Today and yesterday have been full of farewells and bonne continuation's (the French have a "bon" something for everything, bonjour, bonsoir, bonne fin de la semaine, bon appétit!)... and consequently goodbye presents! It's been very nice of them, but where am I going to put it all!?!
Yesterday, I went over to the Rocheblave's like I do every Sunday. However, yesterday was my special lunch date with them before Julien left for Germany. I went over about noon and hung out with the kids while Luc went to pick up fresh bread from the boulangerie (because what would lunch be without du pain??) and Corinne set up the table outside in the backyard. I brought over 3 CD's I had burned for each of the kids as my going away present to them. They were sooooo excited! They all took turns listening to their CD's on the family stereo... dancing and running around, generally being crazy because they had American music on a CD. It was pretty cute lol. Lucie, especially, was just glowing she was so happy to have Justin Bieber, Shakira, and Katy Perry on the same CD :) I also got a little going away present- a pretty shirt Corinne picked out and had me try on for them. It fit and I love it:)
When it was finally lunch time, we all sat out in the beautiful sunshine and blue sky for apéritifs (radishes, chips, and Marseillais drinks for the adults). For lunch, we had BBQ- which for them is not hamburgers and hotdogs, but sausages, steak, and kebabs (I think my iron should be about normal after all I ate hehe). Besides a few chorizo type sausages, they also had a specialty Lyonnais sausage- an andouillette, which I later found out was tripe! Eek! But, although they tricked me into trying it, I think I liked it the best lol. It was pretty tasty! When I asked what I was eating, Corinne giggled and said, well, it's tripe... which is why I didn't really elaborate when I told you what it was called;) Tant mieux pour moi (all the better for moi)!
We also had asparagus (which they were shocked to find out I had eaten before... apparently it's native to the south of France and just grows naturally in the woods near where they used to live. Who knew?), mashed potatoes, salad, and bread. For dessert, they brought out this special box full of tiny pastries. Luc had picked it up at the bakery as well... and I finally understood why on earth boulangeries make such tiny pastry cakes and tarts. It is so you can try 3 or 4 really delicious creations without feeling too bad about yourself lol. There were 18 in total... and we split them amongst ourselves... only leaving 3 uneaten. The kids were so funny when I went to pick up a second one... saying... "Oooh Leendsay! Toi, t'es une gourmande!!" Which essentially means- you're fond of good food aren't you!! But, being a "gourmand" can also have the negative connotation of being greedy.... although I've never heard it used in that way. French people have this appreciation for other connoisseurs of good French food :)
After lunch, Corinne said: allez-up! Time for a walk! The girls got out their bikes and Julien stayed home to finish packing for his class trip to Germany. Corinne, Luc, and I walked along with the kids... chitchatting and enjoying the sun (who also seemed to be enjoying my pale winter skin- I'm a little sunburned today!). We did a little tour round Saint-Priest and came home for the afternoon gouté. I thought- ah! How? How do the French stay so skinny! It really doesn't make any sense. They have a croissant, yogurt, milk, coffee, and juice for breakfast. They have a small salad, fruit, vegetable, meat, cheese, bread, and dessert for lunch. They have a few cookies and a piece of fruit with tea or coffee in the afternoon. And then they have another meat, vegetable, bread, and dessert for dinner. The majority of them drink at least 1-2 glasses of wine per day and on days that you spend celebrating something, you drink something before the meal, with the meal, and after the meal. And yet- this country has very few people that could be categorized as obese or even overweight. I just read an article that French people are the skinniest of all Europe. Some of the teachers I work with are itty-bitty, but eat eat eat! So- I've decided it has to be genetic lol. There must be a French skinny gene (haha no pun intended). I guess it could also be what they eat and their portion sizes... but somehow it isn't quite panning out for myself. This mystery is still to be solved...
Anywho- after the girls were finished with their bread and nutella, I played memory with Lucie for a while and listened to a soccer match with Julien. Playing memory with Lucie was a hoot because we'd get down to 4 or 5 cards and realize none of them had matches because she had lost the pieces :) I took a picture of Corinne and Lucie which inspired Luc to take a picture of all of us with his camera and to print it out for me. I was invited to stay for dinner, but I decided I needed to get back to prepare for my last day with my Monday school. I waited until they took Julien over to the middle school to leave for his trip so they could take me home on their way back.
But who knew what an experience taking Julien on his first ever school trip would be? After we finally got everyone in the car, Luc drove at a snail's pace just to drive Julien nuts. He'd been freaking out all day about missing his bus, forgetting to pack something, having enough space on his camera to take pictures, etc. I cracked up laughing in the car as the rest of the family yelled, "Mais papa!!! C'est pénible!" (Dad! Why are you being so difficult!!) It was just like something my own dad would do;)
I figured we'd just let Julien hop out and get on the bus, but we parked and stood by all the other parents and kids waiting to be called to put their luggage on the bus. The kids would come around and give each other the double-cheek kiss, the parents would shake hands and kiss, parents who didn't know each other would nod and say enchanté- some of Julien's friends I had met before even gave me the double cheek kiss! Others asked if I was his big sister they'd never heard about. He'd explain, no no, it's just Leensay, and they'd go, oooh ok lol.
When Julien's name was called, he hugged his mom and dad, kissed his sisters and I goodbye, and went to put his luggage on the bus. Then he came back twice to hug his mom again, which was so cute... especially coming from the tallest of the 14-year-old boys there. I saw a few of my students running around and said hi to them and their parents. Julien came back panicked he had forgotten something, and finally- 30 minutes later, the bus was pulling away as parents were running around the bus trying to find their kid to wave au revoir. I could have sworn some mothers were tearing up! And they'll be gone all of 5 days in a country only 13 hours away! In all the band trips I've gone on (some to Florida which were 15 hours away), I've never, ever seen parents and kids display such emotion in parting. It was bizarre, but sweet... and I'm glad that I got to experience it:)
Today, I went to my Monday school for the last time. I set up my jeopardy games and had a great time with all the classes playing to review the material we had covered all year. In Sabine's class, they sang me a special song and presented me with thank you cards. In Carole's class, they presented me with cards and presents (one was a Lyonnais dictionary!). After the game, they passed out cups of juice and drank to my health and thanked me for my help this year (that was adorable). In Christelle's class, they wore red and pink for my last day. I guess because I made such a big deal about no one wearing red on Valentine's Day, they thought they could make up for it today! They also sang me a little song. In Sophie's class, they gave me a few presents (one is a 365 day French cookbook... which is awesome, but heavy!) and sang me Hello, Goodbye by the Beatles. In my CP class, when I asked how they were, they said, "I am... sad" because it was my last day:( And then we sang Jingle Bells one last time haha.
During my last lunch with my colleagues, they asked me all about what I'd be doing next year and opened a bottle of sparkling wine (also to drink to my health and wellbeing). I brought in thank you pencils and wrote them a card... and then they brought me out a big gift basket of things from this region. What lovely people! I said my goodbyes and out I went to pay my last bill at the cafeteria and walked my 3 big bags of stuff home!
Now I'm going to do some cleaning and maybe even attempt to go running/work out. I was reminded of my 5k yesterday by Luc and Corinne... who were shocked to find out I haven't been training at all! It's in less than a month! Yikes!
Reste cool:)
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