Life

You know it's funny, it doesn't matter where you are in the world, life goes on. We live in a beautiful French village. Live in a house built in the 1800s. Walk everywhere other than large grocery store runs and yet I still had to potty train Ruthie, Charlie doesn't want to go to school 40% of the time and Lily gets up in the middle of the night screaming her head off from time to time.

I feel like this time in our life is strangely magical. We get to go on amazing vacations during August breaks, our kids (at least the oldest 2) will learn to read, write and speak French and we get to eat fresh baguettes everyday. But Charlie and Ruthie still throw fits every once in awhile, Lily's molars are taking FOREVER to come through and they don't sell turkey anything here.

Life goes on.

Charlie is doing great in school. He of course has days he doesn't want to go but I think that stems from Ruthie being able to stay home and play. For a few weeks he insisted on wearing his tie to school everyday. He even started a little trend and all his buddies started wearing ties. It was super cute. I think he is picking up French pretty well and will start staying at school all day after the April break. He is such a caring, smart, tender hearted kid. It is amazing to think he might be 9 when we move back to the states!

Ruthie is her crazy, fun loving, servant self. She loves to help people, especially Lily who wants NONE of her help. She pretty much potty trained herself after she realized diapers were gone for good. I'm hoping she will potty train Lily for me. She is such a motherly little girl. She loves on everyone and wants to take care of them. She loves to give hugs. She starts school in September. I think she'll do great. She is a social little thing and loves to be with people. I cannot believe she'll be 7 when we move back!

Lily has grown a lot. She learned to walk in France. What a memory! In the Cathedral to be exact. Every Sunday she would practice walking up and down the sides of the church. She has started talking. She says: pease (please), dada, mama, arlie (Charlie), papa, ma (more), bye, dis (this), down and up. She'll still be home with me for a few more years. She may actually not even go to school here. It just depends on how long we stay. But she could potentially be almost 5 when we head back to the Greenville.

Here are some recent pictures of just everyday life for us in Clermont...

 The amount of fromage bleu (blue cheese) my children consume in a week is a bit disturbing/disgusting...

 

 Ruthie getting so big!! Can we say mini Annie?

 

 Charlie sporting a tie having a lunch date with dad after a morning at school.

 

 We always respect the trees..

 

 Being a third you're always along for the ride.

 

 Hanging out and playing after dropping Charlie off at school.

 

The kid's favorite part about France? The tram!

Multisport

Because our son is so talented and has an amazing amount of enthusiasm for life...I'm sorry I can't stop laughing...

Let's just say Multisport is a God send. It is a neat program that teaches kids 4-6ish about different sports. Charlie LOVES it. Not only because he gets to run around like a maniac but because one of his best friends here is in the program as well. Pray for the coaches. They're going to need it...

Charlie's first day of Multisport was this past Wednesday. When I picked him up he was red faced and had a huge smile! Success. They worked on rugby skills as well as tennis. Next time they will work on tennis again and basketball. He cannot wait to go back.

Charlie having a snack on our walk back from Multisport. He refused to look at the camera and smile...

Ruthie having a brioche au chocolat on the way to pick Charlie up from Multisport. She also refused to look at the camera. My kids...I tell ya...

Easter

It was still pretty cold on Easter Sunday this year so we had to do an inside Easter Egg hunt. That and we don't have a yard. Easter candy is a bit different here as well (read - ALL CHOCOLATE) so there wasn't much variety. It is also not a typical custom to have Easter baskets, a bunny or an egg hunt for that matter. Instead around here at Easter you'll see lots of chocolate fish, chickens, sea shells and an occasional bunny to appease the crazy Americans.

So before getting the kids up on Easter Sunday we hid some chocolate eggs around the apartment. When we got them up they starting hunting for them and were super excited.

We also had a bummer Easter Sunday meal BUT next year I will remedy that! I'm going to attempt leg of lamb (don't you dare hold me to that) and all the fixings (maybe). I'm still trying to figure out what in the world to cook here and how to cook it. Everything and I do mean EVERYTHING tastes a bit different/off here.

Checking out their eggs and other chocolate goodies from the Easter Bunny!

Riom

On a chilly, breezy kind of drizzly Sunday afternoon we decided to hop in the car and drive to Riom. It is only a 10 minute drive from Clermont. Since it was Sunday and this is the French country side NOTHING was open except the churches in the village. We did lots of window shopping and exploring.

St Nectaire and Montpeyroux

There are a lot of little villages anywhere from 5-30 km from Clermont Ferrand to go explore over the weekends. Two of the neatest ones we've seen are St Nectaire and Montpeyroux.

St Nectaire is known in this region of France for their cheeses. They've been making cheese since the 17th century. The village itself is tiny. We toured a the church - St Nectaire church, built in the 12th century, which was beautiful on the inside and out. It is positioned on top of a steep hill and seems to watch over the little village below. After walking through the church we found a little bakery and had pain au chocolat, crossaints and a almond cookie they are known for there.

 View of the village from the church.

 



 Exploring the outside of the church.

 

Inside of St Nectaire Church.

 The church on top of the hill.

 

Snack time.

Montpeyroux is a village about 20 km from Clermont. It is by far my favorite village we've visited so far. It is in the countyside and was so beautiful and quiet. Much different from living right in the middle of the city like we do currently. You are not allowed to drive into the village so you have to park on the outskirts. There was a village flea market going on in a grassy area outside of the village and then as we walked around the actually village. Some of the residents had tables pulled and out and were selling things as well. It was such a charming village. Charlie and Ruthie found some stone steps to jump off of and Charlie ended up getting hurt. A super nice French lady ran into her house and got him some bandaids. The French are so nice!! Here are some pictures from the day...

Proof! It is one of the most beautiful villages in France.

A typical road/highway sign in France.

The view of the mountains outside of the village.

Snack time and a jumping off point.

Someone's backyard. Drool.

A quiet street.

All of the doors and window shutters had these hearts cut out.

A salt box for the snow. The village was straight up a hill.

 

We will definitely be visiting this village again and again. Next time I want to look at the artists shops and see if we can't come home with a painting of the region. Shhh don't tell Rick...