Ma Nouvelle Famille

Being that I hesitated to hop on this blogger bandwagon, I feel the need to catch up with some posts.

Remember my French host family? Well, they are still here and adorable as ever. We live in a small but nice apartment on the North side of town. When I return home, the historic Mont Saint Victoire (I'll explain this some other time) towers in the distance.

Try to imagine. Michèle: petite, short gray hair, loves her cats. She is very generous, but does not hesitate to tell you the truth. Although she seems capable of a strong temper (I would never want her to be angry at me) she has a wonderful laugh that I love to hear. Alain: photographer, amateur Egyptologist, loves his cats. He likes the Beatles and cowboys. The other morning as I was happily eating a tarte aux pomme (essentially apple pie) for breakfast, he came in to wish me good morning. When I looked up I saw that he was wearing those zip up pajamas you see on three-year olds. It was covered in a bumblebee pattern. I can't get over how adorable he is.

The other night after dinner we started discussing music and the various artists they enjoy. They brought a CD player and a stack of CDs into the kitchen and started playing some songs by the Belgian singer Jacques Brel. At one point we simply sitting there at the empty table, silent, listening to the power of his songs. Of the few I heard, my favorite by far was Jaurés. As Michèle described it to me, it is a song sublime; better felt than heard.