Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving on Thursday everybody! (I am saying it now because I will surely forget to on the 27th). The French don't celebrate Thanksgiving, naturally, so I won't be having Thanksgiving dinner this year, unless you are planning on sending it to me in the mail Mom. If you do decide to do that just remember that I don't like cranberry sauce, so you can leave that out. And I don't like sweet potatoes either. Just send mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and of course turkey. To make it easier to fit in a package, you can stick it all in a blender until it turns into a beige looking puree. Mmmm! Can't wait.

P.S. don't forget the straw

Régate - part two

Well, things went well with the regatta on Sunday. In all there were six of us on Monsieur Quétel's boat, The Octopus. I was given a very specific job. When we changed tacks it was my job to release the ropes holding la grande voile (main sail) to allow the boom to swing over to the other side of the boat. Then I would lash it back down in its new position and join the rest of the crew on the edge of the boat with my legs out over the side to provide a counterweight. We repeated this process constantly, especially when we were tacking against the wind. Monsieur Quétel was at the tiller and he was the one giving all the instructions and calling out when it was time to change tacks.



The Octopus in all its glory! I am the second from the right, trying my best to be a good counterweight.



That big red sail is the Spinnaker, or "spi" for short. We hoisted this sail when the wind was more or less behind us.



Here's a good view of the front sail (in this case a genoa, which is used in light or moderate winds).

Régate

Tomorrow I am taking part in a régate, in English, a regatta : a rowing, speedboat, or sailing race or a series of such races. In this case it is a sailing race. Monsieur Quétel invited me to be on his crew. I told him this would be a great opportunity for me to try out my new peg-leg and eyepatch. I have so much pirate paraphernalia and so few opportunities to put it to good use. But Monsieur Quétel said it probably wasn't a good idea since his was a legitimate ship and we probably wouldn't have any time for pillaging anyway, being in a race and all. After much discussion we decided that I would leave my pirate gear at home but I could still call all my crew-mates "me harties." It was a good compromise. I'll let you know how it went tomorrow.

Veterans Day / Armistice Day

Happy Veterans Day and Armistice Day! Today reminds me of a story I had forgotten to tell you. The last time I was at Maëlle's house in Nantes I noticed an old dented bugle sitting in the living room. I thought it would be fun to play so I asked Maëlle if I could try it out. She said yes, so I picked it up and played Taps (very slowly and badly I should add). It was only after I had finished that Maëlle told me the bugle belonged to her great grandfather who used it in World War I. I didn't think to take a picture of it at the time, but I will try to remember next time I'm in Nantes.

Sanglier (wild boar)

Here is, as promised, a visual representation of one of the wild boars I saw, the father boar to be exact. Now, at first glance you might wonder what makes this boar so wild. He might even look like a pretty respectable boar. Ah but it takes a discerning eye to pick a wild boar out from his respectable brethren.

Notice the bowler hat carelessly, nay rakishly perched on his head, as if to issue a subtle yet insolent challenge to any passers-by. On top of that he has chosen to wear a cravat without the accompanying shirt and waistcoat. A respectable boar, when donning neck wear alone, chooses a scarf or a "foulard" as it were. From these subtle clues we can conclude with confidence that this is in fact a wild boar, very wild indeed. If you ever happen to cross his path, it's best to keep moving as quickly as possible while avoiding eye contact. If he does address you though, respond politely and be especially sure to compliment his cravat.

Wild Boars!

Friday afternoon while Madame Quétel and I were driving home from school we suddenly saw a cluster of animals crossing the street which divides two pastures. At first I thought they were small bears, but as we got closer I realized that they were wild boars! We stopped the car to let them pass. They were two adults and three children. My thoughts immediately turned to Lord of The Flies, by William Golding. I felt an irrepressible desire to leap out of the car, shed my encumbering garments and hunt some wild boar in the state of nature. Unfortunately I realized that I had left my spear at home. Plus I didn't want to be late for dinner. By the time I reasoned through all this the Boars had already crossed the street and were almost out of sight.

P.S. Regretfully I did not react in time to take a photo with my cell phone, but I am working on a visual representation, which I will upload shortly.

Beware of the Dog

A while back I was looking for a good short story to use in my classes. Eventually I stumbled upon Beware of the Dog by Roald Dahl. It's worth reading; the imagery and the way he makes transitions are great. If you want to read it you can go to the following site:

http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/botd.html

If you like it you might also want to check out Flying Solo, an autobiographical account of his experience as a pilot in the RAF during WWII. It has been a while since I read it, but I remember really enjoying it.

Three days in Saint Malo

We caught the sunset on Friday while on a walk. The town in the picture actually isn't Saint Malo, but it is really close. To see the rest of the pictures just follow this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/evilmoosethecat/SaintMalo02?authkey=33I74n-IhPo#

All the pictures of Saint Malo I've posted there were taken by me.

...Hold on my mom probably just fainted in disbelief so let's give her a few seconds to come around. My dad is probably going for the smelling salts right now; either that or Moose the cat (Moose usually stinks strongly enough to be a handy alternative to smelling salts).

OK! Welcome back mom. Yep, I took those pictures. And you can expect more in the future!

I'm back in Nantes at Maëlle's house so I thought I would write a quick message. Saint Malo was great! I took a lot of pictures that I will post when I get back to my computer in Guérande. We went to the beach (the English Channel) and walked along the ramparts of the city. Also it was really windy and kind of rainy, as it often is in Brittany, so I caught a cold the first day. But it wasn't too bad. I took large amounts of cold medicine to counteract it.

Uh oh, Maëlle needs to use her computer so I'm going to have stop here for now.