Tag Archives: school

The perfect paella party

Posted on by Richard
3

As I mentioned last week, Saturday saw the annual Paella Night in Foussais-Payre, organised by the school. Its another one of those occasions that really brings the school community together to help prepare for and produce a great nights entertainment.

We gladly volunteered to help get the room set up for the night. The teachers all work really hard at these events and it’s only fair that we help out where we can. Plus it would be a great opportunity to have more of a chat with some of the other parents there. We must keep practicing our french!  So the whole family went along in the afternoon armed with scissors and selotape to transform the empty hall into a seaside extravaganza!
Paella night
The afternoon was a frenzy of cutting, stapling and sticking with everyone pitching in to create a blue and white seaside ambience. The tables had candles in sea-shells and Lisa helped to make some little paper boats to sit alongside them. There were balloons to blow up and a fishing net to mount on the wall. There was even a full-sized sail from a windsurfer that took its place at the front of the hall.  I had the slightly dangerous job of climbing onto the wobbly steps to secure said sail and to tie up the balloons. Luckily I escaped unscathed and without any broken bones – quite a result for me! :)
Paella night

It was a really good afternoon, topped off after a while by everyone retiring to the kitchen where those in charge of preparing the nights feast were cracking open the wine.  Never ones to shy away from a chance to socialise over un peu du vin, we joined in and met some really great folks. Of course we were far too polite to refuse a second glass, and the sangria just had to be tried. And how could we risk incurring the wrath of the locals by not sampling the red wine too?

All in all a very pleasant afternoon. Luckily we had walked down to the hall so the walk stagger home again helped to sober us up :)

Well aware that we probably wouldn’t be eating any time before 11pm, and mindful of the fact that the wine would once again be flowing, we had something to eat while we watched Strictly Come Dancing. If only we knew how the disco was going to be later we could have taken notes….

The do started at 8.30, so of course we got there for 8.30 and of course we were virtually the first people there. One day we will learn…

There were 8 tables, each with people assigned to them. We were  on the table closest the dance floor (they must have known…) with Nathalie & Thierry. Molly and Rosie were with us at the table, but Joe was able to have his meal early with the rest of the children on a special table at the front. This was very handy as it meant that he could eat with his friends before they all went off to another room for fun and games while the adults enjoyed the rest of the night in peace :)

Paella night

With the kids safely off being entertained, we helped tidy away their tables and chairs and then it was time for the evening to kick off properly. The bar was open – more sangria anyone? – and the crowds gathered. We did feel a little out of it at first as we had arrived so early and established outselves at the table it felt odd to move and plant ourselves in the middle of the crowd at the bar just so we could try to join a conversation. We have come a long way in terms of being able to chat socially with people, but when in a crowd it is still really hard for us to keep up. So we hung back this time, slightly disappoiinted in ourselves, but promising that we would be more confident by the next event.

Our predictions proved correct as it was around 11pm by the time the food started appearing. We started with a lovely spicy onion soup, with croutons and cheese sprinkled on top. Delicious! This was followed by the main event – the paella. None of us had tried paella before, but we all like rice, chicken (apart from Lisa, being a veggie) and mussels. So it really wasn’t a surprise to find that we really liked it. The big prawns were a first, having only previously encountered them devoid of head, legs, tail etc. Nathalie gave me a quick lesson on how to eat them – essentially just pulling them to pieces to reveal the tasty meat in the middle. This turned out to be a rather messy task, falling under my “too much hard work for too little reward” heading of foods. But enjoyable all the same.

Paella night
The whole thing was washed down with a very pleasant bottle of rosé, which once again confirmed our belief that drinking from really small glasses doesn’t make you drunk. :)

We could have had as much paella as we could eat I think – there was plenty left on our dish and extras were being offered around all the tables, without too many takers it seemed. Paella is very filling!  After all this came a lovely traditional apple tart with a slab of cheese (om nom nom nom…). All topped off with a coffee.

Suberb value once again for €9 each adult and we can’t fault the organisation. Everyone chipped in to help in some way – serving. clearing plates, washing up…. A great community event and we really enjoyed the chance to sit and chat with people.

Once the tables were cleared the disco began in earnest.

We hadn’t experienced a french disco before and therefore were unsure what to expect in the way of music. As it turns out it was, shall we say, an ecclectic mix! It ranged from The quickstep to “Achy Breaky Heart”…from traditional accordian music to “Tainted Love”, with Billy Ray Cyrus and Soft Cell being just about the only 2 recognisable sounds out of 2 hours of music 80s-style euro-pop.

It seemed to hit all the right spots with the locals though as most seemed to have a well coreographed dance for pretty much every tune that came up. We had never seen anyone jiving, waltzing or line-dancing to so many different styles of music before. It was very entertaining!

We basically danced for the rest of the night. Well, by “we” I obviously mean Lisa, Joe and I. The girls, being the ages that they are, could not bring themsleves to get up and dance at all. Granted the music wasn’t really very inspiring for them, but they did look funny sitting there sith their arms folded and their best bored faces on all night :)   Meanwhile we danced the night away with Nathalie, until we got to the point where the kids were just about asleep at around 1.30am. We wearlily dragged ourselves off the dancefloor and back home to bed for a big sleep and a long lay-in!

What a great day we had had. the afternoon had been an ideal way to meet some new people and for them to learn a bit more about these crazy english folks who keep turning up. And the evening was a huge success. We are now looking forward to the next event – we’d better get our line-dancing lessons booked!

A successful rentrée

Posted on by Richard
4

Nope, this is not about the re-entry of the space shuttle, or the latest X-Factor contestant who has come back for another shot at 10 minutes of fame….

No, la rentrée is the start of school term, a time that elsewhere has no special name, but here is a huge national event. For the last few weeks, every shop in town has been advertising items for “La rentrée” at special prices. Everywhere you turn there have been bags, coats, shoes, pens, pencils, set-squares, pads, paper, folders…. all waiting for families to arrive with their lists of required items and to scoop them by the arm-full into their baskets. As it is generally the case that, certainly for secondary schools, pupils need to provide pretty much everything in terms of stationery, it is really a huge undertaking to get prepared.

We paid a visit to our local Leclerc last week to stock up. With the two girls both at college this year, it was a somewhat costly trip, with each subject often requiring a pack of paper, a folder, several dividers, certain pens and pencils etc. The poor kids lugging their bags into school on the first day all looked like they needed pack-horses to carry their equipment around for them. Fortunately at the girls’ school they have a desk where they sit for most of their lessons, so they can store most items in there.

As for the first day back, it was a staggered affair. On Tuesday Molly and Joe returned. It was a big day for Molly, starting college after the small and sheltered St. Antoine. She seemed quite happy about it, although you can never quite tell with Molly as she does tend to keep her feelings hidden. We arrived at the college for about 7:45am, and we could tell straight away that we were rather early. At least we weren’t the ONLY people there, but it was very quiet. As 8:00am came and went we started to wish we had re-read the letter about the arrangements. We had left Rosie and Joe at home and Joe had to be at school for 9, and, at this rate, we wouldn’t be back in time. One of the teachers came over and explained that they were actually starting at 9am today. Oops! So, Lisa drove back home to get joe ready and take him to school and I stayed with Molly. Not quite the relaxed morning we had in mind!

In the end, the bell rang and all the new pupils said their goodbyes to the attending parents and lined up in their groups. The tutor for each group came out to greet their pupils. Molly’s was one of the english teachers (i.e. she’s french but she teaches english) who seemed really nice. After going along the line of children and saying bonjour, they all trooped in and that was that! Molly seemed fine going in. She was with Melonie, another girl from her old class in St Antoine, so she already new someone which was good for her.

Back in Foussais, Lisa took Joe into school. By all accounts he ran off and started playing with his friends as if he had never been away, which was very encouraging. Everyone is so friendly at the school and were very pleased to see everyone back again. Coffee and brioche was on offer to welcome the parents and the classrooms had all been spruced up for the new term.

So, with 2 children safely deposited at school, Lisa picked me up and we returned home, hoping that all went well and the last 9 months of french immersion would have helped them start the new term with confidence.

And seemingly it did. Molly came out smiling and chatting about her day. Her tutor is very nice and everything went very well by the sounds of it. And Joe came out with his usual confidence, more than happy to be back and enjoying being with all his friends again. Definitely a good start!

Then we just had Rosie, who started today for half a day. Molly was due in for the morning too, so they both went in on the bus together. It was a real strain waking up at 6.30am again. We realised yesterday that, with the age differences being as they are, we will have to do this every day for at least the next 7 years. Not a good thought!  But at least the girls got up and sorted without any fuss. Rosie was, we think, looking forward to being in cinqieme, a she will be allowed in the main playground (sixieme students have their own area) and will have the chance to mix with older children. As she should really be in the year above (we enrolled her into the year below to give her chance to get up-to-speed on her french) she has been with much younger girls and I think she missed the company of older teenagers. So we drove them down to the bus in the half-light of the morning. It is a bit depressing to think that it won’t get any lighter in the morning for another 6 months now :( . The bus came and off they went. 3 out of 3 delivered correctly!

At lunch time the girls came back and I think Rosie’s start was a success as well. She too seemed very happy with her day and, most importantly, she has a good timetable on Friday. It’s VERY important to have good things on a friday aparrently…

And so it begins – our first full school year in france. It has certainly been a different start to when we first arrived last December. Although the kids all coped admirably back then, they have all started this time with so much confidence and we feel very happy knowing that they are now in a position to be able to ask for help or explain their problems without getting upset due to a total lack of language. 

Lets see what the rest of the term brings!

Lisa in the news

Posted on by Richard
4

Yesterday saw the delivery of the weekly bundle of publicity leaflets. Most people have a little sign on their postboxes saying “pas de pub” – no junk mail essentially, but as certain members of the family like their shopping (and here’s a clue…it’s not me! ;) ) we allow them to be delivered.

Now, normally they are just the usual Hyper U, E Leclerc brochures, with various other random things stuffed inbetween. But this week they were accompanied by the Foussais-Payre bulletin – a kind of village magazine that comes out every 3 months or so (i think). It describes what has been going on in the village, the different comings and goings on the coouncil etc. All the usual stuff.

But what delighted us, and especially Lisa, was that on the page describing the events that had taken place at St Antoine, was this little piece:

How nice that the school are enjoying Lisa’s Monday afternoon visits. I know she looks forward to it as that’s just what she loves doing.

St Antoine Kermesse – a feast of food and fun

Posted on by Richard
3

So to continue the tale of our hectic weekend, on Sunday we had the Kermesse for Molly & Joe’s school, St Antoine. A Kermesse is basically an end-of-term summer fair, although, unlike the ones we used to have in England, this one seemed to be more focussed on the community coming together and the children entertaining them, rather than bombarding us with a-hundred-and-one stalls selling corn dolls and peg-bags. Thank goodness!

We arrived way too early, of course. One day we will get it right and arrive with everyone else….  It was another beautiful day, which was fortunate as the night before we had had the most enormous thunderstorm. It had apparently been rumbling around for a while, but when it landed on top of our house at 3am I thought the roof was going to cave in. Thankfully we survived the onslaught and the morning was fresher, but still nice and warm.

Kermesse 2008The lunch was served in the Salle Polyvalente near the church and the Hotel de Ville. We queued for our meal and spotted our dear old neighbours at a table. It was so nice to see them there and most unexpected – we have never seen them anywhere other than round the houses.

The meal was great value – €10 got us a a large punnet of moules, and one full of gorgeous chips (you can’t beat deep-fried chips…), as well as a slice of bread, some cheese, a big slice of tarte aux pommes and a glass of rosé . The moules were the best we had tasted and the adults polished them all off. The kids filled up mainly on chips, as they do, so I ended up finishing their moules off, but nothing went to waste. They had clearly over-catered as well as they were coming round offering second-helpings to anyone who wanted them. By the end of the meal, topped off with a coffee, we were all pretty well stuffed and ready for a siesta!

Sadly a siesta was not on the menu as the kids had all headed off to the school to prepare for the “Spectacle“. When they returned they all looked so sweet dressed in their costumes. The school takes children from as young as 3, so there were all ages there, right up to Molly, who will be 11 this week (although she is in a year below her age in order to catch up on her french). Each class did a number of songs and dances on the theme of the environment. It was a wonderful show and, once again, we were so proud to see our two taking full part in it. Joe even had to say a line of a poem on his own and I’m sure no-one would have known he wasn’t french just by listening to him.  Interestingly, Molly looked really pretty in her “designer” dress made from recycled tin cans!

After the show, the stalls were opened and it was time to spend money :)     It was a good arrangement whereby the children could buy tickets on a piece of string and would trade the tickets for turns on the different stalls. There was a bouncy-castle, a football shoot-out, a fishing lucky dip, a wheel of fortune and a cake stall. Of course this was supplemented by a well-frequented bar as well…   We had turns on pretty much everything, winning various hats, t-shirts and other random prizes. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and as usual the atmosphere was so relaxed and friendly.

After a while it was time to draw the raffle. We had our eye on the gas barbecue – ours is still at my parents’ house as we didn’t have room to bring it when we moved over. If we could win one here it would save them having to bring it in the car next time they drove over. But sadly it was not to be. At school the next day they dished out the “lesser” prizes and we won a bowl and some salad servers – a nice accompaniment to a barbecue…if we had one.

The night was going to continue for a long time to come, but our gang were again getting a little restless by now, having spent all their money and bounced themselves silly, so we headed home.

It had been a really wonderful weekend and we really got the feeling that we were part of a great community, something we have never truly felt before. Here’s to many more weekends like this!

Musique, musique, musique

Posted on by Richard
2

Wow, what a jam-packed weekend that was! to make it easier, I’ll split our festivities into separate posts…

As I mentioned previously, Friday was Fete de la Musique day in Foussais. We wandered down to the garden behind the church, where it was all going to happen, and got ourselves established. It was a beautiful evening, the sun was still strong and there was not a cloud in the sky. The evening kicked off with a lady playing the accordion, joined by what I assumed to be her pupils – one on the accordion and one on the flute. They played a few tunes and the pupils did very well. I imagine the accordion is deceptively tricky to learn, what with it being side-ways-on and all that squeezing in and out – seems like a lot to remember to me.

Fete de la Musique 2008Then came the kids from Gaston Goulard, the ecole publique. They did several numbers, all unaccompanied, and performed admirably. Some of them were really getting into the swing of it and were jigging along without any worries. Then they were joined by some of the children from St Antoine, including Joe, to sing a song that really confused the audience by singing alternate verses loud then quiet. Each time the quiet verse came around everyone thought they had finished and started clapping!

Then the GG kids left and the rest of the St Antoine children, including Molly, joined the “stage”. They were accompanied on the guitars by Joe’s teacher Nathalie and her guitar teacher in an anglo-french version of “Do-Re-Mi” from the Sound of Music. Lisa had leant Nathalie the DVD of the film a while ago to help her in getting the pronunciation right – the only word they struggled with was “so”, pronouncing it “soo”, but apart from that they were spot-on.

They then went on to treat us to a couple of songs that had featured in last month’s Chante-Mai, “Oh Eh Hein Bon” and “TGV”, both very catchy numbers that had the audience singing and clapping along. The kids were brilliant and we were very proud of them. it was especially nice that we had Lisa’s mum and sister with us so they could see the kids performing, something the family will miss out on very often now we are so far away.

The evening then progressed with a choir from, shall I say, the older generation in the village. I’m not sure what they were singing about, but they made quite a lovely sound and did quite a long session. The crowd were really getting into it by the end, swaying in time to the music and joining in with the chorus – great to see.

By the time the choir had finished, our troops were getting restless, so Lisa took her mum and sister plus Rosie home, while I satayed for a while so Molly and joe could play with their friends. it was such a nice atmosphere, as it always is at these events. The kids all got on and played without getting up to too much mischief and the adults could all relax and enjoy a drink on the grass.

While they played a young lad with another accordion played several songs. I have to say that I think it;s great that there was so much music on show, but the accordion did start to drag on a little bit – reminiscent of the flamenco guitar from the Stevenage concert.  Thankfully the accordion was soon replaced by a chap singing some folky kind of songs, accompanied very well by a guy with a guitar.  He sang a few songs, then made way for a 3-piece combo of keyboard, flute and some other instrument which I can’t remember now…perhaps an oboe. But they were very good, and nicely turned out in matching costumes too!

Once they had finished it was about time to head off. Joe had already been picked up in the car, so Molly and I walked back home. It was still a lovely long, warm night and it was a really nice way to end a very pleasant day.