who, exactly, are my french family? why am i so blessed as to have real parisian relatives?
my grandmother, madeleine, was born and raised in paris. she came to the states with my grandfather in the 1950s, and now lives in newton, massachusetts. her sister, jeannette, continues to live in france, right outside paris in a town called levallois. her daughter, micheline, would be my mother's first cousin. micheline also lives in levallois, not far from HER daughter, nathalie, and her family. nathalie and her husband roger (who is from martinique) have a twelve-year-old daughter, mathilde. (and an obese cat named cacaouette). that's four generations of the same family, all within walking distance of each other!
these wonderful (somewhat distant) relations have adopted me as another member of their family. that's how i ended up spending a glorious weekend in the french countryside.
late friday night, i arrived with nathalie, roger, mathilde and a distraught cacaouette chez eux. they own a typical norman house in a tiny village called beaumont-le-roger (the closest city is rouen - where joan d'arc was burned at the stake). this architectural style is typical of norman houses.
on saturday, we went to "balader" (walk around) in the area. our destination? the sixteenth-century abbaye notre dame du bec-hellouin.
the man in white is a monk giving a tour; obviously the monastery is still in use.
some family photos in front of the abbey...
the village was très mignonne aussi!!
the next morning, mathilde and i made quiches and other delicious things!
(then my camera battery ran out, so no more pictures.)
some neighbours came over for lunch, and i practiced my french with them. this weekend did amazing things for my fluency and comprehension. i also ate escargot for the first time!
tonight i'm leaving to visit another part of france, a small city called besançon. my program is doing a week-long homestay with a family. more updates next week!!
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