Yeah! I know my Merde!

Tonight I began french lessons with profs Ben et Leah.   Leah quizzed me on my grammar and I got an A! Yes! I know my Merde!   She will be my french conversation, literature and language instructor while  Ben will teach me french history and geography.  My first lesson with Ben went back quite a bit to how the monkeys adapted to the trees dying by evolving into standing and walking Australopithicus.  All of this in french, bien sur.    I will surely pass my French citizenship test with their help.

For my birthday, Marc offered to send me to the Alliance Francaise in Paris to learn french.   What a dream come true this is.  I will come back une vrai Francaise.  I feel so lucky.   I am so loved and everything that I ever dreamed of is coming true.  Earlier this month, while we were in Paris for the 5th time in the past year, OMFG, Marc re-proposed to me  under the Eiffel Tower.   It was so romantic.   He got on his knee and placed his mother's 20th anniversary diamond on my finger, a stunning solitaire diamond that I named Mont Martre because of the size.  Yes, size does count, dear, as you know (hehe :).

While in Paris, we celebrated Marc's 50th birthday with his family and friends.  Jacqueline prepared a very elegant soiree, we had foie gras and other french delicacies.  His cousins and aunt and uncle bought him a night in a Relais/Chateau anywhere in  France.  I will benefit from this gift, too :)   We also visited his friends who were happy to celebrate as well and they dressed him in a very Parisian shirt and scarf, transforming Marc into un tres chic Parisian homme right before my eyes which I found very attractive.  We visited another of Marc's dear friends, Lors.  She is an oncologist/psychologist who he used to work with.  She and her husband are lovely and they have 5 children between them ages 3 - 20.  There home is a restored farmhouse just outside of Paris that was an auto repair garage when they bought, they sure had some imagination to restore that place to the farmhouse it once was. Under the asphalt driveway they found a cobble stone courtyard, what a find!   and what a great house, I look forward to seeing them again, they were truly genuine.

While in Paris we also explored the 3rd, 5th and 9th, and 15th arrondisements.  We walked for hours in the Marais by the Place de Vogues and the petits rues around the Jewish bakeries and kosher delis.  We had Israeli food for lunch and since it was still passover, we indulged in kosher pastries.  We visited Marc's cousin Victor who was exhibiting his abstract paintings at an art gallery in the Place de Vogues.  The chic stores and boutiques around the Place are a delight, we strolled into L'Artisan Parfumeur for some samples and ideas and found an authentic aromatherapie shop.  Marc bought me a beatiful handbag from a local Parisian designer whose  leather goods are all made in France.   Its such a lovely part of Paris and one of my favorites.

We walked around St Germain de Pres and the Latin Quarter with Victor and Ariane where we ran into Jacques Chirac at an art gallery.  Hey Jacques!  The small streets filled with art galleries and boutiques are so much fun to visit, I could spend days there.   That night we ate a cous-cous with Victor and Ariane, I tipped the belly dancer to dance with Marc, he wasnt shy.  

We climbed the windy, steep streets up to Mont Martre, which was bustling with people that spring day.  We enjoyed a crepe while watching the artists in the place de Tertre, another of my favorite places to explore.  We go there every time we are in Paris and every season its different.  

I miss my daily croissants and walks along the Seine.  I look forward to next time and the next and finally when we are living there for 6 months out of the year.

After we returned from Paris, we headed to California with the little kids to see the big kids, including my dad.   We had a great time in Ventura even though the weather was better in Boston.  Sam heard from UCLA while we were there and this exciting news made my trip.  I am so proud of all the hard work he did to achieve this accomplishment.  He really deserved this and now he can move in with his brother beginning this summer.  Jonathan is even happier as he doesn't need to find another roommate for the apartment they both rented.   Its Sam's dream come true.  All the peices are falling into place and I am much calmer and at ease to know my boys are happy and together.   Sometimes I still wish they were still small and living with me and Marc and the little kids, but I am very happy with the young men they are becomming and I enjoy every minute I am with them.  I look forward to sharing Boston  and France and Marc and Ben and Leah with them in the years to come. Our last night we all went out for sushi, the big kids and their girlfriends, the little kids and Marc and I.   It was a glimpse of the future.  Jonathan even drank a toast with us to Sam, it was great.  Life is the best when you are living it with someone you love.