Deauville Dispatches: Of salons, sand, and salles de classe

Just 3 days between me and Easter vacation with my lovely parents and then my darling cousin...three more days left with her in Deauville for that matter. 2^3 classes left for me to teach. It makes sense, then, that my time since I last posted can be divided into three categories.

ONE: The Salon du Livre

Enter authors, artists, illustrators, musicians, publishers...some very nice, some very self-important, some very bizarre. Friday, the day when the salon was open to school groups, I accompanied Rudy, an editor for Benjamin Medias, to the creche and the 3 year old preschool classes. We did listening activities with bird sounds and dramatic recordings of his book "L'ours qui fait ce qu'il veut" (The bear who does what he wants), as well as walking around the room like a bear. Rudy proved to be a good ally throughout the salon, which for me as an indentured servant had its ups and downs. While I was doing "filtrage" (ie being a bouncer, ie generally being bored witless) for the authors' meals he would come over to entertain me a bit with discussions of why his American flag sweater has 56 stars and the like. When I was off duty Maggie and I enjoyed visiting the various book stands, workshops with illustrators and authors, and seeing the drawings the schoolchildren did as part of a contest for the salon. Speaking of my students, I saw tons of them this weekend and even got thanked by one mother for teaching her child both English and to put on his scarf. What can I say, I go above and beyond in my work.

The painting my CP/CE1 class did in a workshop with one of the illustrators in attendance.

TWO: Sand
Maggie made a good choice in deciding to visit at the end of her break because for the most part she has had excellent weather and we've been able to take advantage of the beach. I believe that's been the site of much reading for her during my lessons, and she and I have taken tons of walks along the water's edge. We have to do something to offset all the cooking (and eating) we've been doing!

This photo was not taken on the sand, though it would have been an appropriate spot.

The port

Maggie poses with the Trouville market

Katherine came to the beach to chat with us during one of our breaks from the salon

This has nothing to do with the beach but everything to do with how we are making the most of our time together. Blue cheese burger with sauteed mushrooms and onions, salad, and fruit and yogurt for dessert. YUM.

THREE: Salles de classe

While dear Marge and I have been forced to spend some time apart she did accompany me to my CP and CE1 (1st and 2nd grade) classes on Monday. For one thing, I wanted her to get the full Deauville experience and see how cute/crazy my students can be. I also figured I should take advantage of having another native English speaker around so that the kids could hear another accent. Maggie helped me present a conversation about pets to my CE1s and read the childhood classic "Caps for Sale" to my CPs, who loved it (see below for proof). Also of note: my students were shocked to learn that Maggie's house in Colorado is a 2 day drive from mine in Kentucky. Understandable, but still funny.