All those articles you've read about French school lunches...

After living in France for nearly 20 years, I don't know all the words yet. Noah's school lunch menu said they were having "galopin."

Not knowing what that was, I looked it up:
"Galopin : Familier. Enfant plus ou moins effronté." [Slang. A rather bold child.]

I figured they must be eating the naughty kids at lunchtime.

When Noah came home, I asked him about it. I told him how I looked it up and everything.

Without skipping a beat, he told me that I was right, and they ate Marius.

I suggested that the parents of Marius might not be too happy about this, but Noah was unconcerned.

This is what time Benjamin has to get up for school now

Too. Early.

Hooray for French husbands!

This is one for the "Hooray for French husbands!" files.

Especially French husbands who bake.

Yum!

Foggy Days

It's fall now, and fall means fog!

English Class

You might wonder what English class is like in French school if you're an English-speaking kid. Wonder no longer...

Benjamin told us about his day at middle school. He had English class today. The teacher asked a question and he said, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear, could you repeat that please?"

She oohed and ahhed, asked where he learned English, and then said she was going to have to kick him out of class because he already spoke English too well.

He told us: "I panicked! I told her no, no, I want to stay and learn the British way to say things so I can understand all types of English. Then she told me she was just kidding. So I flipped out for nothing!"

Ahhh. Only my child... (and Frédéric says: "If it had been me, she wouldn't have had time to finish her sentence before I was out the door!")

First Day of School

Benjamin started 6th grade (6e) this year. That is the first of four years (oh, the horror) of middle school here. He's only got 26 hours of class a week, but the way they made up the schedule, and with swim team practice three days a week, he's out of the house between 7:30 am and 6:30 pm. By the weekend, he's exhausted! His schedule is different every single day, and he has subjects as varied as English, German, math, life and earth science, physics and chemistry, art, and music.

Noah started 4th grade (CM1) this year, and is finally in school in our village, which is a 4th/5th grade (CM1/CM2) class. He has a new teacher this year, who is a breath of fresh air in the French school system as he believes in kids actually learning rather than just spitting out facts for tests. They're doing golf in gym class, thanks to a village inhabitant loaning them her yard. In the springtime, their gym class will be bike rides!