Andre - Rockin' in Eguilles

One of the nice surprises about our town is the several activities organized by the city. So far, my two favorites have been "La Journee de la Glisse" and "La Fete de la Musique."

"La Journee de la Glisse" was something to see. It was held at the local Skate Park and it was a gathering of local skaters, rollers and BMXers. They all gathered for a day of friendly and largely disorganized competition. It was an occasion for the locals to showcase their tricks. All of this to the sound of Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and French Alternative Bands.

The following week-end - we attended "La Fete de la Musique." Each year, on June 21st, every small or large town across France hold a music festival to celebrate the first day of summer. In Eguilles, we were treated to a hard rock concert. It started at 21:00 - (or 9 pm) and people from the town gathered to listen to music, eat pizza and dance in the local square across City Hall. While the group was largely unknown to us, the thousands - well, maybe the tens - of screaming fans appreciated the show. As you can see in the pictures, Samuel and Sophie showed their moves...

Gabrielle - Samuel - Handball Tournament

During our second week in France we started playing handball. It is not very popular in Canada but in Europe it is a big thing. Samuel thinks it is like soccer with hands and Gabrielle thinks it is like basketball and soccer mixed together. For the first 3 handball courses we did drills and played games with other people in the group. The fourth week consisted of one of the largest tournaments we have ever been in. There were over 100 teams. Samuel and Gabrielle were on the same team with 4 other boys. Gabrielle was not extremely happy about this arrangement because she was the only girl on the team.

The tournament went really well. Samuel and Gabrielle won 2 out of 5 games. They each scored 4 goals in total. They were very good goals at that. Right in the corners. Samuel was the goalie for half of the time in 3 games. Some of his saves were hilarious. One knocked Samuel's hat off and the other bounced off his head and hit the crossbar. Another hit him in the face.

Here are a few pictures of us in action:

Gabrielle - Zoo de Barben

As I mentioned in my last posting we went to the Zoo de Barben during the second week. Mom and Dad kept it a secret and it was one of the most well kept secrets I have ever tried to figure out. It took Samuel and I about 30 minutes to figure out where we were going. We asked about a million different questions and once I knew that there were any animals at the place we were going, Samuel and I figured it out instantly.... the zoo!!!

At the Zoo de Barben we saw the animals do very interesting things. The hippos were so cool. They snorted through their nose and played around in the water. One of the hippos needed to see an orthodontist fast. His tooth was sideways! We saw a giraffe that was 6 meters tall. There were huge muddy rhinos and beautiful zebras. They actually put zebras in the rhinoceros pen. I was afraid the zebras would get injured or worse.


Another very nerve-racking experience at the Zoo de Barben was walking through a vulture pen. I loved it but at the same time I was worried. You had to be quiet so you don't frighten the vultures. At any time I thought Samuel and Dad were talking too loud, which was many times, I would tell them to quiet down because the vultures were going to get scared. I sure wouldn't want to be the zookeeper who has to get very close to the vultures and feed them. I would freak out!!


The part I found the grossest was the monkeys. They were cute when you look at their faces but let me tell you, it is revolting when you see their behind. I know mostly all behinds are gross but this was just off the charts gross. You eat your meal in the monkey section so I had to look at my family and food because that is the only way you can avert your eyes from the monkey behinds.


I did not have my camera on this trip so I don't have pictures to show you but I promise the next time we go to the Zoo de Barben I will take lots of pictures to make up for this.

Gabrielle - Equestrian Experience

Within a week of being in France, we found a horseback riding stable just 10 minutes from Eguilles. We actually found it accidentally. We were on our way to Zoo de Barben when mom and dad saw the Club Hippique sign. We turned in and 10 minutes later we had horseback riding lessons for the coming Wednesday. The owner is very nice. His name is Alain. He is also the instructor. I was so excited I screamed at the top of my lungs out the car window and scared Sophie.

For the first 3 lessons I rode a horse named Surcoup. He is a chestnut with a blaze and 3 white socks. Another girl is riding him now and I took her usual ride, Zorba. He is a bay. He is on the verge of being unhealthily skinny. You can see his hip bones and his spine popping out. He is patient and listens well for grooming. For riding, doing sitting trot, he kept walking but overall he was fantastic. I can do more jumps with him which I couldn't do with Surcoup because he would go uncontrollably fast.

Here are a few images of my first time on Zorba:

Samuel - A Month in France

Getting here was stressful. We were on a plane for 6 hours and a train for 4. When we got to the house we were amazed. The house and the grounds are huge. The owner told us that on the grounds there are pear trees, plum trees, and cherry trees.The town is nice. It has a post office, 3 bakeries (one is really close to us), a nice park, a small supermarket and a city hall connected to a church. Right across is a tourism office that we went to almost everyday in the first three weeks while we waited to get Internet at home. The two ladies there were very nice.

I am adjusting very well, I love not going to school, and my French is already getting better.

Samuel.

P.S.: Above is a picture of my room.

Bienvenue

Welcome to the "KlineTurcotteenFrance" Blog. We decided to start a blog to chronicle our adventure in France. Gabrielle and Samuel will provide numerous postings on what they are doing and what they think about living in France. Andre and Donna will also join in and also update you on Sophie. To start, we have a few pictures of where we live.