Christmas Wishes

Geronimo!!!!

Oh boy, what a Fall...

This post is so late in coming that it may as well be a holiday update from the past four months. 

We've had much coming and going, and it's been hard to keep up.  But, I'm happy to report that we are now into the winter vacation, and its welcome break and rest.  And, as an added bonus, it snowed in Lyon this week!  All the kids in the city were over the moon.

An icy walk up the hill to the girls' school...

Our street, decked out for Christmas

Leo 'dabbing' his support for the snow.

I took Cora with me to Basel, Switzerland in late August, where I was singing with the Basel Festival of Ancient Music.  We had a chance to catch up with our dear friends who live there, and they treated us to what I think the best chocolate I've ever had. 

Oh yeah...the concert was good, too.  But seriously, that chocolate...

Marketplatz in Basel

Cora and Me, post-chocolate...

St. Martin's Church, our concert site

I had some Broadway concerts in Paris with an ensemble I'm performing more and more with, which has been a great time.  The French love American Musical Theatre, and performing it here is really fun.

Broadway Ensemble at the Sunset Jazz Club in Paris

Best of all, my brother and my sister-in-law came for a visit, just after school started up in September.

Nancy and John, jet lagged but ready for adventure!

High atop Chamonix, across the glacier from Mt. Blanc.  Hang on tight, John!

Back down from the Mountaintop, John's color returns...

It was their first trip to Europe, and we had a great time with them.  They gamely tried French (specifically Alpine) cuisine, and we explored the French and Swiss Alps, toured them around Lyon and also spent some time checking out Paris. 

Nancy, suspiciously anticipating some Raclette after a day of high-altitude hiking

Vive la révolution!

We hope they'll return.

A beautiful day in the Swiss Alps!

I was busy preparing for a debut with New York City Opera in November, and it was a thrill.  I love New York, and being there for work is my favorite way to enjoy it.  I battled a nasty virus during the production, but aside from the stress of that, it was really a great time, and an amazing piece of music ('A Water Bird Talk' by Dominick Argento).

After the show with my cousin, Anna!

Production photo from "A Water Bird Talk"

Celebrating with our team, post-premiere.

School for the kids has taken up much of our energy this fall, as usual.  Both the girls are now in 'collège' (middle school, here in France) which is very rigorous, and Leo is a big-time 2nd grader (CE1, in France).  He joined a baseball league this fall (the Devils, heh, heh...) and I'm not sure if he loves it more than I do or not, but it's a great activity for him, and helps run through his endless supply of energy. 

Big Man on Campus

First Baseball Card!!

Daphne is now swimming three times per week (!) and taking the metro system (subway, buses, etc.) to and from practices on her own.  And Cora is in dance classes and filling the house with her lute and piano practice. 

She can cook, too...

Daphne and her friend, Marie in Turin, Italy.  I was only slightly jealous of that trip...

Katherine has been continuing at the boutique, is studying for her medical board reviews, and also is adding to the musical ambiance in our apartment, as she has taken up classical guitar.  Our place is rarely quiet.  She and her good friend, Stephanie made music and held down the fort while I was in NYC.

Steph and Kat at Place St. Jean

We also took a nice trip to the south of France, near Avignon, just before school began and stayed in one of a series of little rural cabins which have an absolutely amazing three-tiered pool.  We and the kids swam, I studied music and Katherine practiced yoga.  It was heaven.

Olive Tree near Avignon

Working hard?  Hardly working?

Kat leading Leo and Cora in some Yoga

Halloween and Thanksgiving both passed with our U.S. traditions now mixed with French traditions.  We'll be a mix of both cultures from now on, and we love sharing them both.

Market bounty stretching well into Autumn

Prepping for Halloween parties

I thought I'd add a little class to our Halloween party, this year.

On Thanksgiving, Leo made his first pecan pie from scratch, and everyone rolled home, like you do...

Already a sceptic

And now, we're taking a breather with school exams finished, a busy concert season on break, and our city relatively quiet.  Things will speed up again in January, and we're taking time to smell the oysters.

We send you good wishes for the happiest of holidays and a beautiful start to the new year.  Come and visit us in 2018!  But warn us, first...

Aaron

Champagne Vacation

Cora, surrounded by the endless fields of Colza, in Champagne

Autumn Greetings, all!

We have made some very special friends since moving here, in 2015.  They have all eagerly shared their stories and their various cultures with us, and have also taught us lots about the different traditions and cultural flavours of France’s many different geographical regions.

The stunning colza fields of Champagne

Daphne has a really good friend, who (as you might remember) invited her to spend a week camping in the Champagne region during our first year, here.  We were delighted for Daphne (if not a bit envious), and after meeting her friend’s terrific Dad, Laurent, we felt comfortable sending our eldest off to the wild forests of Champagne.  

Laurent has since become one of my very best buds here in France.

Laurent, having run back to the apartment for necessary provisions before our trip

Late last spring, they again offered to bring Daphne on their annual trip to his cabin in Champagne, but this time he generously invited the whole family to join the fun.

Now, a week in a cabin in the forest sounded great to me, but after Daphne warned us all about the “big French spiders” which dwell in the cabin year-round, Katherine and Leo decided to remain behind, and hold down the fort in Lyon.

Katherine's idea of spiders in Champagne...

So, our rugged crew consisted of me and my girls, Laurent and his daughter and their cat, Neko.

You can't put a cat in the trunk, Cora.

Every road trip needs a French cat.

Champagne is about 3.5 hours from Lyon by car, which is NOTHING to an American family, right?  Seriously, other than maybe a bathroom break, 3.5 hours in a car is just a Sunday jaunt.

Not to the French.

No sooner had we climbed into the car than we were told that we’d be stopping in one hour for a roadside picnic (not a bad idea, we came to realise) and then we’d be getting back on the road for the remainder of the ‘long drive’.  I ended up driving Laurent's car most of the way because he hates highway driving.

The girls, reading some teen-magazine at a French travel-plaza.  Just like the States, non?

A well-earned road trip picnic after scarcely an hour in the car...

Once off the highway, and after a winding trip through some beautiful back country, we arrived at our château, eager to unpack and explore.

We did find a few spiders, but there was a warm fireplace, a fully functional kitchen and bathroom, and a place to lay our heads - paradise.

Our home for the week

Sleeping quarters...girls on one side, Dads on the other.

We stocked up at the local grocer and slept like babies, tucked away in the middle of nowhere.

French breakfast: bread, cheese, wine.

This truly felt like vacation.  Most days consisted of the following schedule:

7am: Laurent wakes up

Laurent greets everyone with a smile, and a cup of strong coffee first thing in the morning!

8am: Aaron wakes up

(Coffee/campfire/reading/chatting/breakfast)

9am: Girls wake up.

(Chatting, chatting, chatting, “boys are so annoying”, pop music gossip, chatting, chatting, chatting)

10am: Put on mud boots and head out to explore the woods, and to walk the backroads to various tiny villages which dot the hillsides all over the region.  Also, brainstorm lunch.

Exploring the backroads

1pm: Lunch at the cabin

Afternoon: Girls playing, arguing, laughing.  Laurent reading. Aaron memorising music for upcoming concerts.  Brainstorming dinner.

4pm: Girls snack.  Laurent and Aaron’s first bourbon of the evening.

5-7pm: Aaron/Laurent cook dinner and continue with bourbon.  Aaron’s French dramatically improves with each sip.

Steaming potatoes for dinner

Laurent is an excellent cook, and one night whipped up his famous 'Tartiflette'  Perfect for a chilly spring night.

The finished product

7-9pm: Dinner

9pm: Campfire, card games, jokes, stories.

Cora driving Laurent's remote-controlled car right across him.  It was her protest for not having enough potatoes.

11pm: Hit the sack.

We followed this fabulous pattern all week.

We took really long walks twice daily, and got completely and utterly lost only once, but really, getting lost in the French countryside is quite tolerable.  And, as I told Daphne during that particular hike, “I’m not lost, Daphne.  I know exactly where we are.  I’m just not sure where the cabin is.  So the cabin is lost, not me.”   

There are no words in French or English to describe how much that irritated her.

"Lost" in the woods.

Fairly certain these are French Sasquatch tracks.

This is what a ghost-town in Champagne looks like.

Me and my girls

An old, (and seemingly abandoned) cottage, which we walked past one afternoon.  How can you not want to move in???

Another rest-stop

This was such a cool way to spend a chilly spring week, and we hope to return.  And three cheers to Laurent and Jadhe: anyone who still likes us after a week in a cabin in the woods are true friends, indeed.

And, if you're wondering...on the return trip, we made it about 45 minutes in the car before Laurent and Jadhe called for a rest-stop.  Someday, we are taking them on a five-day road-trip across the U.S.  That'll learn 'em.

Pilot and co-pilot

Picnic on the way home to Lyon

With bedhead, and to your health- until our next post...

Lots of love from us all,

Aaron