It's Mardi Gras , Part Deux

Bonjour tout le monde!
The first  part of this post is from 2013, with an update from today.

I know, I know...we are now into Lent, and I am just talking about Mardi Gras.  I have sort of an excuse this year because Mardi Gras and my husband's birthday were on the same day this year.  Do you know about Mardi Gras?  It is the last day before Ash Wednesday, which starts the 40 days of Lent and what most people think of as the Easter season.  It was early this year, because Easter will fall on Sunday, March 31. (if you are interested in why Easter is never on the same date, see here)  There are many celebrations of Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday, but the main reason is that Lent is starting the next day, and historically, this was the time to get rid of the eggs, milk, flour and fat that one gives up for Lent.  So, pancakes are popular, as well as meat (hence Fat Tuesday) and generally all the good stuff.  Besides New Orleans and Mobile, AL, there are famous Mardi Gras celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Nice, France; and Venice, Italy.  At many parties, there is a cake that has a token inside.  This token can be a bean (fève) or even a small plastic baby.  When I had parties at school, the plastic baby Jesus was very popular.  I ended up with several, however I only used one at a time in a cake!
So, I hope that you had a great Mardi Gras, wearing green, gold and purple beads and having a wonderful time.
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Update:
Mardi Gras 2017 is tomorrow.  The party has been going on in New Orleans, also fueled by the NBA All-Star weekend just a couple of weeks ago.
Although New Orleans has the most well known Mardi Gras celebration in the US, Mobile, Alabama also lays claim to having the first celebration of Mardi Gras in the Americas. But historians often point to March 3, 1699, when French explorers Iberville and Bieville landed at a point near the future site of New Orleans, dubbed it Point du Mardi Gras, and promptly had a party.
Mardi Gras celebrations include parades, balls, socials, and eating.  As previously stated, the day before Ash Wednesday is the one in which folks partied like crazy and ate lots of fatty things to get rid of the eggs, millk, yeast before the stark days of Lent.
There will be no King's cake for us this year, mostly because I was distracted and couldn't remember the exact date of Mardi Gras.  But you can be sure that we will "laissez les bons temps rouler" here at chez Jones.
How are you celebrating Mardi Gras?  Let us know!

To find out more about King's Cakes, click here (remember to smash your piece before consuming, just in case you're the winner of the plastic baby Jesus!)

Mardi Gras in Mobile, AL

La Chandeleur - on mange des crêpes!

Bonjour tout le monde
Well, circumstances beyond my control have made me break my vow of 52 posts in one year. I will keep trying, though, and before the end of the year, I might indeed have 52 posts!

On  February 2, the French and many other Catholics celebrate Candlemas, or la Chandeleur.  This fête celebrates the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of the baby Jesus at the Temple.
La Chandeleur happens 40 days after Christmas; the reference to candles comes because this was the day that priests blessed beeswax candles that were distributed to the faithful.  I like to think that it has something to do with the fact that night still falls rather early at this time of year, so candles are definitely needed!

The French celebrate this holiday with crepes, those thin pancakes that hold all sorts of yummy deliciousness within those delicate walls.  Besides the religious connotation, the French like to mix a little fortune telling into the holiday.  When cooking the crepes, you are to hold a coin in your hand while making the crepe flip in the air.  If you catch the crepe in your pan, your family will have good luck for the rest of the year!



Here is a French recipe for crêpes.  If you make them, be sure to take a picture to post on this page!

And here are a couple of pictures that I have taken over the years that have to do with crêpes, because they are good no matter what time of year it is!

There is a link between Chandeleur and our

Groundhog Day - see these proverbs which celebrate the day:
.
À la Chandeleur, l'hiver cesse ou reprend vigueur
On Candlemas, winter ends or strengthens

À la Chandeleur, le jour croît de deux heures
On Candlemas, the day grows by two hours

Chandeleur couverte, quarante jours de perte

Candlemas covered (in snow), forty days lost

Bon appétit and Bonne Fête des Chandeleurs!

May you successfully flip your crêpe and have prosperity all year long!

(Thanks to http://french.about.com/od/culture/a/chandeleur.htm)

It's Sale time in France!

Bonjout tout le monde,
Yes, it is that time again in France, when people wait impatiently for the doors to open to great discounts.  If you can't imagine it, just think of the Black Friday sales after Thanksgiving.  The same thing happens in July, only then you don't have to dress up like Frost the Snowman!
Two years ago, Michael and I were in Paris during the winter sale time.  It was so much fun to go through the different sections looking for stuff to buy.  I didn't have to look long, because I found the most awesome tote bag that was 70% off.  Are you kidding me? It was just begging for me to buy it.
Along with the tote, I bought a beautiful scarf, plus something else that I can't remember plus a cool shopping bag to put it in.  Not only did I get that discount, I also got 10% more because I was a tourist!  The entire purchase only cost 34 euros.  Whoa.
Here is a link to a story about France's winter sale time. If you are going this week, make sure that you take some warm clothes, because it is going to snow in Paris on Thursday, and then rain on Sunday. Il faut porter un parapluie et aussi des bottes!
What would you buy at the sales?  I'm feeling a field trip coming on!

Michael and I are in front of the Madeleine (2015)

the dome inside the Galeries Lafayette

La Fête des Rois

Bonjour tout le mode!
Tomorrow is January 6, which is Epiphany, or the day that the three Magi, or Wise Men,  arrived in Bethlehem to see the little baby Jesus.  It is always so funny to see church Christmas pageants, because once the baby is born, then the Magi come down to aisle to venerate the newborn.  It was when I was teaching French that I realized exactly why we have 12 days of Christmas, because it took them that long to reach Bethlehem.
Actually, Epiphany was started around the time of the pagans, who had holiday that celebrated the long nights of winter.  For the Fête des Rois, the French celebrate by having a party.  They have a galette des rois, which is a pretty cool cake.  Here in the States, you can order a king's cake from www.kingscake.com, or you can find them at several places here in Los Angeles.  There is the Normandie Bakery, which allows you to pre-order cakes in several sizes, and Porto's Bakery, to name just two. They are round and are more like a sweet bread than what we think of as cake.  The most important part of the king cake is the little token that is hidden inside.  It can be a bean, a small token, or a little plastic baby Jesus.  When you get the cake, the token is in a baggie, and it's up to you to hide it  the cake. The hardest part is making the cake look untouched after you have hidden the token.
At your party, the youngest person sits under the table and says who gets each slice of cake as it is cut.  Instead of diving into the gooey goodness of the cake, everyone waits until the entire group has been given a piece, then they stab it all over first to see if the lucky token is in their piece.  If you are lucky enough to get it, then you are crowned with the golden paper crown and you become king or queen of the party!

Notice the little plastic baby Jesus on the cake!

When I was in the classroom, I would often make a box cake that contained the little token and serve it at my French Club meeting.  For several years, I ordered a 'real' King's cake, which was fun and yummy. For more information, here is an article from thelocal.fr, which is also a great website for French news in English. The article even includes a recipe, so if you are so inclined, you can try to make one youurself!  Then, of course, take a photo and put it in the comment section so that we can all be impressed.

On a side note, I can't believe that this blog is almost 9 years old!  Wow...  I was not consistent in posting; something that is obvious is you look at the posting dates.  In 2017,  my resolution is to post something at least once a week.  If you have any suggestions for a blog post, let me know!

Locks of Love - Where are they now?

Bonjour tout le monde!
Je suis de retour - I'm back after a little break.
Do you remember the locks of love on the Paris bridges?  They made the Pont des Arts one of the most famous bridges in the city with all of the locks that couples had put on the bridges.  Michael and I participated in the "new" tradition by purchasing a lock from one of the local bouquiners (used book sellers), writing our initials on it, locking it to the bridge (there was not much room), and tossing the key into the Seine.
So many couples did the same thing that it added about 4 tons of weight onto the sides of the bridge, which was closed in the 1977, rebuilt, and reopened in 1984.  In 2008, amourous couples, inspired by an old legend, began to "lock" their love on the bridge.  It got to be a bit much as the weight of the locks added as much as 1550 lbs per panel to the bridge. In 2014, one of the panels fell into the Seine - thank goodness there wasn't a Bateau Mouche going underneath - and the City of Paris ordered that all panels, locks included, be removed from the bridge.  The panels have been replaced by clear plexiglass type panels; locks can't be attached to the glass type panels, so lovers have gone to other bridges and places to seal their love.
But, what happened to all those other locks that were cut away from the Pont des Arts?  I thought that they had been simply tossed away, or maybe melted down.  But NO!
Sixty-five tons (including some from the Pont de l'Archevêché) of locks have been stored somewhere and are now being sold.  Anyone who wants can now buy a piece of Paris history and the proof of people's love.  The locks will be sold in groups of five, ten, or even more, and the proceeds will go to those who work to support  and in solidarity with the refugees in Paris. The idea has just been made public, and sales will start in the new year.  That will give you some time to save enough for your love locks from the Pont des Arts!

If you're interested, there is a group that tried to get lovers to take photos of themselves on the Pont des Arts to seal their love instead of using the locks - their website is No Love Locks. Once the sale of the love locks is done, the remaining metal locks will be melted down

What do you think?  Is love for sale?

With locks

the new panels on the Pont

A few tips from the New York Times if you're traveling abroad.

Bonjour tout le monde
Last week I was in Paris when the bombings in Brussels occurred.  We were fine, but I still got a bunch of tweets asking if I was okay. Thanks for all the love and concern!
We should continue to travel and enjoy the cultures of the world. If we don't, then the bad guys have won.  That said, we should be prepared and aware of our surroundings.
Here are a couple of other suggestions, thanks to this article in the NYT

The Eiffel Tower, Tuesday, 3/22

An anniversary

Bonjour tout le monde!
I mentioned in a Facebook post this week that the this Saturday's EF trip to Paris is my 20th with the company.  I started the adventure in 1988 with 15 kids and one other adult.  We went to Paris and the Alps; our trip lasted 10 days.  In 1988, communication was done with mail, phone and perhaps fax (who can remember?).  I was sent a packet with all airplane tickets, our luggage tags and EF backpacks.  We had a blast, and memories that still last a lifetime.
As I start out on this momentous trip, little snippets of memories come to mind.  Losing two students in the 20 minute change of trains in the Chatelet station.  Instead of staying in a small bunch, our group started stretching out into a long thin line.  Fortunately, because there were two of them, they figured out that they were lost, and managed to call the restaurant.  We gave them directions, and our group was reunited.
Losing things is a memory that runs through the years.  Losing passports (twice), losing cameras (twice; one recovered), losing clothing (many times), losing entrance tickets (Melissa Filbeck). Lost luggage that took between 2 days and 4 weeks to get back (British Airways)  Having someone stay too long in one spot only to find out that everyone else has moved on.  I am proud to say that I brought back every student that left with me, although I will admit that a some point on a couple of trips I didn't exactly know where they all were...
The most important thing that I remember about these trips were my students as well as the students we met along the way.  They were remarkably intelligent, funny, resourceful, and creative.  We learned a lot about historical sites, cultural places, and even more about ourselves.  Some of my left Los Angeles somewhat immature, and returned to class with a renewed sense of purpose and maturity. They amazed me with observations of what they saw and experienced.
I love traveling with students.  When I left Prep in 2012, I thought I was done, and felt pretty good. Then I found out how much I missed the entire experience: choosing the destination, creating the group, all the meetings and preparations, flights, hotels, buses, and absolutely marvelous creation of a family. Kids that took care of each other, and sometimes me, who came together as a unit.

I hope to continue to create these memories.  So, who is ready to organize a student group to Europe in 2017?  I'm all set to start working on tour #21!
Here are just a few photos of my tours.  I took
photos of earlier tours with a camera, so I will
have to scan some of those!