Le Polaroid de la semaine: Septième Semaine!

Paris, France

Waiting for the Metro with our

amazing hosts Emilie and Christoph.

(After a walk by Sacré-Cœur, a crepe party dinner, and a very entertaining musical performance

which included an appearance by Batman, fog machines, and 

Jackie learning that French children are visited by a tiny mouse when they lose teeth)

Le Polaroid de la semaine: Sixieme Semaine!

Rennes, France

Planning, Reading, Streaming US TV, Both of us sick, Cold Weather, Tea (lots)

P.S. Meet Sam, our amazing netbook.  Jackie is in love. It is blue.

Le Polaroid de la semaine: Cinquieme Semaine!

Biger Family Vacation

Venice, Italy

All Night Long!

Bonne Annee!

Here is a short clip of Matthieu and I grooving in the flooded San Marco square in Venice, Italy on New Year's Eve.  Not the highest quality- but still fun.  The tide level was SO high that the water was up to people's knees. There were lots of wellies, some great fly-fishing waders, plastic boots that vendors were selling (that did not work) and the route we choose: garbage bags.  These didn't work either, but it was cheaper than the alternative! The water was not the most pleasant temperature-or smell- but an adventure we will laugh about for a long time.  Check out the pics in our travel album on the right for some more of the Biger Family Venice vacation.

P.S. Thanks Amanda for your rocking signature dance move that I pulled out in your honor.

Thanks to Sophie for the video!

Le Polaroid de la semaine: Quatrieme Semaine!

Christmas Day Dinner

(Le diner du jour de Noel)

Matthieu was trying to set the timer...but took a photo instead.

Le Polaroid de la semaine: Troisieme Semaine!

Matthieu in Crepe Ecole

 

Chapter Three: In which Matthieu takes master crepe-maker classes and Jackie has private tutoring en francais.

       Week three brought us to the home of Matthieu's family.  We arrived in Saint Malo by ferry from Portsmouth, England on Saturday the 11.  The wonderful Sophie woke early to pick us up and drive us the 45 min South to Rennes, the capital of the Bretagne region of France and Matthieu's home.
       I had private tutoring Mon-Fri with an amazing and patient professour.  Two hours in the morning, two hours in the afternoon and about five hours of homework a night.  I think we wrote on over 80 sheets of paper!  On Wednesday, we spent the day at her house and I got to go to "La Poste"  to order bread at the boulangerie and she taught me some traditional French recipes as well for lunch.  My head feels a bit heavier after the week, and as my father in-law Pierre-Henri says, my foot is now in the stirrup and all I need to do is swing my leg on the horse.
       Matthieu took week one of a week and half session of mastering the art of crepe making. He learned how to prepare the doughs for the sweet and salty crepes, to be technical in America we often just say crepes but the savory ones are called galettes.  These are the ones you might fill with cheese, ham, eggs, mushrooms, etc.  He also made cookies and cakes using crepes. His work is incredibly tasty and we hope to share his new talent with family and friends!

Le Polaroid de la semaine: Deuxieme Semaine!

Harlech, Gwynedd, Wales (Cymru)

Harlech Castle- one of the many made by King Edward to take over Wales

Chapter Two: Wales, oh how I have missed you!

   After a lovely ferry ride from Dublin to Holyhead, the two travelers boarded a train east to Chester, England.  Here they hired a car for five stunning days.  Jackie studied in Wales when a junior working on her BA at the University of Iowa, and has been longing to go back as an adult and with a car.  The train system in Great Britain goes east to west on the south and in the north, and then north to south on the east only.  So much of the west of the country is missed by rail and bus.  While this is perhaps tragic for the student stuck to public transportation, it is indeed a blessing for the untouched countryside! 
     Matthieu braved the small, twisty roads and driving on the opposite side, as the two wound their way through North Wales and then South.  Stops included castles Denbigh, Harlech, and Carreg Cannen. They stopped at a crafting village and watched a man make dragons out of glass and at the town of Portmeirion, a bizarre resort town made up by an archtiectic and was also the location for the TV series "the Prisoner"

     Along this drive we came upon a true B&B for a night.  The older gentleman who owned the pub, a cafe, and lived above the two with a few rooms rented out that were better than any hotel room.  We had a grand time getting to know Eddie and his dog Darcy.  Eddie made us a fry up like you have never seen in your life (pictures in the slide show on the right!).  If anyone ever finds themselves in Llandawr, Wales stay here!! (The only B&B in town)
     But of course, a stop to Wales wouldn't be a stop without a night in Swansea and the lovely company of Jackie's old flatmates!  Darren walked the town with the two, and we were lucky enough to get to stay with the lovely Laura and her lovely Chris as well. 

    

Le Polaroid de la semaine: Premiere Semaine!

Dublin, Ireland

Re-packing our bags.