Closed for the summer...

Dearest Readers,

I've decided to take a summer hiatus from blogging. For the next three months, I plan to concentrate on some other writing, working, working on my tan, and finally teaching the two little ladies how to swim.

I so appreciate all of you who have been faithfully reading and commenting here and I sincerely hope that you'll come back in September. Until then, I'll continue to stop by your blogs from time to time to say hello.

Hope you all have a fantastic summer and for all of you planning on a trip to France, bon voyage!

Gros bisous,
The Duchess

It's officially summer...

Okay, maybe not officially, officially, but it certainly feels that way here.

Supposed to be in the high 80s today, so I'm off to the beach with some girlfriends, and then back to my house for a bbq, where we'll sit under the lit-up chestnut tree and possibly drink a bottle or two of chilled rosé.

My diary is starting to look like one long fête after another. This is what the next couple of months looks like at the Dukedom:

31st May- Fête du chèvre at the nearby farm in Mas Rolland, where the kids run around with the goats in the field while the adults feast on samples from the market stalls selling regional produce like goat's cheese, breads, olives, ham and possibly some wine.

6th June- Our annual Sevillana spectacle, which promises to be better (can hardly be worse...) than last year, and we've even have new, tailor-made flamenco skirts this year. Promise to post pics after.

14th June- My very first vide grenier (yard sale/garage sale/car boot sale, except it's set up throughout the entire village). I'm biting the bullet and setting up a stall at one of the nearby villages. I figure that the stuff that's been sitting in the barn for the last two years is probably stuff I can live without, and in this time of economic hardship, blah blah blah...

19th June- Our 11-year wedding anniversary, which we will spend watching our darling little ladies try to stay awake, I mean, perform in their end of year dance recital which starts at 8.30pm, after a whole day at school. Do you think a 4-year old is too young for Red Bull?

21st June- Nationwide Fête de la Musique, with live music pretty much everywhere, but hoping to be sitting outside our favorite restaurant listening to a little music, possibly drinking some wine and celebrating our anniversary.

27th June- End of school-year kermesse (carnival), where my day has been scheduled with military precision and includes things like preparing tabouleh in the morning, watching the school show, manning a giant pirate-themed bouncy castle, serving the village aperitif and then the evening meal where traditionally around 200 people come for a 4-course meal, possibly some wine and then dancing until 2am. Unfortunately, I don't like Red Bull...

3rd July- Last day of school! Looking forward to not having to be presentable at 8.20 am for a few weeks.

7th and 8th July- The Tour de France flies by, bringing with it a couple of cycling-mad friends who are coming to stay, which will mark the opening of the Dukedom's hostellerie.

14th July- (See how easy it is for me to glide past the 4th of July now?) Bastille Day, which means village fête, dancing in the park, and possibly some wine.

20th July- Holiday! Not sure where or how, but maman needs a holiday, and this looks like the only week we can do it!

And then comes August, which normally means friends, family, beach, pool, hammock, wine and the realization that the entire country is on holiday, so there's no point trying to get anything done.

I feel knackered just looking at the diary, considering I'm supposed to be working all this time as well. Don't get me wrong, though, not complaining, just amazed at how busy summer is considering how laid back it usually feels. But then maybe that's the effect from all the wine...

Baby Baby Baby....

This is like a nightmare I once had when I lived in Paris, except in my dream there was no electro beat and I didn't look like a model...

Make The Girl Dance "Baby Baby Baby" ( official video )

Hey look, he's just like you and me...

President Sarkozy has been busy lately, running the country, serving his people, and apparently, updating his Facebook page. His new profile photo shows him tanned and casually dressed; the only thing missing is the sign of an out-stretched arm giving away the fact that the photo was actually taken by himself.

There is, however, a link to a video made by the French magazine, Femme Actuelle, which shows him waltzing in during an interview by the magazine with his wife, Carla Bruni. He chats (in a slightly flirtatious way) with the group of women, sits on the arm of a chair next to his wife, kisses her, talks about how he has just showered after exercising and then throws in the fact that he has just met with the Iraqi president.

The whole thing feels slightly embarrassing to me, not only because it all feels a little staged, but also because I guess I'm a little old school in that I like to see my world leaders doing some sort of leadership kind of thing, not hanging out with people and chatting.

I know it's the world we live in now. Politicians feel the need to communicate with their people by every means possible. As a registered member of Democrats Abroad, I regularly get emails from President Obama 'himself', which always feels a little surreal when I see them in my inbox.

This is where Facebook gets a little weird for me. Love seeing people and what they're up to in general, not so keen though on reading that they are eating an orange and it's the best orange they've ever eaten. But after the initial befriending of someone, this is what Facebook boils down to; knowing the minutiae of other people's lives. Is it really the appropriate venue to read about what our world leaders are 'up to'?

Just one of the rather long list of things that annoyed me about Sarah Palin's whole campaign was how she was always referred to as 'a regular gal', just like you and me. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want myself anywhere near the red phone, let alone the red button. I don't want to think that just any Joe Schmo can be involved in running the world. I don't want to know they've just been for a run, are possibly a little sore, maybe need to cut back their carb intake, or anything other than what they are doing about sorting out the plethora of hugely important problems facing the world.

Next thing you know we'll be watching former world leaders enter the Big Brother house...

I know I'll sleep easier tonight...

The people of France should feel rest-assured that they are in the good hands of their efficient local police forces. No crime shall go unpunished, apparently, even if it involves a 6-year-old and his 10-year-old cousin and some 'stolen' bikes.

On Tuesday, 6(!) police officers waited outside the school gates in Floirac, near Bordeaux in southwest France, after a tip-off from a mother who claimed that she had seen the boys riding stolen bicycles. The police officers bundled the boys into police cars and took them to the local station, where they were interrogated for 2 hours about the bikes. Did I mention the kids were 6 and 10?

Have you ever tried to report a mugging or pickpocket incident in France? I've tried both in Paris and Cannes and the looks I got both times from the local police were like, 'Hey lady, do you mind? We got bigger fish to fry here.' So maybe I need to move to Floirac, where the biggest crime the police have to deal with there involves 1st graders and borrowed push bikes.

Can you imagine the drama? A swarm of officers waiting at the gates to haul away a 6-year-old for questioning. If it had been my 6-year-old, I would have kicked some serious ass. Not that I don't believe in disciplining a child if they have done something wrong, but I'm not sure a swat team was in order here. Maybe speak with the family first? Go to the child's home, maybe?

I don't know the official result of the 'investigation', but the various news channels are saying the 6-year-old borrowed his bike and the 10-year-old was given his as a gift. I seriously hope the police didn't get this tip-off from some bitter mother in the village who's son didn't make the rugby team. But even if the bikes were stolen, does the reaction fit the crime?

I guess I should feel happy in the knowledge that while in other parts of the world young kids are brandishing weapons and terrorizing neighborhoods as adults stand helplessly by, the country I've chosen to live in is taking the hard-ass approach, but seriously, can we get a little perspective here?

My 6-year-old little lady comes home from school almost every day with someone else's hairclip that she said was 'given' to her. I guess I better find out where the local police station is, just in case I have to go bail her out...

Blog post number 200...

The really interesting post where I tell you that we've been busy working, sunning ourselves and just generally running around chaotically with the girls' activities. No matter if you live in a suburb in America, central London or a small village in the Languedoc, if you have kids, they tend to want to 'do' things, which means as parents you are expected to deliver them to these things at the appointed hour. (And when it gets close to the end of year shows, there seem to be alot more of these appointed hours.)

The girls both have dance recitals coming up, an exhibition for the oldest little lady's atelier mosaique, school trips and picnics and the end of the year kermesse (carnival) needs planning, and somewhere in between I'm meant to be working.

I had a mad, ridiculous night the other night where I allowed my mind to wonder what it would be like with three children. I'd obviously been hitting the sauce a little too hard, or had temporarily lost my marbles, but luckily when I woke up the next morning the insanity had passed.

I was hoping my 200th post would be something profound and insightful, or maybe just terribly witty, but then I thought I might as well just carry on in my usual fashion... ;-)

Mrs Brightside...

After what seemed like the longest, coldest, wettest winter in living memory (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration...), I'm happy to say that it finally looks like summer is on its way here in the south of France. The bbq has already seen some action and the flip flops have been dusted off in anticipation of their duty as the official shoe for the next 4 months.

I'm hoping that the heat of the sun will see off all the doom and gloom that's been hovering over everything the last six months like a menacing, overcast sky. Surely one can't be expected to fret over things like recession and unemployment while wearing a swimsuit and a floppy sunhat...