunch we had a large meal consisting of an appetizer, champignon brochette for me-if you can tell me what that word is in english I will give you a shout out, sorry mom and frenchies you are not allowed to answer; that would be cheating.  Next was the main entree which was a reasonably sized veal chop with gratin dauphinois- thinly sliced potatoes drenched in butter- with an après-entrée- I made that word up- of two kinds of cheese, Thom and Reblochon. The final part of the meal, yes there was more, were three tiny pieces of crème brulée, berry pie and chocolate pie.  They were all amazing, and to think all of this was served at a tiny restaurant at the top of a mountian in the Alps.

Some interesting observations in the past week:
The boys have just as beautiful handwriting as the girls.
The French love chocolate and yogurt- I am talking not just your Yoplait, but real yogurt with an infinite amount of flavors from the traditional to pistachio and caramel. The yogurt gets its own aisle, I'm talking both sides too.
The French also drink their milk/tea from bowls, if you have cereal for breakfast, it's not cereal with milk but milk with cereal and when you finish the cereal you drink the milk from the bowl.
The French are very proud of their cheese, so if you ever come to France...ahem Mom and Dad... get prepared for the onslaught -sorry that makes it sound like a bad thing- of amazing locally make cheeses of hundreds of different varieties.
My favorite cheese so far is a tie between fresh goat cheese and the oldest and driest goat cheese.

I am going to apologize for the absence of pictures this week, I promise that there will be an abundant amount of them for next week's post.

Can't wait until next time!

A Bientot!

6 comments:

  1. I *DO* know what champignon brochettes are, lol! And I will eat both my share of cheese and dad's too when we visit! Grinning from ear to ear, so proud of you, and keep enjoying every minute! Love, Mom

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  2. Sounds like a wonderful week. Bummer about the camera running out of batteries.

    In case you didn't remember the lyrics, here they are... sing along with your class, or translate them into French!

    It's time to play the music
    It's time to light the lights
    It's time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight.
    It's time to put on makeup
    It's time to dress up right
    It's time to raise the curtain on the Muppet Show tonight.
    Why do we always come here
    I guess we'll never know
    It's like a kind of torture
    To have to watch the show
    And now let's get things started
    Why don't you get things started
    It's time to get things started
    On the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational
    This is what we call the Muppet Show!

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  3. Another glorious entry sweet P!! "High on a hill sits a lonely goat, yodaleighee, yodaleighee, yodaleighee hee." Better yet, "The hills are alive, with the sound of muuuuuuuusic." I can picture you in a flowy dress and a white Battenburg lace cap with braided hair and an apron walking down a flower-crested hill with a pail of fresh goat's milk! So when do you get the tattoo, LOL??????

    Mom said you're not a fan of wine. Bobby will be so disappointed!!! Until next time........... Love, Marcy

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  4. VICKY!!!!!! im so happy your having a good time in FRANCEEE. I MISS YOUR EMAILS. we shall talk for 3000000000 hrs straight with kiki and rachel. we miss you a lot.

    LOVE YA MORE ( and wish i was there in france with ya)
    Sammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

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  5. omg that went first comment of mine went through!!! Yay. we miss you... again.

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  6. Are champignon Mushrooms or "Champion Pigeons"? I can't remember? I like yogurt and Milk too.
    The food sounds unbelievable!
    How cold does it get there?

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