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School is from 8:30-4:30 M,T,TH, F... what do they actually do all day? Well.. let me tell you! Or.. let me tell you what I'm pretty sure they do according to schedules I see and what the kids tell me. You know how kids are, they may leave out a few minor details about their school days.. especially when it is 8 hours long.

Let's start with Elena... I know there is a lot of play time, both indoors and outdoors. They have a morning recess, an afternoon recess, and a recess after their time in the cantine from 12:30-1:30. The students also do choral singing each Thursday afternoon (where I was in charge of teaching 70 students the wheels on the bus last week!), and they go to a bigger room for ball games a few times a week.
 Because her class includes la petite section (3 year olds) and la grande section (5 & turning 6 year olds), there is quite a variety of learners in the class. I have been lucky enough to spend Friday afternoons in her class teaching English and have been…

My new favourite dessert has become Tiramisu. Our landlord has been very generous with helping us get out and riding with great bikes. To say thank you I may have made his
favourite dessert a few times.

There is one secret ingredient that I will keep to myself, but really this lovely dessert is so simple!


My little tiramisu helper!

 Swimming/wanting to swim on this hot day in February in the stream that goes through the town. People drove by while we were here and I can just imagine what we were thinking. The kids get funny looks for wearing t-shirts to school.




The view through the window of Rocalinaud... so beautiful :) I'm excited to watch the colours change over the next few months. 

Car shenanigans on our way to Roussillon. The cars we have had are pretty small and make for some long car rides. It has been good for bonding but super annoying!

The quick change in temperature here has meant a sudden bloom of many different fruit trees. The amandiers (almond trees) and cerisiers…

We spent a lovely morning in Roussillon at the end of February and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful reddish orange Sentiers des Ocres and the lack of tourists. The weather has been so lovely to see some special places before they are packed with visitors like us. This town was just short of an hour drive from our place but we felt that it was worth it :) 
A little info on Roussillon:  Situated in the heart of one of the biggest ochre deposits in the world, Roussillon is famous for its magnificent red cliffs and ochre quarries.
The red, yellow and brown shades of the earth form a striking contrast with the lush green pinetrees. The vivid blue of the Provençal sky and the exceptional quality of light make this a magical site.- very true!
The trail wasn't quite as long as we would have loved it to be but it was enjoyable and oh so beautiful :) 
As you can see in the photos the town is filled with beautiful shades of pink, red and orange. 
Not the longest blog post but I really wanted to …

This past week the kids had a week off of school and we took our tiny rental car over to the South West of France to see Carcassonne. Perhaps you have the board game? I had 'visit a castle' on my to do list for our time in France and this seemed to fit the bill. We stayed in a small, cheap apartment in a great location and spent our time there biking and exploring the castle & town. As wikipedia puts it:

"Carcassonne, a hilltop town in southern France’s Languedoc area, is famous for its medieval citadel, La Cité, with numerous watchtowers and double-walled fortifications.  The first walls were built in Gallo-Roman times, with major additions made in the 13th and 14th centuries". (Gallo-Roman times was between the 1st to 5th centuries!)

Seeing this beautiful sight during the day, sunset and by night was magical. The photos don't do it justice. The kids had a blast exploring the ramparts and testing out the stinging power of the stinging nettles (Just kidding, th…