What a week-end! We started off with the end-of-the-year Cub Scout ceremony. This one was bittersweet because we were seeing some of those kids and families for the last time probably. We have spent two nice years with Troop 112. It was sweet to hear people say they would miss us (and EJ’s cooking skills at the campouts!). I felt more of a connection with this troop than with the one Emmanuel had joined in Orinda. Even though most kids did not even go to school together and only got together for scouting activities, there was a great atmosphere. The kids were less wild than in Orinda and the parents were great, a mixture of American couples and “mixed” couples with some other nationalities thrown in. The rest of the afternoon was spent at a show in Les Halles gardens where Gabriel and Emmanuel’s capoeira group was part of the performance. Who knows if they will pick it up again later?
Today, we participated in a garage sale in a nearby neighborhood. In France, you don’t have a garage sale, you join a neighborhood event where everybody spreads out their wares on the sidewalk. It is called a vide-grenier, “empty the attic”. It is a fairly new phenomenon; I don’t remember anything like it when I was growing up. Traditionally, we do a “vide-grenier” before leaving for the US. We had lots of things to get rid of, toys, books, clothes and miscellaneous stuff. This one was not particularly well-attended, but it was new this year and in an area without much foot traffic. We did ok and the weather was nice enough all day, only turning to rain as we were packing up. Gabriel got a bit blue when he saw one particular toy walk away with a little boy. But he recovered and was pretty happy tonight when he counted his cash and put it in his piggy bank.
Even though we are abandoning Europe for a little year, we did not forget to go vote in the European elections which were held today. As expected, the participation rate was abysmal (about 33% or so).
