International Pillow Fight Day in Montpellier

How funny was this?! Celia and I happened to be in Place Comedie when the International Pillow Fight Day event broke out. Feathers and synthetic fluff everywhere!

April Fools Day

Did you know that in France they refer to an April Fools prank as a "poisson d'avril" or an April fish? The kids make paper fish and attempt to stick them on the back of as many adults as they can.

At Easter the Cloche volant or flying bell delivers the chocolate eggs that the kids search for...as long as it involves chocolate, I am ok with such a leap of faith as to believe in a flying bell! The Easter bunny is one thing, but a bell that flies??? The Flying Bells are another significant part of the French Easter tradition which is carried out on Good Friday as it's believed that all the church bells in France miraculously fly to the Vatican City in Rome. They carry with them the misery and sorrow of those who mourn Jesus' crucifixion on that very day. These flying French bells then return on Easter morning commemorating the celebration of Jesus' resurrection.

Snow in March!

Celia and Nathan were so happy to have a Monday snow day! At least six inches of snow fell overnight.

Random beauty

Jazzy's glamorous make over on Saturday! He is so handsome now! Amazing what a good haircut will do for you!!

Girls night out with Chanel's Coco Red! A daring lipstick gives you energy!

Montpellier all dressed up for the holidays

Nathan after visiting his favorite hair stylist who manages his curly locks perfectly.

Celia loving her new style and the curls that Isabelle gave her. Celia is totally envious of Nathan's head full of curls! The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence!

What's old is new again!

One day I was driving Nathan and Celia to the tram and at a stop light in the darkness of the winter morning, suddenly we spotted this horse and cart plodding across the intersection of Vendargues. We could not figure out why there would be a horse and cart out so early in the morning in a fairly large town that is no longer very near the countryside. Later that day we heard on the radio that Vendargues had decided to decrease its carbon footprint by using this horse and cart to pick up the town's trash in the city's center village. Additionally, some of the streets in the town center are somewhat small and it was easier to use than a traditional garbage truck. The horse named Quignon visits 600 to 700 households a day five days a week. The mayor hopes to expand the use of horses to a horse drawn cart to water the city's plants and another to take the small children to the gym from the school.

Uh Oh Soapbox Time!!

Ok I have to vent about my one huge pet peeve about French men...the inability to find a private spot to take a pee! Now I for one have zero problem with using Mother Nature as your toilet! But come on let's get real!! Can they really not wait for a less public spot? Just today I saw two men triangulating at the side of the road obviously with absolutely no shame. The worst was at the glass recycling center. I was on my way to the store and decided to drop some used clothes at the bin in Baillargues next to the glass recycling center. Now let me paint you a picture...there is a round about and just in a little niche is a small place to pull off the rond point and drop your recyclables. Well some older guy...definitely old enough to have some shame...stopped there and was peeing ON THE GLASS BIN!! I decided to shame him and pulled up anyway to drop off the clothes. He didn't bat an eye...didn't hurry up...didn't care!!

My "favorite" time was when I was at Celia's soccer match on a Saturday afternoon...full daylight...and we were leaving to go to the parking lot with the rest of the parents and kids and not three feet to the right of the gate...up against the fence with nothing to offer some privacy...was a doof just whizzing away. You just gotta wonder sometimes!! Do they have an incredible incontinence issue or what!!??

Okay...pet peeve catharsis has begun!

Priorité à droite

Priorité à droit...one of our favorite driving rules here in France! It has to be the craziest and least logical laws on the books.

This gives the right of way to motorists turning onto the road you are on, and in the direction you are traveling, from the right. The exceptions are if the junction is marked by a stop sign, traffic light or solid white line, as well as roundabouts, where cars to your left have the right-of-way.

The more aggressive drivers do not wait for you to give the prioirty, they take it at full speed. If by chance you hit them, it is your fault. French drivers also seem to be taken by surprise by this law as well...I have been a passenger where they have almost hit a car forcefully taking the priority!

On the other hand, I have come to a full stop to give the right of way and the other driver has sat and looked at me as if my law abiding behavior has totally taken them by surprise.


Basically, with this law there is just no winning!!