February

I didn’t post that much in February, but looking back now, I realized that a lot actually happened in this last month. You know, the normal things… ski trips, coffees in Paris, seeing a few van Gogh’s, Monet’s and van Rijn’s… just everyday things. : )

Jaco and Pieter went with their school on a ski trip to Valloire. The trip was organized by the sport and engineering sciences teachers. We dropped them off at 6am in the morning at the school. A few brave parents waited in the freezing cold to see the bus leave.

They stayed in the ski village and did snowboarding everyday from Monday to Friday.

To justify the science part, they had a look at exactly how the ski lift works.  A quick visit on Wednesday morning for that. : )

What an amazing experience for them. Remember, we don’t even know snow! : )

The gymnastics season has started again. This time with new coaches and new friends. For Franci the biggest excitement of the competition was to see the Cergy’m coaches again.

Its only Franci doing competitions this year as Mandi has quit gymnastics and started doing tumbling with Pieter in Les Clayes sous Bois. Finishing school at four and then do gymnastics till 10pm in the evening was just too much, but she is really enjoying the new tumbling club. Loving the coach again. Alfie, the coach from ACS, Cape Town is still the measure for coaches. She loves Rene, the tumbling coach: ‘he is so nice, he is just like Alfie’ .

I decided that I have to start visiting exhibitions in Paris. I don’t know if you can ever see everything of this city, I also don’t think you can ever get to all exhibitions.   In October the works of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera will be on display in the Orangerie. Won’t that be so special to see? Anyone visiting me to see that? For know I saw van Gogh’s works in the exhibition at the Pinacothèque, ‘Dreaming of Japan’. Having a coffee afterwards with a view on the beautiful église de la Madeleine.

Not without excitement. : ) Seeing all the people buying flowers across the road at the florist. The police stopped the little red van and had long conversations looking at lots of papers. I wonder what he did wrong. The french are serious about paperwork!  Then an ambulance stopped and after a while they came with a lady in a wheelchair who had one foot wrapped in bandages and her husband, walking with them, carrying the shoe, which was covered in white paint. So was the clothes of the lady. Wondering what happened to her. I knew she slipped somewhere near white paint. Not too serious as the whole company was talking and smiling, including her. : )

It was of course a cold February day again, but then the sun came out and I just walked around and passed the Notre Dame. Seeing there was no queue, I decided to go in. Inside I could see the new bells on display. Apparently the old bells,which was installed in 1856 were badly out-of-tune.

The new bells are now being installed for the 850th anniversary of the Notre Dame. They will be rung for the first time on Sunday 23 March 2013. Maybe a good idea to be close-by having a coffee and be part of that special moment.

 Across the Seine from the Notre Dame, getting lost in the very old Shakespeare and company. Books everywhere, under stairs, above doors and so high on the walls, that they provide ladders to reach the top ones. : ) And rooms with chairs to sit and read.

… and that was some highlights of February. March will have its own things again. School closes on Friday for a two week holiday. And we’re off to Interlaken in Switzerland for a week. This time I’ll be the photographer for the snowboarders. : )

Four days with the Stanvliets!

The Stanvliet family from South-Africa visited us in January and I think we had more fun watching them enjoy Paris as they had enjoying Paris. : ) Yes, it was four wonderful, happy days we spent with them.
A night with no sleep on the plane didn’t put anyone off from starting to explore Paris early morning.

after a Starbucks coffee everyone was ready to get in the metro… there are lots to see…

first stop… Eiffel Tower!

friends… in Paris : )

there are little shops to enjoy on the way to the Sacre Coeur…

Montmartre

Portraits at Montmartre… Emma

Mika…

Moulin Rouge… No its not Marilyn… its Jana & Emma!

Jana made us dinner… with the help of the rest…

Waiting for the train in Beynes… today we go up the Eiffel Tower!

Me and Danie waited for the lift, but of course the rest of them took the stairs!

Maybe one day the girls will be back with someone special to add their own locks… : )

 

Ettienne, Ruida, Mika, Emma en Jana. Dankie vir die lekker kuier. Ons is so bly julle het nie Rome toe gegaan nie. : ) 

Celebrations… in the snow

The last week in January is our week for celebrating. There’s a wedding anniversary, 28 years already! The boys’ birthday four days later and Franci just the next day. All nicely fitted into one week. We spread the parties over two weeks, just so we can take a breathe between all this celebrating. : )
This year we had some nice snow to add to the celebrations. Very different from the swimming parties we were used to in Cape Town.
Where we live in France it doesn’t snow that often, which is nice. Its not only us South-Africans that are excited about the snow, the locals enjoy it as well. Everybody is outside, the children are playing in the snow and you see all kinds of things that are used to slide with. : )

early morning…

Franci’s party… if you don’t understand the cake, it is ok, it just shows that you don’t play minecraft. Ok, if you don’t know what minecraft is… ok, you don’t play computer games… it’s fine… : )

Franci and Manon…

family fun!!

The neighbours told us that the place to go is the hill behind the station.

The friendly Brigitte and Jacques borrowed us their wooden sledge that he still built for his kids 20 years ago…

even more fun…

The boys still have the same birthday parties as they had in South Africa. You invite a bunch of guys. Eat sausage rolls… ok, this was different. Any boy in Cape Town will just without thinking cut his roll and add the sausage in the middle. Here we had to do a bit of explaning….

Boerewors rolls, french style…

and waffles… which needed less explaning, although its not a french thing either : ) 

Now we need to take a good break to be ready to celebrate Danie’s 50th in June… Boerewors rolls… no maybe that should be something bigger.  : )

Visiting Edward Hopper

This I did on Tuesday. I actually stood in a queue for more than an hour to see this exhibition. I have to admit that I didn’t know about this artist, but I wanted to see what it’s about, because this was probably the most advertised exhibition in Paris. The exhibition was extended also for another week, because of its popularity.

Edward Hopper, an american artist, visited Paris three times as a young man and was influenced by artists like Manet and Degas. Maybe that’s why Paris was so excited to have his works here on display.

My first treat for the day was this older man playing piano in the station at Versailles Chantier. These pianos are part of the streetpianos initiative. There are 40 pianos all around Paris, standing there for anyone to play and for the joy of the people hearing the music. The first time I saw one of these pianos was the young man playing in the shopping center at Les Halles.

two excellent musicians…

for a sweet treat, I met Danie for a café et tartelette…

Walking from the station, Invalide, I was wondering if one will ever get to a point that you can think I have now seen all of Paris. I have seen the pont Alexandre III before, but this time I had to cross it to go to the Grand Palais where the exhibition was held.

just beautiful…

seeing Paris from the bridge…

The same goes for the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais just across the road. I have walked down the Champs-Elysées many times and saw these buildings from there, but Tuesday I walked around it for the first time.

beautiful and impressive…

and now this building hosts the paintings of Edward Hopper, all the way from America…

As I came around the corner I saw the reality of the popularity of this exhibition. A nice queue with a sign where I joined the queue, saying that from that point it will take me an hour to enter. But… I was there, I opened my umbrella when the rain started falling and waited patiently for my turn. They let only a certain amount of people go inside at a certain time. The guy organizing this let the people in front of me in and then asked me if we are together, and while I’m still wondering what he meant, the young girl behind me said, oui! and in go the two of us as well. : )

It was worth the wait.   Now I know about mister Hopper and for some reason there is really something special to stand in front of a famous artwork. My plan was to see van Gogh’s exhibition as well, but that will have to wait till next time. You can’t fit two queues into one day. : )

A drive on Christmas day.

Christmas is almost long forgotten, but so much happens around Christmas that you don’t find time to share it all. Christmas day was so cold and windy that we thought its better to go for a drive. Stopping, looking quickly, hurrying the ones taking photographs so we can get in the warm car again. : )

A first stop in Cergy at the Axe Majeur… An impressive place. Urban landscaping they call it. 

Then off to Auvers sur Oise where Vincent van Gogh lived for a while (and died).

Marleen greeting Santa Claus… opposite the Auberge Ravine where van Gogh hired a room.

Then off to see his grave and the church made famous by van Gogh.

we had to warm up again… for that you need coffee and a crêpe…

Lastly the beautiful town Pontoise. Remembering the cold early mornings I dropped Jaco and Pieter off at Pontoise station.

 

and then back home to the fireplace and a nice Christmas dinner.

Beynes today.

We woke up this morning with clear skies, and surprised to see a thin layer of snow. Changing our town into a whole new picture. I’ve put on everything warm and walked in -2 degrees to appreciate the beauty.

the view from my backyard…

and looking to the other side…

Peggy had a quick stroll in the snow…

in the graveyard…

on the way to town…

blue, blue skies above the church’s white roof…

the road to the château…

square trees…

Even a bit of snow still gets us excited. They say the actual snow is coming on Friday. We’re waiting!

An afrikaans Christmas in Paris

We were privileged to have my family here with us for Christmas. We didn’t have a white Christmas, but we also didn’t swim like we used to in Cape Town. : )

we baked…

we cooked… (Theresa, this is really true, Danie made potjie. : )

and we ate..

played boardgames…

and just look at the adults… : ) 

of course we opened gifts… from France, Germany and South Africa…

and just like that Christmas is over and a new year has begun.

Let’s not miss Christmas

That we will not do. I am sitting in my really clean lounge. All the dust is gone, I’ve washed the floor and now we can start getting ready for Christmas. I need to post some ‘after’ photo’s, as I think that there are some people who are really feeling sorry for us after the previous  post. And I think the family, who are visiting us for Christmas are worried that they are going to spend their Christmas with a paintbrush and a broom. : )

that wall in the kitchen is now done and the IKEA cupboard in its final place…

just to remind myself where we started in this lounge…

done and dusted… : )

Totius, Stories van Rivierplaas, Boplaas… and then Les Miserables…

…and do appreciate the ceiling… beams varnished, and the old, stained wood painted… all done by myself, I have to say : )

after lots of grinder dust, the cement line in the tiles has been replaced…

I know its probably very strange to show your toilet to people… and that on a blog! : ) But this little room has the best before to after changes…

what can we say… : )

after a lot of work done by Danie…

We are ready to celebrate… ‘for unto us a child is born’

I missed autumn

Ok, maybe not completely. I saw autumn this year and I felt the weather getting colder, but I didn’t go out once just to appreciate the colours and take photographs! The reason for this is only because we are busy with a ‘process’ and I can’t wait to have it finished! This old house here in Beynes taught me something about myself. I actually knew this already…

I am good with the idea, then the dream, then the planning, but I am not good with the process! I want it done and move in and start decorating! I can not handle living in dust! I hate it when things are standing around everywhere. (Strange, as I am not really the best housewife… cleaning isn’t high on my priority list.) Working on a house is not good for the impatient. As we finish a room, I immediately move in and pack out. Then you do a next room and everything is covered in dust again. Have you ever seen a house after someone used a grinder to remove tiles?? You try to keep things clean, till you give up and just wipe every cup and plate before you use it.
I am really good with the end, the finished product.
I can see this in all my photographs. I have before and after photo’s. A lot of them. I have a few photo’s of while we’re busy. Living in the dust, I can see nothing I want to share with anyone. Definitely nothing to write about in a blog. I paint walls and stop doing anything else (like go out and appreciate autumn, for example) just to get it done!
Why do we always buy the houses that needs work? We are a big family. We like space. We need space. There are craft stuff, art stuff, electronic stuff, exercise stuff, music stuff… We need a big house… but I like this old house… Maybe I do like the process a little bit…

We had two weeks school holiday in November and we tackled the lounge and the last bits in the ‘finished’ kitchen, where I have already packed out everything, hanged things on the wall, etc. I wonder how many times in the last three months have I unpacked and repacked the little IKEA cupboard with the wine glasses so that it can be moved out of the way of the work. Today I dusted all the glasses and repacked it in the cupboard in its new spot next to a wall that I know I must still paint… I do not like the process!
I love it when its done… : )

One week later…

I actually started typing this post a week ago. We are much closer to the end now and the dust is all gone, now I actually like renovating this house. : ) In the lounge there are just half a ceiling still to be painted. The tiles are replaced. Its clean again. What did I complain about? : )  Unfortunately, if I now want to go see autumn, I’ll have to take photographs of the leaves on the ground. Next year…

Just by the way… I moved the IKEA cupboard again in the last week. Not a problem, you unpack all the glasses, move, and pack it back again. That’s nothing for people like me, who loves the ‘process’ so much. : )

It would have been better to post lovely autumn leaves, but I need to give the evidence that I help too. Don’t know who had the camera?

The wall was tackled again…

We have to eat here… : )

and we should sit here…

the lounge floor had the same story as the kitchen floor. Cement to be removed… Two ‘not so willing’ helpers and Peggy’s mark. : )

I did miss autumn, but we surely didn’t miss Mandi’s birthday. It looked a bit better than the above photo’s by then…
She and her friends had a sleepover in the holidays and waffles with cream on her birthday.

We are actually not completely finished… so give me a day or two for the after photo’s. Do know that it already looks much better than the above… : )

Paperwork… in Rambouillet.

Our ‘titre de séjour’ (resident permits) with our new address are ready to be picked up and for some reason we now have to fetch it at the préfecture in Rambouillet and not in Versailles. I don’t really mind, just a good excuse to see another place. For Danie it is a bit more difficult, because Versailles is on his way to work and Rambouillet is exactly in the opposite direction.
Yesterday I went to fetch mine and tried to get Danie’s as well, but this little card is too important to be given to somebody else. : ) He has to go himself… in person. : )

Rambouillet is about 30km South-West from us, so with the help of my GPS I drove to the address of the Hotel de Ville as there is a parking area. What I didn’t know was that Wednesday is market day in Rambouillet, and the parking was filled with vegetables, chickens, books and more. Not really a problem, I found a parking spot close by and could also browse through the market.

Hotel de Ville of Rambouillet

market day

I walked down Rue du Général de Gaulle

This street is filled with stree cafés , chocolatiers, boulangeries and boucheries…

all the way down to the préfécture at the bottom of the road

A quick stroll in the park where you can see that autumn is here…

and then to the beautiful Château de Rambouillet, which is the summer residence of the president of France.

The president’s backyard and garden…

The guards were not on duty, so I don’t think Monsieur Hollande is in Rambouillet at the moment… : )