No, I have NOT dropped off the face of the Earth, but I have been busy. We had a lovely visit with Tony and Dilys, I survived parent-teacher conferences, and I'm almost on vacation. However, I do not have the strength to blog tonight - I need to sleep! I promise a nice long post in the next couple of days.

Joyeuses fêtes à tout le monde!

I am sitting at school in an entirely empty teacher's room - today is the day of the big teachers' strike. I am, however, not the only prof in school today. I have no idea of the exact numbers - maybe fifty-fifty? The lunch room was quite empty, too - not even a full table of high school teachers. It is so fascinating to be part of this process.

Only fifteen out of twenty-four students showed up for my first period class. Their classmates noted that since most of their classes were cancelled they had probably just decided not to come. They were supposed to have a quiz and learn some new material but, no point ... I fell back on my old standbys - Pictionary and Around the World. Of note is that today was the first time my students have asked if we could play a game all year.

My other classes, however, were mostly filled - just three or four absent in each. Still, to me it seemed that there was a bit of an "ambiance de fête" here today; in fact, it felt rather like a normal American classroom just before the holidays.

One interesting thing is that I have seen Monsieur le Proviseur almost as frequently today as I have for the entire year. He was in the teacher's room first thing this morning, came into the lunchroom to get someone this afternoon, and is just generally visible. I think I have seen him in the hallways twice. He is supposed to check on the teachers, I think, and find out who's here. Fascinating that the day he is most visible is the day nobody is here to see him.

A bunch of students, some of whom were mine, were sitting in the hallway just now, bored because they don't have class. I got out "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and "The Nutcracker" and read to them. It was a lot of fun. I think M. le Proviseur thought I was crazy, though of course he told me to "continuer". I heard one of them, as I was walking away from her in the cour the other day (not one of my students but one I talk to) say, "Elle est trop cool, cette prof," Ouais!

This morning we awoke to not entirely cloudy skies. We had breakfast and then I drove over (all by myself - gasp!) to pick up Brannon. She threw a load of laundry in and off we went to the Port-en-Bessin market. The sun was in and out; altogether a beautiful day for the market. They were selling sapins de Noël - certainly a lot smaller than the ones we get at home and, call me a snob, neither as full nor as fragrant. We found some beautiful mushrooms which will contribute nicely to tomorrow's risotto dinner. I also bought some honey; the girls like it in their tea.

After the market we came home for lunch - omelettes à la Larry. I made some Chrismas cookie dough but didn't have time to bake it till this evening. (Christmas snowballs - they came out pretty well except crunchier than at home, whether because I overcooked them a tad or due to differences in ingredients, I'll see on Thursday when I make them again for Annika and Caroline's classes.) Around three we headed off to Bénédicte's house. She had some steaming crèpes waiting for us so we had a quick snack and then headed over to l'Université de Caen for a song and dance show. There were about thirty performers, all dressed in black. They did a wide variety of songs and dances in French, English, and German. They also read some letters based on memories of WWII in connection with Normandy. It was clearly a college production but very entertaining and well done for the most part. The girls enjoyed it, especially the Beatles medley at the end.

Now I need to do a little work before bed. Tony and Dilys arrive tomorrow; it will be a busy week for me. I'll do my best to find time to blog!

The past few days the weather has been relatively mild, as evidenced by the still green grass and the roses blooming in various places in town - anytime I forget I'm not in Maine I just have to look at the calendar then look out the window. This morning, however, we awoke to rain, rain, rain. Larry took the girls to school then we ran over to Champion to get some ice cream, have the security device removed from the Christmas CD I bought yesterday (you have to go to the accueil to have it done), and pick up a couple of last-minute gifts. Santa was there greeting the kids. Parents who had noted the times of Santa's visit and brought their cameras took pictures. A big difference from the U.S. - NO ONE was there with Santa trying to get you to buy a "professional" picture for twenty euros. As we left Larry and I mused on what would have happened if the girls had seen Santa - and he hadn't spoken English.

When we got back home it was still raining steadily. We resignedly climbed into the car and headed out to the market. I bought some Pommeau and a couple of bottles of wine in anticipation of our guests from England who will arrive on Monday. "Pourquoi est-ce qu'il pleut toujours les jours de marché?" I whined (pun intended) to my Pommeau guy. He agreed with me 100%. I feel like I'm going through market withdrawal - there have been fewer booths in this rainy weather and it's just not as fun. Even when the rain lets up the awnings drip on you, and negotiating some of the smaller aisles with an umbrella can be a challenge. C'est triste, quoi. We picked up the girls at school and headed home. After lunch (bread and cheese and a yummy fruit called kaki) we were pleased to note the sky was clearing. Off we headed to the Marché de Noël de Bayeux. On the way we saw a different Santa driving tourists around in a horse and buggy. "That's probably one of Santa's helpers," I told the girls. "The real Santa must be very busy right now." By the time we made it to the center of town we ran into Santa again - the carriage was parked by the Office de Tourisme. He was handing out sweets to the kids and, of course, allowing parents to take pictures. We took the girls' picture and nobody mentioned that he was speaking French ...

The Bayeux Christmas market was held in the parking lot in front of the Hôtel de Ville. It was a very small market with only a few booths set up. The Pommeau guy's wife was there and we chatted with her for a minute. Larry bought me a cup of "vin chaud" from a different stand which was quite yummy. There were quite a few craft booths, a crèpe booth, a honey booth, some jewelry booths, and of course pâté and champagne to get ready for the Christmas festivities.

After the Marché de Noël we went to the Médiathèque to see "Les Six Reines" (get the pun, Madeleine?), a children's show with stories and music. The group (consisting only of five queens unless there was someone backstage we never saw) did a fabulous job. Their musical instruments were varied - they changed from guitar to a giant bass to percussion instruments to horns to accordions, among other things. Their storytelling was good and their facial expressions highly entertaining. The girls thought it was a bit hard to understand (lots of passé simple, you know) but seemed to really enjoy it.

As we walked back home I felt truly elated. The late afternoon light on the trees and the spectacular glimpses of the cathedral as we made our way home, coupled with the warmth of the sun on our faces and the prospect of having only one week left till vacation made for a wonderful end of the day.

Now I am going to try to get a little work done. Tomorrow will be another fun but busy day; I need to get my preps done for next week tonight if I can.

Gros bisous à tout le monde.

My school hosts a "section norvegienne" - a group of female Norwegian students who come to le lycée for three years and take the BAC at the end. (I learned tonight that there is an equivalent section for Norwegian boys in Rouen,) Each year they organize a holiday party to which all their teachers, host families, and local dignitaries (a representative from the mayor's office, for example) are invited. We had the privilege of being invited even though I only have three Norwegian students in my classes.

At the beginning of the festivities, the students sang some Christmas songs in Norwegian, then they did some traditional dances. They were all dressed in traditional costumes as well. Norwegian specialties were served for dinner - foods that reminded Larry of his Danish family's cooking. Hearty rye bread, smoked salmon on bagel-like rolls, sliced smoked mutton, cheese, and dessert. (The wine was French!) It was "une bonne ambiance" and there were plenty of kids for the girls to play with. We sat with a couple, Michèle et Alain, who are philosophy teachers (Alain is retired). They were a lot of fun to talk to and invited us to come to their house sometime. Alain, as it turns out, was an exchange student in Baltimore with AFS many years ago and has a grandmother in Meudon. Le monde est petit! Michèle teaches at school and I think I'll ask her if I can observe one of her classes sometime - I'd really like to see un cours de philosophie.

We left before "le défilé de Saint Lucia" which everyone assured us was quite spectacular, but as the girls have school tomorrow and it was approaching ten o'clock we called it a night. Larry skunked me at cribbage and now we're off to bed. Tomorrow will be a big day - le marché de samedi, le marché de Noël à Bayeux ... we also may take the girls to a dance/song show for kids which is at 3 p.m. Sunday will be busy as well - we're going to take Brannon to the Port-en-Bessin market if it's a nice day, then we're going to a "spectacle" in Caen with Bénédicte. Then our friends Tony and Dilys will arrive on Monday and stay for a few days. It promises to be a very festive but busy week ahead. Fortunately I have done most (but not quite all) of my prep for the week. 144 photocopies left ... think I'll make it?

Walking to school today I had in my hand a bunch of Christmas cards to mail to French friends. French postal workers here ride around town on bicycles collecting and distributing mail; as I was walking one of them was approaching me from the opposite direction. "Vous voulez des lettres?" I asked him. He actually stopped and took them for me - c'est sympa, n'est-ce pas? Maybe la Poste isn't all bad!

Bonne nuit, les amis!