Purposeful family living - with a French twist
Bonjour! I'm Michele Cherie: francophile, teacher, writer, runner, wife, and mama to five children. I'm a non-native French speaker from the West Coast, USA. My husband and I recently relocated our family to Alsace, France. IntentionalMama shares our bilingual journey and resources for a culturally-rich family life.
We arrived in Lyon two weeks ago, mid-August. The city seemed both paradoxically full of tourists and empty of Lyonnais citizens, as is normal here in August. Since we are living in Vieux Lyon, tourists are ever present in this Renaissance neighborhood and UNESCO World Heritage Site, but it has been a relief to see the crowds dwindle and the restaurants re-open as locals return from summer vacations.
Read MoreThis week marks the third week my children have attended school here in France, with my preschooler attending public school and my elementary-age child attending a private school. I'm extremely grateful that they've had this opportunity, and yet we're all glad that we will return to homeschooling (back in the U.S.) by next month. The flexibility and individualization allowed by homeschooling is wonderful, but we still feel that our time here in Lyon is wrapping up too quickly!
"No, no, no--not in August!" This phrase is a French joke between my husband and me. It stems from a conversation we had with a French friend when we were visiting France to attend a wedding several years ago. Our friend stated that French teachers would never return to work in August. They'd choose to go on strike rather than work in August, which is essentially national vacation month in France. (The French receive a minimum of four weeks of paid leave annually, and the majority of the French take a month for vacation in either July or August--usually the latter.)
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