Strike A French Pose

In this selfie-centric world, some of us are better than others at striking poses that don't look strained and hideous. The SJG arrived on Planet Oy Vey destined to squint, blink and ruin memorable photo-worthy occasions: yearbooks, weddings, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and pretty much any birthday celebration I've ever attended, including my own. So today, as we schlep cautiously into the second day of 2019, I'm sharing a few shots from our French trip that hover in the vicinity of decent. In this pic, my eyes are open, and I'm with French-speaking Billy at Musée D'Orsay, in a glitzy mirrored Parisian ballroom. Après Chloé captured the heartfelt moment, I reminded the eldest that the first movie he ever squirmed all the way through, at the tender age of three and change, was "Beauty and the Beast," and that meant he needed to swirl me around the ballroom, a la Belle & Beast, or face the consequences. "Ça ne va pas se faire, Mama," said he. Translation: "Not gonna happen." So hurtful.

When you see a pretty Christmas tree, you simply must pose! It's the law in France and many parts of Belgium. So we're doing what's expected of us in Bouillon, and freezing our tushies off at the same time.

In Reims, where they don't pronounce the "m," so it sounds more like Ronz, mainly just to confuse and humiliate me, I posed a question to the universe: "Où est la bibliothèque?" Translation: "Where is the library?" The answer came back, in a shameful manner, courtesy of a son, I forget which one, for I was frosty and traumatized from yet another bad beanie hair day: "It's right in back of you, Ma." "Oh, so it is. Excuse me while I'll go inside and read up on disinheriting my children." "You're not allowed to do that in France," Chloé informed me. "Fine, I'll wait till I get home." 

Not to worry, I changed my mind after touring Pommery, a wonderful champagne house in Reims, and sampling several offerings of bubbly. And so ends the French adventures of the SJG and famille.

 Santé to you and yours. Or if you prefer, l'chaim.