Léa went to her first Sleep-Away summer camp!

Hi everyone, this is Léa's mom, Mari.

I'm sorry for not posting so much; after Léa's dad returned to NYC, I am working in Paris and it has been difficult to find the time. I just spent 4 days with Léa and Téo in Abbecourt at the grandparents house, preparing for their departure to their "Colonie Vacances", Sleep-away Camp! Here is Léa and Téo yesterday at the train station called Gare Montparnasse with the grandparents just before the departure.

She is going to Nantes, a city in the west of France. She had a huge list of things to bring: 7 shirts, 7 pants, 7 underwear and socks etc. and she will be responsible of organizing her own belongings for two weeks!

After the school ended, Léa has been lucky since Sophie, a little girl from her class and also a close neighbor, remained friends and they go back and forth spending a lot of time together. Here is Sophie in the kitchen playing with Léa and Téo.

Last week, her cousins' family came back from their vacation in Ireland, so they had fun playing together. Here is Léa and her 14 yr-old cousin Gwenaëlle, whom she loves very much.

Léa also learned a new computer program her uncle and an engineer Frédéric 'Tonton Fred' taught her, called Google Sketch Up. It's a free program and you should try it! She has been designing houses and rooms and it has been a great pass-time for her too!

What are you all doing? Let us know! We are picking Léa and Téo up at the Gare Montparnasse next week, July 30th.

Hi!

Yesterday, the bus company decided to be on strike, so there was no bus. I took the bicycle to school instead, but Mamine took me in the car for lunch and for coming back.

The whole day, we had to do drawing lessons! (The english teacher Anne was supposed to come the day before, but she didn't come Thursday nor the day after!)

Bye!

Lea

P.S. What happened to writing back to me??????!!!!!!!!!!

Hi!!!!!!!!!!

It's me! So, Uhuru, big problem. I tried to ask Teo if he wanted to become a superhero and he said no! Isn't there any other way I can become a 2500-3750 maximum????!!!!!!!

I went in a wood with Papy and mamine.(I didn't like it so much.)I also enjoyed dressing up as a

bandit from "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and getting a little laugh from my shot, which was done by my new doctor, Dr.Sibillat.

Bye,

Lea

P.S. How to dress up as a bandit:

Clothes:

3 pairs of clean underwear

A long-sleeved knit shirt of any color

A uniform of any color

A light-blue, short sleeved pants

One sock ( don't take the whole pair!)

A long-sleeved pants of any color

Steps:

1. Put on the knit shirt and the light-blue pants.

2. Tie the uniform around your waist.

3. Tie the long-sleeved pants around your waist.

4. Put a pair of underwear on your head like you put on a hat.

5. Put another pair of underwear on top of your face. (make sure you can see well through the holes and it covers your nose.)

6. Put the last pair on the back of your head.

7. Place the sock on your non-dominate hand.

ENJOY YOUR HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!

Historical visits

This is Léa's dad, Léa hasn't blogged for a while now. We shall see about that.

Yesterday, the whole class took a bus tour to visit the Caverne du Dragon (Dragon's Lair), a cave that was used by both the Germans and French during the World War 1 battle of the Aisne. The tour was very interesting, with the whole class accompanied by a few veterans from the association that paid for the class visit and for the bus. (Not WW1 veterans! they would be 90 yrs old, at least!) By the end of the visit, it was clear to all the children that war should be avoided if at all possible.

Today, we went to visit another site not far from here, the Abbaye of Chiry-Ourscamp (the link in French is much more informative). It is a beautiful place, as the picture shows of the old nave, which was never rebuilt. So it looks like a church without a roof in the middle of a beautiful garden. In fact, there are a few more buildings where the monks live, but they still say the mass in the middle of the church sometimes.

Léa's study in France

Hello everyone, this is Léa's mom, Mari.

I just wanted to show you what Léa has been working on at her school in France. It's about Father's Day (this Sunday in France). Léa's dad will translate it in the comment. In French schools, kids learn to write only in CURSIVE, connecting letters. Léa has to learn French words, then write them in cursive. In two short weeks I think she did pretty well, would you agree?? :)

Cheers,
Léa's mom.

ps. Here's Léa this weekend, playing in a park behind Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris with French kids.

Other questions

Note from the editor: some of the questions from previous comments were answered in previous posts, but some questions have not been answered (yet!). This blog entry is from Mamine, Léa's grandmother.

I think the other questions have been already answered by Léa, her father and the photos.

She thinks of you of course, but she is trying to THINK in FRENCH and that is VERY TIRING, you know. You seem to be very active children! Could you do what Léa does, Live in another country, eat another kind of food, talk to people in another language because they do NOT understand yours? See your parents every week only because they are in Paris? And be condemned to be with your brother? Of course, he is nice, very often, but he can be mischievious, too. Fortunately, mamine and papy are there for cuddles!! Do not you think she is very brave?

Have a nice afternoon, Here it is the end of the afternoon. By the way, when you look at the clock, add 6 hours : at 8 a.m in NYC, it is 2 p.m in France. When you go to bed, it is the middle of the night here.

Bye, Mamine Bronnimann

Mamine answers Léa'sschool

Mamine answers because Léa is tired: a school day is 3 hours in the morning and 3 in the afternoon and the other children have have some homework to do, that is 1 or 2 pages to read with their parents (to get those involved in their kids' knowledge!)or a little text to learn by heart!

This afternoon, she did not go to school because the other pupils have been working on a dance with other pupils of many schools all over the district and it was the last rehearsal, so Léa would have been bored, but tomorrow we shall go to see the performance with all the younger pupils of all the schools in Chauny.
So I took her to the shop with me and she helped me choose their favourite yogurts and she bought sweets with her pocket money.

She spends a lot of time reading books in French and looking at their pictures, especially those who are intended for younger children, but wonderfully illustrated so she recognises all what she hears or see around. I do not think I could do what she does without being exhausted at the end of the morning...


Now, some answers for you, Kids of Léa's school:

The French flag is BUE, WHITE and RED (vertical stripes).

The place of ABBECOURT (where we live) is a tiny village with houses and gardens, around 9 streets, houses have only two floors, some have only one ground floor! There is the railway passing right in the middle of the village, and there is also a canal alongside , 30 feet wide!!!!

Between or behind the houses there are tiny or large gardens, but only 3 farms now, and NOT a single shop! The baker comes with her truck every morning and the butcher every week.