Cueillir des cerises

During our week long stay at La Bonne Etoile in Fontaine-Fourches,  Eva loved cherry picking! 

Copper Pot With Corks

In 2009, we spent a week at La Bonne Etoile in Fontaine- Fourches, FR. Kippy and Jerome had this fabulous copper pot of corks that caught the morning sun. I'm ashamed at how many times I photographed it before it got it just right, for me at least.

Deux Amis

  

Serge et Jerôme,  very good friends enjoying an afternoon with wine and conversation.

La Bonne Etoile,  Fontaine Fourches, FR

Cerises pour Eva

This from our 2009 trip to Paris and Fontaine-Fourches.  The backyard at La Bonne Etoile was a wonderful playground for Eva and Davis. They kicked the ball, picked carrots, explored, made fairy houses and saw for the first time cherry trees!

La Bonne Etoile Mélange I

Blue Doors

A copper pot of corks.....

becomes a village!

Ready for bed, but it stays light till 10:00!

Le bleu du ciel

Green Acres!

A rainy day today so we headed for the first big French supermarket we've seen. So many things to choose from but everything's in French!ha Somedays I will be adding more Paris photos so be sure to scroll down and check for these as well.

Out and About!

Fairy House #1 by Eva
(The fairy leaves a treat of some kind in the night!)

Art Exhibition in Thorigny sur Oreuse

Multi family garage sale French style!

Red Shutters

We are so enjoying our stay at La Bonne Etoile! Today we ventured out with Kippy to a neighboring village for a French brocante/ garage sale! It was great fun seeing what was for sale, and we all bought a few treasures. We also stopped to see an art exhibition in a nearby town and were actually able to vote on our favorite piece for the judging. Of course we are all enjoying the slowed down pace of life in the French countryside here. I had another afternoon nap! ( I could get use to this ) and meals on the lovely terrace are special treat.

I am experiencing LONG delays trying to load photos so my posts may not go up at regular times.

Ahhh, the French Countryside!

Talk about culture shock. We left Paris this morning and after a nice drive through the countryside, we arrived in Fontaine-Fourches! La Bonne Etoile is such a beautiful place. Just what you imagine a French country farmhouse is like. Our hosts Kippy and Jerome were out of town but their dear friends Serge and Caroline greeted us and served a wonderful lunch on the terrace. I promptly cozied up in a comfy easy chair and had a little nap. The children have had a delightful time exploring, making a fairy house, picking cherries and trying to make friends with the two French chats! We are already feeling relaxed and at home here.

Jardins du Luxembourg Redux

The Captain
(#11 - 100 French Strangers Challenge)

Today Eva, Davis and I took a nice walk back to Luxembourg Gardens. First stop the ice cream stand at the entrance. We all got a scoop (boule ?) from the friendly owner who apologized for his anglais! My stars, my français is much worse!! We sat a watched the ducks at the pond while we ate our glacés. As we were headed to find the smaller version of our Statue of Liberty, we passed this amazing boat. Luckily the "Captain's" son spoke perfect English, mainly because he lives in Philadelphia! The bateau, named the Sirius, is just a wonderful collage of strings, tiny drawings, more string, beads, miniature people, more string and assorted baubles and a little junk thrown in. See for yourself.

On our way home I took the plunge and we made our way to the poste. I was more than a little worried about how I would purchase stamps en français ( mainly because we have some "stamp Nazis" in several post offices in Birmingham) . Not a problem, they had helpful employees wandering around that 1. spoke English 2. Walked me through the whole French stamp machine process. 3. APOLOGIZED because the stamps weren't "pretty"! I personally didn't care what they looked like as long as I got them.

Our last day in Paris, tomorrow we pack up all our worldly goods ( and we have many more than we came here with) and make our way to the countryside to La Bonne Etoile. I'm a little sad about leaving our nice apartment and all the wonderful things in Paris that I still haven't seen, but since Fontaine-Fourches is only 60 miles SE of Paris, I plan to make some trips back here now and again on the train. That said, we can hardly wait to see what all Kippy and Jérôme have planned for us. Tomorrow's post will hopefully be photos from their lovely home.

The Glacé Man
( #12 - 100 French Strangers Challenge)

You know who this is .

Catching some rays and a nap at the gardens is a common sight.



The Friendly Pony Guy
(#13 - 100 French Strangers Challenge)

Le Petit Truck
( Eva and Davis LOVE this one! Davis calls it a "Smart Car Truck" )