Not only have I been looking into the general history of the island, I have also been able to look into one of my hoped for projects this year, drawing up a family tree. I have spent various occasions asking Mamie and Papy about this and that person - Mamie thinks I'm strange and can't think why on earth I want this information, whilst Papy loses track of people and then shrugs and says with such a large brood, he had no time to keep up with all the other relatives! Neither of them know that much of their ancestry so plenty to be done!
Two Thursdays back, we organised ourself to spend a day at the Archives de Guadeloupe with a friend also interested in the subject. This is based in Gourbeyre and we presumed not a child friendly place so the girls went to our JEM friends and JoJo was confided into his Tatie's hands (my first proper separation from him and I must admit to being quite moved at his going!). They all got on fine.
We arrived at the archives and were told it was full and to come much earlier. Happily they saw the disappointment on our faces and found us a place to look at micro film. There was a very helpful man, passionate about his subject, who went through all the complicated procedure for us and then left us to it.
We started with Mamie's father, whose birth certificate we had, but could not find his parents for love or money. The same with her maternal grandmother. All these people come from Grand Bourg in Marie Galante and we had a rough idea of dates so it really was frustrating.
Before leaving, Mamie had given me a marriage certificate for her paternal grandfather and between micro films I struggled through it. It turned out to be a goldmine! We had the exact birthdate for him, but still he wasn't coming up on the records! The helpful man, recognising the novices that we so clearly were and taking pity on us half an hour before closing, came and found him, just like that! Success! It was so sweet! So we presume that the others were all there, we just missed them! This great grandfather was born in 1862 so his parents were born in slavery, not that many generations ago.
Time was up and off we went. We can carry research on by post with a place in France and all details should also be available in the local mairie so we will try our luck there. Unfortunatey, there is very little online that I can find.
I can quite see the attraction (and frustration!) of this detective like work now that we are into it and look forward to continuing it as and when we can.
Sunday, 19 July 2009
A Bit Of History
Having heard so much from people about slavery and this and that and the other I thought it was about time I looked into the history of Guadeloupe myself. And as I have put all my books in shipping, what better time than to borrow a book on it? Our neighbour lent me "Une petite histoire de Guadeloupe" by Lucien René Abenon and it has been great reading.
I was regretting not having read it earlier in the year but then I decided it was all the more interesting now that I am familiar with the names and places in it. The French are very much into naming their streets and schools etc after particular people and here is no different, so I have been coming across all sorts of folk and saying ah, that's who he was!
Some interesting details from it....
It's amazing how present the English are throughout Guadeloupean history, constantly invading and often victoriously taking over the island, only to swap it back for somewhere else. As the author notes, it says something about the importance of Martinique and Guadeloupe for their prosperous sugar based economy that they were swapped at one point for the mighty Canada!
The English were actually responsible for building Pointe a Pitre (which made me chuckle as my English friend was very scathing of the town at Easter!). It has been rebuilt several times though following earthquakes and hurricanes.
La Place de la Victoire was originally la Place Sartine, but renamed after successfully opposing the attacking English ships. Hmm, I think I prefer the original name....
The folk who made up the island is also interesting in itself. There were actually Protestants among the first colonialists, escaping from anti-protestant sentiment in France. There were some Dutch and even an Irish family, Birmingham, after whom I presume the area near us was named.
After the colonialists came the slaves, but also whites known as engagés who were required to work pretty much as slaves for three years to gain their freedom. Many didn't make it as it was so hard and the climate so different, and the practice died out. After slavery was abolished, in order to find workers for the cane fields, they initially brought Africans called congos over but this was banned as being too similar to slavery. Next came Chinese people who didn't fit in at all so finally they opted for Indians in the 1860s who had a terrible time, being treated not that differently from the way the slaves had been previously.
Slavery was initially abolished in the 1789-1784 Revolution period. The English invaded but were then thrown out by one Victor Hugues and his men who then shot hundreds of colonialists for colluding with the English. The others ran away, mostly to Martinique. He then lost sight of his revolutionary ways and got the slaves back to work before Napoleon properly reinstated slavery. This was the period when one Louis Delgres was holding up the fort we went to in Basse-Terre with his supporters and standing against a return to slavery. When finally they were cornered into the mountains, many of them jumped off together to show their preference for death rather than returning to slavery.
The English abolished slavery in the West Indies in 1833 which put some pressure on the French islands, who meted out heavy punishments on anyone trying to escape the island in a bid for freedom. The abolishment finally went through in 1848 with the Second Republic. Can you imagine the logistics of 87,000 finally being freed and then soon after receiving the right to vote?
I am up to the 1900s and about to find out if Papy's claims that there were U-boats around the island during the war really are true!
I was regretting not having read it earlier in the year but then I decided it was all the more interesting now that I am familiar with the names and places in it. The French are very much into naming their streets and schools etc after particular people and here is no different, so I have been coming across all sorts of folk and saying ah, that's who he was!
Some interesting details from it....
It's amazing how present the English are throughout Guadeloupean history, constantly invading and often victoriously taking over the island, only to swap it back for somewhere else. As the author notes, it says something about the importance of Martinique and Guadeloupe for their prosperous sugar based economy that they were swapped at one point for the mighty Canada!
The English were actually responsible for building Pointe a Pitre (which made me chuckle as my English friend was very scathing of the town at Easter!). It has been rebuilt several times though following earthquakes and hurricanes.
La Place de la Victoire was originally la Place Sartine, but renamed after successfully opposing the attacking English ships. Hmm, I think I prefer the original name....
The folk who made up the island is also interesting in itself. There were actually Protestants among the first colonialists, escaping from anti-protestant sentiment in France. There were some Dutch and even an Irish family, Birmingham, after whom I presume the area near us was named.
After the colonialists came the slaves, but also whites known as engagés who were required to work pretty much as slaves for three years to gain their freedom. Many didn't make it as it was so hard and the climate so different, and the practice died out. After slavery was abolished, in order to find workers for the cane fields, they initially brought Africans called congos over but this was banned as being too similar to slavery. Next came Chinese people who didn't fit in at all so finally they opted for Indians in the 1860s who had a terrible time, being treated not that differently from the way the slaves had been previously.
Slavery was initially abolished in the 1789-1784 Revolution period. The English invaded but were then thrown out by one Victor Hugues and his men who then shot hundreds of colonialists for colluding with the English. The others ran away, mostly to Martinique. He then lost sight of his revolutionary ways and got the slaves back to work before Napoleon properly reinstated slavery. This was the period when one Louis Delgres was holding up the fort we went to in Basse-Terre with his supporters and standing against a return to slavery. When finally they were cornered into the mountains, many of them jumped off together to show their preference for death rather than returning to slavery.
The English abolished slavery in the West Indies in 1833 which put some pressure on the French islands, who meted out heavy punishments on anyone trying to escape the island in a bid for freedom. The abolishment finally went through in 1848 with the Second Republic. Can you imagine the logistics of 87,000 finally being freed and then soon after receiving the right to vote?
I am up to the 1900s and about to find out if Papy's claims that there were U-boats around the island during the war really are true!
Saturday, 18 July 2009
Les Saintes
Our trip to Les Saintes was a spur of the moment thing two weekends back following an invitation from church friends and a great way to spend Bertie's first Saturday without work since September (except Christmas and Easter).
Les Saintes is one of several islands Guadeloupe also has under it, including Marie-Galante, La Desirade and previously St Martin and St Barthelemy. I say island but it is actually made up of two islands, Terre du Haut, where all the tourists visit and where we visited in 2002 and Terre du Bas (which is actually more mountainous) which is unknown to us. We went with some friends from church who are from there and stayed in their family's house. Here are a few thoughts from the visit.
It is a tiny place!!! There are two small towns, Grande Anse and Petite Anse. Of course, Petite Anse is bigger than Grande Anse! We stayed in Grande Anse and all there is are a few shops and a lovely village square, a restaurant and....the FINEST playpark we have seen in a year! I can't begin to describe how beautiful and well equipped it was! And do you know the irony? There are hardly any children on the island, mostly retired people!
We were in walking distance of two beaches, very nice! Our friend grew up in a house right across the road from one of them, what a view!
The island suffered an earthquake in 2006 which devastated it, but has mostly been rebuilt now. There are a few signs left though - there is a beach which is now just a dumping ground for all the bits of brick and iron from collapsed houses, a road along the coast to some pottery ruins just crumbles into rocks, and there are empty plots of land where houses once stood.
Everyone is related on the island! Every person who went past, or car or house we saw, received a nod and a muttered "c'est un cousin"! This worked in our favour going over, when our friends' cousin was taking money, therefore charging us the lower residents' price! Speaking of the boat, well I am not sure that I can, it was awful! The sea to both Marie-Galante and Les Saintes is so rough and bumpy, it felt like being on a rollercoaster at a theme park. I was so pleased not to chuck up, but it was a close thing! Apparently the journey to La Desirade is even worse, which may explain why we have never visited!
We took a tour around the island - with a cousin! - and saw Petite Anse with the Mairie, primary school, college and police station. Lyceens have to go to the mainland (Guadeloupe) where they board for the week. There are some people who commute over each day on the 6am boat - they must have stomachs of steel is all I can say!
There are also beautiful forests and mountains and views to be seen. We stopped off at a Mare (small lake) to look for tortoises or turtles. Very soon, up to 30 pairs of beady eyes could be seen in the water bearing down on us, as they waited for the bread that we would surely have. Very sadly we didn't! If we looked closely in the trees above, we saw iguanas, for which the island is famous. Too close and they would crash noisily down into the undergrowth. Finally we saw some fish called lapiya (?) which are apparently aphrodisiac when consumed!
The island is very, very dry. In fact, all there is is fish! Our friends told us that when they lived there, it was normal to have court bouillon (fish in sauce) for lunch and fried fish for tea and possibly even breakfast! We certainly enjoyed some delicious tuna. Other delicacies are tourment d'amour, a lovely tart with coconut inside, and a kind of fudge made with tamarinds. However, one to be avoided at all costs is the mancilinier tree, including its leaves, its fruits even its sap. It is toxic and not to be ingested, touched or even stood underneath during a shower. There were many around so I wondered how many unsuspecting people miss the signs and actually touch them.
All in all it was a very peaceful and relaxed weekend, far from the noise and bustle (!) of Guadeloupe and much enjoyed by us all. We were particularly thankful to find our cars okay on our return, having heard that 20 cars in the car park at Trois Rivieres had been trashed the night we were away. No such behaviour on Les Saintes, that's for sure!
Les Saintes is one of several islands Guadeloupe also has under it, including Marie-Galante, La Desirade and previously St Martin and St Barthelemy. I say island but it is actually made up of two islands, Terre du Haut, where all the tourists visit and where we visited in 2002 and Terre du Bas (which is actually more mountainous) which is unknown to us. We went with some friends from church who are from there and stayed in their family's house. Here are a few thoughts from the visit.
It is a tiny place!!! There are two small towns, Grande Anse and Petite Anse. Of course, Petite Anse is bigger than Grande Anse! We stayed in Grande Anse and all there is are a few shops and a lovely village square, a restaurant and....the FINEST playpark we have seen in a year! I can't begin to describe how beautiful and well equipped it was! And do you know the irony? There are hardly any children on the island, mostly retired people!
We were in walking distance of two beaches, very nice! Our friend grew up in a house right across the road from one of them, what a view!
The island suffered an earthquake in 2006 which devastated it, but has mostly been rebuilt now. There are a few signs left though - there is a beach which is now just a dumping ground for all the bits of brick and iron from collapsed houses, a road along the coast to some pottery ruins just crumbles into rocks, and there are empty plots of land where houses once stood.
Everyone is related on the island! Every person who went past, or car or house we saw, received a nod and a muttered "c'est un cousin"! This worked in our favour going over, when our friends' cousin was taking money, therefore charging us the lower residents' price! Speaking of the boat, well I am not sure that I can, it was awful! The sea to both Marie-Galante and Les Saintes is so rough and bumpy, it felt like being on a rollercoaster at a theme park. I was so pleased not to chuck up, but it was a close thing! Apparently the journey to La Desirade is even worse, which may explain why we have never visited!
We took a tour around the island - with a cousin! - and saw Petite Anse with the Mairie, primary school, college and police station. Lyceens have to go to the mainland (Guadeloupe) where they board for the week. There are some people who commute over each day on the 6am boat - they must have stomachs of steel is all I can say!
There are also beautiful forests and mountains and views to be seen. We stopped off at a Mare (small lake) to look for tortoises or turtles. Very soon, up to 30 pairs of beady eyes could be seen in the water bearing down on us, as they waited for the bread that we would surely have. Very sadly we didn't! If we looked closely in the trees above, we saw iguanas, for which the island is famous. Too close and they would crash noisily down into the undergrowth. Finally we saw some fish called lapiya (?) which are apparently aphrodisiac when consumed!
The island is very, very dry. In fact, all there is is fish! Our friends told us that when they lived there, it was normal to have court bouillon (fish in sauce) for lunch and fried fish for tea and possibly even breakfast! We certainly enjoyed some delicious tuna. Other delicacies are tourment d'amour, a lovely tart with coconut inside, and a kind of fudge made with tamarinds. However, one to be avoided at all costs is the mancilinier tree, including its leaves, its fruits even its sap. It is toxic and not to be ingested, touched or even stood underneath during a shower. There were many around so I wondered how many unsuspecting people miss the signs and actually touch them.
All in all it was a very peaceful and relaxed weekend, far from the noise and bustle (!) of Guadeloupe and much enjoyed by us all. We were particularly thankful to find our cars okay on our return, having heard that 20 cars in the car park at Trois Rivieres had been trashed the night we were away. No such behaviour on Les Saintes, that's for sure!
Preparation
We have 10 days to go till we set off - again, we will be flying on our wedding anniversary, though this time we leave the night before and arrive on the day so maybe we shall celebrate with the Paris relatives under the influence of jetlag!
I don't really like the final weeks waiting for something - be it babies or new jobs or moving - as you just want to get on with it and begin the next stage. There is also the continual having everyone ask when we are going and Mamie looking sad and making a comment on it all the time!! I remember having just the same feeling this time last year, when I couldn't get inspired to do any cleaning or start any new projects. Bertie was working right to the end so it didn't bother him, but he agrees with me this time!
However, I do love the making lists side of things and have several of these around! We will be taking our baggage early Monday morning to the airport and checking in (our flight is at 7pm). This may seem weird, but it means that NO ONE can try and squeeze any more items into our luggage and stress me by putting us over the limit...!! So all baggage we are taking for people has to be with us by Sunday. We have an astonishing 160 kg between us so I will pack on Saturday and then tell Mamie how many kilos she can send. Believe me, she will fill it all! In fact, I might just give her a figure somewhat below the real one! (Like we used to tell mum we were leaving one hour before we actually were...).
The other advantage of dealing with the luggage early is that we can go for a final trip to the beach then come home and get ready, safe in the knowledge our seats are already sorted! I am hoping for the four middle ones with baby cot again, though I think JoJo might be too big. A final trip to the doctors showed him to be a hefty 10.3kg.
So on my list:
Pack- leave out clothes we are not taking home for final days
Trip to lavomatic (mamie's washing machine has given up the ghost, even when you SLAM the door really hard!)
Buy some final items
Change telephone bill to Mamie
Bertie - fishing, prepare Pika for our farewell BBQ on Friday
A final trip out or two
Visit/call a few folk
Sort out travel insurance - bit lost on this one as i am not sure where i am resident of!
Give various items away that we dont need
Finish my history of Guadeloupe book
Not too laborious really!
I don't really like the final weeks waiting for something - be it babies or new jobs or moving - as you just want to get on with it and begin the next stage. There is also the continual having everyone ask when we are going and Mamie looking sad and making a comment on it all the time!! I remember having just the same feeling this time last year, when I couldn't get inspired to do any cleaning or start any new projects. Bertie was working right to the end so it didn't bother him, but he agrees with me this time!
However, I do love the making lists side of things and have several of these around! We will be taking our baggage early Monday morning to the airport and checking in (our flight is at 7pm). This may seem weird, but it means that NO ONE can try and squeeze any more items into our luggage and stress me by putting us over the limit...!! So all baggage we are taking for people has to be with us by Sunday. We have an astonishing 160 kg between us so I will pack on Saturday and then tell Mamie how many kilos she can send. Believe me, she will fill it all! In fact, I might just give her a figure somewhat below the real one! (Like we used to tell mum we were leaving one hour before we actually were...).
The other advantage of dealing with the luggage early is that we can go for a final trip to the beach then come home and get ready, safe in the knowledge our seats are already sorted! I am hoping for the four middle ones with baby cot again, though I think JoJo might be too big. A final trip to the doctors showed him to be a hefty 10.3kg.
So on my list:
Pack- leave out clothes we are not taking home for final days
Trip to lavomatic (mamie's washing machine has given up the ghost, even when you SLAM the door really hard!)
Buy some final items
Change telephone bill to Mamie
Bertie - fishing, prepare Pika for our farewell BBQ on Friday
A final trip out or two
Visit/call a few folk
Sort out travel insurance - bit lost on this one as i am not sure where i am resident of!
Give various items away that we dont need
Finish my history of Guadeloupe book
Not too laborious really!
Friday, 26 June 2009
Bits And Bobs
No Wimbledon coverage here, but we are following Andy Murray's progress (and Roger Federer's outfit) with interest.
Tomorrow is the final day of school for LissaLou! Hurrah! She has been moaning about going for weeks now so I am looking forward to that stopping and having fun at home with whatever activities we come up with. We have to sign her livret scolaire tomorrow and then get to take her books home. Most schools have finished now and there is a holiday feel in the air. Very soon they will all be getting ready for 3 week long colonies, holiday camps either here or abroad, or simply attending activities and soutien scolaire for July. I am impressed at how hard the French work to ensure their parents can get back to work and not have to spend much time with their children...!
To the triumphant sound of La Marseillaise, President Nicolas Sarkozy is honouring the island of Martinique with a visit and will touch down here tomorrow. Bertie already recognised his special plane flying over with his advance team. Unfortunately, my request to go and photograph the occasion was met with a firm no from the staunch anti-Sarkozyite! On referring to him in conversation with his mum as "ton president" she retorted "ou anglais!" (You're English!)
On the moving plans, Bertie checked out the shipping company AGS. Coming over we had half a metric cube of stuff so that is what we paid for. Going back, we have to pay for a whole metric cube whether we like it not, so we are busy going around seeing if anyone wants to slide in a few more items. Unfortunately, people mostly like to send over fruit and veg and frozen things which we are certainly not shipping! I have sorted through the bags of stuff I need to give away - sadly there is no such thing as charity shops here! I did have a good 40 or mor pair of shoes for the three kids - WHY??? I have resolved to be far more fussy in what I accept in the future! All that clutter only leads to more mess! (Additional goal - reduce significantly CassCass' wardrobe. She wore FIVE separate outfits the other day! That is not necessary - and does not help reduce our extortionate water bill!!)
At Pika, we are enjoying pomme d'eau and the first of the carambole, the very last of the mangoes and a very occasional cythere. Plus the pineapples are through, hurrah! They all go straight to JoJo but he kindly shares the odd one with me!
Speaking of JoJo, and in fact speaking of speaking, he is now much chattier and great fun to hear. He makes a sound that is very like "ca va?" though it could be "papa", for now the jury is out. He stands and says it as he watches people pass by the house so it could be the former. He generally gets a reply though! He imitates really well, and does a great lion noise when he sees one (tends to be in books as opposed to outside....). He also snaps his hands for a crocodile and makes a clicking noise for a rabbit. So cute!
Bertie is preaching on Gideon this Sunday so we actually have this laptop to type his sermon up. Best give it back to him....
Tomorrow is the final day of school for LissaLou! Hurrah! She has been moaning about going for weeks now so I am looking forward to that stopping and having fun at home with whatever activities we come up with. We have to sign her livret scolaire tomorrow and then get to take her books home. Most schools have finished now and there is a holiday feel in the air. Very soon they will all be getting ready for 3 week long colonies, holiday camps either here or abroad, or simply attending activities and soutien scolaire for July. I am impressed at how hard the French work to ensure their parents can get back to work and not have to spend much time with their children...!
To the triumphant sound of La Marseillaise, President Nicolas Sarkozy is honouring the island of Martinique with a visit and will touch down here tomorrow. Bertie already recognised his special plane flying over with his advance team. Unfortunately, my request to go and photograph the occasion was met with a firm no from the staunch anti-Sarkozyite! On referring to him in conversation with his mum as "ton president" she retorted "ou anglais!" (You're English!)
On the moving plans, Bertie checked out the shipping company AGS. Coming over we had half a metric cube of stuff so that is what we paid for. Going back, we have to pay for a whole metric cube whether we like it not, so we are busy going around seeing if anyone wants to slide in a few more items. Unfortunately, people mostly like to send over fruit and veg and frozen things which we are certainly not shipping! I have sorted through the bags of stuff I need to give away - sadly there is no such thing as charity shops here! I did have a good 40 or mor pair of shoes for the three kids - WHY??? I have resolved to be far more fussy in what I accept in the future! All that clutter only leads to more mess! (Additional goal - reduce significantly CassCass' wardrobe. She wore FIVE separate outfits the other day! That is not necessary - and does not help reduce our extortionate water bill!!)
At Pika, we are enjoying pomme d'eau and the first of the carambole, the very last of the mangoes and a very occasional cythere. Plus the pineapples are through, hurrah! They all go straight to JoJo but he kindly shares the odd one with me!
Speaking of JoJo, and in fact speaking of speaking, he is now much chattier and great fun to hear. He makes a sound that is very like "ca va?" though it could be "papa", for now the jury is out. He stands and says it as he watches people pass by the house so it could be the former. He generally gets a reply though! He imitates really well, and does a great lion noise when he sees one (tends to be in books as opposed to outside....). He also snaps his hands for a crocodile and makes a clicking noise for a rabbit. So cute!
Bertie is preaching on Gideon this Sunday so we actually have this laptop to type his sermon up. Best give it back to him....
Fete de St Jean
Our town's patron saint is St Jean so the town's fete is this week, in honour of his day yesterday. The roads have been beautifully painted with a zebra crossing outside our house, a great concession to the poor pedestrians here I must say, as normally we are subjected to trials such as bushes/cars/piles of cement in the pavement obliging us to walk mostly on the road. Not to mention sky high pavements - fair enough, they get rid of the water quickly during the torrential downpours, but are a nightmare with the buggy! Which has broken again, probably terminally this time, but I am impressed at how long it lasted with Mum and Ev's makeshift repair!
But I digress. Various things have been happening, such as boeufs tirants - which bull can pull their cart the quickest? There is a podium in the town place each evening, a film was shown tonight, an agricultural fair held last weekend, and yesterday a bonfire was lit before the mass for St Jean. Most shamefully however, we haven't made it to any of these events for one reason or another! However, all the little areas around our town will be having their fetes over the next few weeks and we have marked down a few events to visit. Having already seen boeufs tirants in previous years, I am hoping to get to see the cabris tirants this time! (Goats - funnily enough no one uses the word chevre here, just like vache is rarely used in favour of boeuf).
We did however have a quick peek at an event being held in honour of the French Journee de la Musique last Saturday, which apparently is huge over in the metropole. We watched through the window a Quadrille which is a very charming dance just like country dancing. Bertie used to do this with his siblings when he was much younger, and it brought all sorts of happy memories back to see it. There was a man singing (or bellowing rather) the instructions and the musicians consisted of maracas, triangle, 2 guitars, tam tam style drums and bamboo scraper. Aside from one man Bertie's age whom he recognised as having learnt with him, the dancers were all of a very certain age and took it very slowly indeed! They mainly danced in twos in groups of eight, and it is made up of six different dances which each last quite a while. We saw one but then headed back home.
But I digress. Various things have been happening, such as boeufs tirants - which bull can pull their cart the quickest? There is a podium in the town place each evening, a film was shown tonight, an agricultural fair held last weekend, and yesterday a bonfire was lit before the mass for St Jean. Most shamefully however, we haven't made it to any of these events for one reason or another! However, all the little areas around our town will be having their fetes over the next few weeks and we have marked down a few events to visit. Having already seen boeufs tirants in previous years, I am hoping to get to see the cabris tirants this time! (Goats - funnily enough no one uses the word chevre here, just like vache is rarely used in favour of boeuf).
We did however have a quick peek at an event being held in honour of the French Journee de la Musique last Saturday, which apparently is huge over in the metropole. We watched through the window a Quadrille which is a very charming dance just like country dancing. Bertie used to do this with his siblings when he was much younger, and it brought all sorts of happy memories back to see it. There was a man singing (or bellowing rather) the instructions and the musicians consisted of maracas, triangle, 2 guitars, tam tam style drums and bamboo scraper. Aside from one man Bertie's age whom he recognised as having learnt with him, the dancers were all of a very certain age and took it very slowly indeed! They mainly danced in twos in groups of eight, and it is made up of six different dances which each last quite a while. We saw one but then headed back home.
Friday, 19 June 2009
Mother's Day
In France, we celebrate Mother's Day on 7 June and Father's Day is coming up on 21 June. It is taken very seriously by the school, where the teachers spent the week before working for it. Everytime I asked LissaLou what she had done at school, she replied she couldn't tell me as it was a secret!
On the day itself, I received a lovely card with a poem which she recited to me, and then she sang a sweet song. I filmed it so I shall add the words sometime. Her Tatie at school had helped each child make a lamp (minus the bulb!). Bertie spoiled me with three roses - in Guadeloupe! Bliss!
At church we received beautifully decorated pencils and cards from the girls. Then we went for lunch with Bertie's sister, but strangely enough it was the women who did all the work and who gave gifts - I received two lovely bags from my two SILs. I questioned why the men did nothing (perhaps they feared the results?!) and explained how in the UK we got spoiled and everything done for us throughout the day. My SIL was most impressed and decided to come to the UK for her next Mothers Day!
We look forward to another poem and song from LissaLou on Sunday and Papa's present (a bowl - but shhh, don't tell him! It's a secret!)
On the day itself, I received a lovely card with a poem which she recited to me, and then she sang a sweet song. I filmed it so I shall add the words sometime. Her Tatie at school had helped each child make a lamp (minus the bulb!). Bertie spoiled me with three roses - in Guadeloupe! Bliss!
At church we received beautifully decorated pencils and cards from the girls. Then we went for lunch with Bertie's sister, but strangely enough it was the women who did all the work and who gave gifts - I received two lovely bags from my two SILs. I questioned why the men did nothing (perhaps they feared the results?!) and explained how in the UK we got spoiled and everything done for us throughout the day. My SIL was most impressed and decided to come to the UK for her next Mothers Day!
We look forward to another poem and song from LissaLou on Sunday and Papa's present (a bowl - but shhh, don't tell him! It's a secret!)
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