Sara Sakura's visit

WILD BOARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After two years of searching for sangliers (wild boars), Syd found a field not too far from school where a family of 10 graze daily. Shane and I quietly walked halfway in the field to get a closer look. As Shane likes to say, "Come on, let's explore!"

Below is a video of Shane telling you all about the sangliers. I added some text below the video as the volume on my tiny camera didn't come through very clear.

So, you wanna explore the wild boars? Or, they're right behind me?

Okay, come on...let's explore!

They're wild pigs....They have tusks...and they are scared of humans.

But we're not going to scare them. Be quiet.

Sue, Danielle and Nicola's Spring Break visit

Mallory's BBF (best friend forever) and her family, our good friends Sue and Nicola, joined us for their Spring vacation. We have known this delightful family for close to nine years so spending the week together was very special. It also helped Mallory gain some enthusiasm for returning! She was recently accepted to the Washington International School and will be with both Danielle and Nicola. We are thrilled they will spend their high school years together!

During their visit, Nigel and Pilou Brown hosted us for a fantastic lunch at their lovely home.

Here they are presenting me with an Obama sari birthday gift which they purchased in Tanzania. GO OBAMA! Pilou is an INCREDIBLE hostess and friend!

We spent a day on the Mediterranean coast, at the spectacular Figuerolles Calanques.

Danielle joined Mallory at IBS one day, so Syd, Sue, Nicola and I joined friends in Cassis for lunch.
Annina, Julie, Sue and Nicola
Syd and Sue at Chez Gilbert in Cassis...what a lovely March afternoon al fresco lunch!While Mallory and Danielle studied, Nicola dipped her toes in the sea!

Sue, Danielle and Nicola are rather sporty, but we were all surprised by the intesity of hiking Mont Sainte-Victoire with 60 mph wind gusts! Despite the cold wind and slight panic with a few of the summit gusts, Mallory loved taking a day off from school to join the hiking group's weekly hike, this time to Cezanne's muse! My Dutch friend Sandra Besselink joined this memorable hike.

At one point, we were afraid the girls were going to blow off the top of the mountain!

Below is a short video of Mal and Danielle at the summit:

On our drive hime, we passed Pablo Picasso's former home where he is buried, in the nearby village of Vauvenargues. In 1958 Picasso bought this 14th century château, primarily due to its proxity to Mont Sainte-Victoire, which was painted more than 30 times by Cézanne. "I have just bought myself Cézanne's mountains," he proudly declared! Nice view...

Sue and I enjoyed catching up and wandering the streets of Aix-en-Provence. She helped raise my enthusiasm for returning as well since we are in a book group together and enjoy active weekend outings with the kids. She is an remarkable woman, perfectly juggling her VIP job as a chief economist at the International Monetary Fund with being a really wonderful parent and friend.
A visit to Aix is not complete without a morning at the market.

And thanks to the market goodies, Syd prepared a lovely Algerian Lemon Chicken dish.

We have lovely memories of their visit! Thank you, Sue!