Boys + Cars = Happiness

I know this might seem like a shocker to anyone who knows me well, but I took the boys to a car museum for our field trip today, and I actually loved it! Now...before anyone starts thinking that my brain has become warped after spending every day with two tween-age boys, allow me to introduce you to the Château de Rochetaillée-sur-Saône. (Refer to the bit of loveliness above...)

As the original structure was built in the 1100s, I figured that a visit to the current building (reconstructed over hundreds of years after fires and floods and plagues and who knows what else beginning in the 1500s) would fall in line nicely with our current history lessons of knights and castles and feudalism. I have to say, the building was absolutely stunning. Of course, seeing cars dating back to 1890, many of which are the only models of their kind in the world, was also quite impressive! And, as always, the best part was seeing how much fun the boys had as we discovered all sorts of quirky things in the collection. Here's a sampling of some of what the château-turned-automobile-palace had to offer. I admittedly liked the oldest things the most--including bikes and buggies...But the quirky 20th Century variety were also fun!

This car was calling my name--
we even matched!

Apparently tricycles can be
for adults too!

We couldn't decide which tandem was
cooler: the side-by-side...

...or perhaps the 3-seater! (Enhanced,
of course, by some antiquing...)

Seeing these seriously makes me want to get one.

And I really always wanted to
ride one of these!

If the Jetsons had a car...

Not sure what this was--Smart Car prototype?

What boy didn't want to be a fireman
when he grew up?

I hope you're not pictured out yet, because there was one last surprise that we came across. Even though the founder of the museum was actually arrested by Nazis in 1942 (and subsequently released--he lived to the ripe old age of 100), his collection actually had a real piece of Hitler's personal entourage.

You can't really tell, but there were even bullet holes in several of the windows. Unfortunately, the little explanation posters didn't give us any clues as to what might have happened...

We also came across some bits of local Lyon history, like the original "funiculaire" from 1900--basically an uphill trolley/bus. And having been on the current car they use for the funiculaire, I have to say that the wood-panelling on this lovely creature is sadly lacking in its modern counterpart.

But, all in all, this was one of the best social studies trips to date! History, castles, old things with beautifully rusty parts--what more could you ask for?

Puppets Don't Have To Be Creepy

Yes, there is a face in his stomach...

...but let's face it--sometimes, they are! Not to be deterred by the stereotype, however, I recently took the boys to a local marionnette museum. Lyon is particularly proud of their history of puppetry, having their own version of Punch and Judy that cropped up in the early 1800's. The nationally famous Guignol (pronounced gee-nyol with a hard "g") originally came about as a way for discontented Lyonnais to vent frustrations about politics and other heated issues. Strange, then, that the only audience these shows currently attract tends to be under the age of four...

Can you tell it has 2 heads?
Once again...a little weird

After exploring various historical bits of the puppet world from devils to skeletons to nativity scenes, we finally came across Guignol himself! He's the nondescript, snub-nosed brown fellow--second from the left.

Guignol with the devil at his back

He may not be much to look at, but hey--at least he won't give anyone nightmares! I have to admit that there is something truly uncanny about walking through a museum filled with human-like wooden puppets--many of which were dangling half suspended in their cases.

And of course, no field trip on puppets would be complete without actually seeing a puppet show! Now, here is the rather funny part of this experience...I knew that a puppet show would be likely to attract a young audience, but figuring that it would be a good opportunity for the boys to practice French, I decided we'd go anyway. Well...I underestimated how exclusively young the audience would be! Aside from the parents, the tiny puppet theater audience probably had an average age of 4--driven up just slightly by the ages of my own pupils! The boys were good sports about it, though. And watching the kids interact with the puppets was honestly the best part! These kind of shows encourage audience participation, and those little kids were practically dictating the plot the whole time when they weren't all but rolling on the floor with giggles. It was actually fantastic. :) Although it's in French, check out the clip to see what kind of mad house we got ourselves into!

Bonne Année

After spending two weeks in snowy Utah with my family, it was a bit of a let-down to come back to France and find the world burdened by rain and fog without a single snowflake in sight. As our plane descended towards the Lyon airport, I was mystified by the whitish gray sea covering everything below with only a glimpse of Mont Blanc bordering the shrouded landscape. It didn't seem like a good omen. When I asked my taxi driver if there might be some snow soon, he unknowingly crushed my hopes by saying that snow is somewhat rare in this area of the country. What is boring January without some snow to make it lovely?

The view from our school window

So, imagine my little-kid-at-Christmas delight when I woke up to snow this morning! It's only a couple inches, but it's still BEAUTIFUL! :) Unfortunately, getting snow in an area where the locals consider it a rarity means that leaving the house to drive anywhere is really not a safe option...which of course didn't stop the Roneys from packing up the boys and driving to the airport to pick up missionaries this morning. What would have been a two-hour trip has apparently become a day-long adventure! Not to worry, though--that just gives me some time to tell you all about a rather interesting quirk I've recently noticed in French culture: the "bonne année voeux" (new year's best wishes).

In the U.S., we might wish someone a happy new year at midnight for a New Year's Eve party or in conjunction with Merry Christmas or perhaps on New Year's Day. But beyond that, we essentially ignore the best wishes and move on after the holiday season almost immediately--perhaps in an attempt to keep all of our new resolutions barreling forward. Not so in France. Apparently, it's perfectly normal to wish someone a happy new year throughout the entire month of January as long as it's the first time you've seen them since the holidays. But it doesn't stop there--wishing someone a happy new year is like opening a door for all the best wishes you could possibly dump into their lap--health, happiness, true love, wisdom, wealth--you name it! While part of me feels charmed by the idea of sincerely wishing others well, part of me is a bit confused to suddenly be at the receiving end of multiple drink-free toasts. It ultimately makes January much more interesting. :)

The Strangest Dream

Last night I had the strangest dream--no, I didn't sail away to China in a little row boat, but I was on plane flying very low over Nice. It was a commercial plane and yet we somehow managed to fly only 20 feet above the street and I was able to see all the highlights of the city from my impossibly large window. I think it was a sign that I need to blog about my brief trip to the French Riviera before all of my memories go to waste!

Apparently, taking the ACT outside of the U.S. can be a complicated thing--only a few select international schools offer it, and as the nearest one to Lyon was in Nice, Kaedon and I headed out on a 24 hour adventure! After depositing Kaedon safely at his testing site, the taxi driver drove me into the heart of the city, pointing out castle-like resorts (such as Queen Victoria's favorite vacation hideaway) along the way. Pretty much any city along the Riviera is fairly ritzy, and Nice is definitely a rather fancy place: luxury shopping, beautifully

bright-colored buildings, more Christmas decorations strung throughout the streets than I ever saw in Lyon, and, of course, the mind-blowingly blue Mediterranean! I know this will sound like a tourist brochure, but Nice is absolutely worth discovering no matter what you like in a city! The old town had these delightfully poky old streets packed with quirky boutiques and interesting restaurants while the shopping district was centered around enormous plaza areas lined with palm trees. And of course, the beach was incredible--and as it was only around 50 degrees, it was safely free of scantily-clad swimmers. :)

Switchback staircase--code:
Awesome!!

To contextualize it for all of my American pals, imagine L.A. with several hundred more years of history (and minus the whole Hollywood thing) and you'll be just about spot-on to the feel of Nice. And since almost nothing gets me more excited than a bunch of old stuff, I absolutely loved it!

Lighting Up the City

I love Christmas time. Just like Dickens says, it seems to be one of those special times that people "open their shut-up hearts freely" and try to think of others a little differently. But in addition to the special feeling, I love the sounds, smells, tastes, and sights of Christmas, and in particular, I love the lights. Being from Utah, I'm used to seeing every house lit up with tiny lights and have seen the incredible lights on Temple Square countless times. So, I had fairly high expectations for Lyon's own Fête des Lumières (festival of lights).

There are several legends and traditions tied up in this festival--all of them in some way linked to the Virgin Mary. According to some, she saved the city from the plague whereas others state that she saved them from the Prussians. Any way you slice it, December 8th attracts millions of people to the streets of Lyon each year. Unfortunately, I was in Nice that day...but--to regulate some of the traffic, the festival has been extended to the days preceding the actual celebration! So, joining with a few pals, I set off to investigate two days earlier when the crowds were nowhere near as insane (rumor has it it was impossible to move in the entire downtown area, because there were literally wall-to-wall people).

I have to admit...I was initially a bit disappointed. While there were a fair amount of lights strung up between buildings, I didn't see much to convince me that Lyon's fête was really all that. That was, of course, until we came across this:

This small clip is only a fraction of the entire show; it went on for at least seven minutes! I couldn't believe how awesome it was to watch the cathedral transformed into an amazing display of moving lights. Turns out they did shows like this in other areas of the city, too--but I didn't know until it was too late to pass by... Furthermore, when we were negotiating the insane metro after travelling from Nice the night of the main event, I was inspired to see apartment windows lit up with small candles--a tradition only broken out for December 8th. Lesson learned? Brave the crowds next year and see more of the awesome light shows... In the meantime, I still got to enjoy the Christmas lights hanging all over the city and even in our charming little Ecully. The French really do know how to do Christmas right! :)

Light and Color

As I've already mentioned in a previous post, I love visiting cathedrals on sunny days to see how the gray walls are painted with color from the stained glass windows. It fills me with an incredible sense of wonder that people in abject poverty and who lived in a period that we commonly consider "dark" could create brilliantly beautiful masterpieces. It's ultimately a testament to the light that always has existed in all of us--even when life isn't as beautiful as it could be.

The other day, as the sun finally broke through what seemed like weeks of fog, I took the boys to la Cathédrale St. Jean. I believe it's the oldest of Lyon's many churches and it has some beautiful stained glass high up on its towering walls. After prepping them on what to look for--the design of the windows and the way they capture and change light--I couldn't have been more pleased by their reaction as we entered the ancient doors. They immediately ran towards a patch of multi-colored light, their faces filled with wonder. Each window after that and each ray of pink and blue and green sunlight dancing around the gray walls was awe-inspiring--and I experienced that indescribable joy of sharing something I loved with an audience that truly appreciated it as well. It was one of those moments every teacher prays for.

We also stumbled across a clock housing a chime from the 14th century--and it was only there that the boys were distracted enough for me to catch the looks of wonder for once. Check it out!

You'll have to imagine the wonder
on his face...

It looked a lot like this! :)

We followed up our outing by making some stained glass of our own out of colored tissue paper framed with black construction paper. All in all, it was definitely the most successful field trip to date! (And a fun art project too...!)

A Fascinating Tale

Once upon a time, there was a young woman who created a blog, developed a modest following, and then inexplicably allowed the blog to fall into a state of neglect. What, you may ask, lead to such abandonment? To be honest, no one could be sure--even I myself, the recounter of this odd tale, have been mulling over the potential reasons during the entire period of said blog's dormancy. It is supposed, however, that the young woman was simply feeling uninspired... But, enough of the silliness! Allow me to catch you up on some of the recent happenings!

               An International Thanksgiving

Aside from Independence Day, there is probably no holiday more completely American than Thanksgiving--not necessarily because it's a time of eating more food than is good for you, but because it embodies centuries (yes, we really can claim at least that much history!) of unique and even religious tradition and American points-of-view. So it may seem odd that to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, the Roneys invited two Australians, a Canadian,

and a sort-of Frenchman (it's a long story) to join us! However, that provided an excellent opportunity for me to get the boys to prep a brief lesson on the history of Thanksgiving! It made my teacher heart glow to listen to them as we stuffed ourselves with the biggest (24 pounds, almost didn't fit in the oven) turkey I've ever seen.

Fall Goes Out in a Blaze of Glory

I recently discovered a very interesting quirk related to, of all things, French lawn care and groundskeeping. For whatever reason, no one seems inclined to rake leaves. At least, that is how things went in our little town of Ecully. As a result, the narrow roads were lined with mounds of bright yellow and orange leaves and the still-green grass was positively carpeted with blazing colors.

And while I don't know how good that can be once it snows and everything under the white blanket decays, it was simply lovely to look at!

Snow Falls Near Spare Oom

We finally got our first real snowfall of the season last week. It came down in huge, fluffy flakes while we cozily sat inside and worked on our lessons for the day. Unfortunately, it didn't last terribly long. Regardless, I still got a very Narnian picture out of it before rain melted all the snow away!

My Dungeon Becomes More Homey

Remember how I live in the affectionately named "dungeon room"? Well, the longer I've been here, the more I've been able to add a little bit of loveliness to my living quarters. I thought I'd just give you all a little peek so you wouldn't imagine me living in the boring, all-white room I first showed you. Now I just have to figure out how to spruce up that lamp shade!

We Have a Variety of Adventures

Unfortunately for you curious people, this last section is actually just a teaser for my upcoming blog posts (and yes, there will be many!). In summary, here's what to look for!

*The most successful field trip thus far

*Everything gets illuminated

*I spend a lovely day near the deep blue sea

And as for that fascinating tale that started this post, well...I have no intentions of abandoning the blog again! :)