Le Petit Village

I am proud to say that I have seen Le Petit Village. I have been to Le Petit Bar--met Fifty, the Parisian, Honey Jr., Child Bride, Le Petite Baby, Brother-In-Law, Vicky, and Gourmet Croupiere. You've not heard of her and this is my made up moniker but she's great; a friend of Sara and The Husband's who makes her own walnut wine, marinated wild mushrooms and an impromptu dessert for four of ice cream filled pastry with fudge sauce.

And of course there's Sara who I feel like I've known all my life. I always thought she and I were cut from the same cloth just from reading her blog but now that we've spent some time together I know it's true. She's like a blast of fresh Bestie air.

{me & my new bestie}

It's a strange thing, this living abroad. What happens is that you meet people and pretty much know if you're going to hit it off. You don't waste time in deciding because everything's all fast forward, English speaking, common connections bonding. Or it's not.

{La Gourmet Croupiere}

{view from the top}

My kids all have more than a small crush on The Husband, especially Ma Fille, and it's no surprise because he's so kind and gentle. My favorite thing was that the Middlest would only speak French with him and I sat there in awe of my son and how far his language has come in a year.

And then there's my French, which seemed to miraculously flow like the boxed wine as I told story after story. I really could not stop talking. Hard to believe I know, but true.

{Sara bartending...maybe this had something to do with my French}

Les Canadiennes came along on our Petit Village weekend so it was chock-full of kid mania and English speaking fun. I don't think the village knew what hit it and as I chased the Baby and the smallest Canadian around the cobbled streets trying not to fall and break my neck, crossing my fingers and cringing as they careened down hills, I wondered what the villagers must have thought. Oooh, la la there was a lot of English flying around those ancient streets.

{kids taking over le petit bar}

And then there's the food. You know that with me it's always the food. My favorite moments are when we're all seated, market chicken and potatoes served up with saucisses secs and fresh goat cheese, a glass of the pink stuff and laughter. Grateful doesn't begin to describe it.

Thank you, thank you to Le Petit Village and its welcoming arms.