Monaco: The Smallest Country in the World and a Fairy Tale Story

Blog #4
Dear Mrs. Brink, Mrs. Tomlin and Class:

Do you know the name of the smallest country in the world?  Have you ever heard of Prince Rainer?  How about Princess Grace Kelly?  Well whether you have or haven't I am going to tell you their story.

The smallest country in the world is just 16 minutes from our villa and is called Monaco.  It is the longest reining monarchy in the world.  (That means they have had the same family of kings or princes since the late 1200's.  They even have a real cool changing of the guard in front of their palace every day)  And for those of you who don't like to pay taxes it is a tax free country.  Yes, no income taxes at all because there is a beautiful casino there that makes a bunch of money.

Grace Kelly was a beautiful American actress who married handsome Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956 in a fairy tale wedding at their 235 room castle in Monaco.  So she became the most beautiful princess in the world.

Princess Grace and Prince Rainier at Their Wedding

Princess Grace and Prince Rainier had three children, Prince Albert, Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie.  She was a fabulous movie star and played in many great movies.



 But on September 13, 1982 Princess Grace and Princess Stephanie were driving just minutes from our house and had a horrible car crash.  Grace had a stroke while she was driving and lost control of her car.  Her car plunged off a cliff that we can see from our terrace at our house.  It is very steep.  It was a miracle that Stephanie was able to survive with only a few injuries but Grace was stuck in the car when it finally stopped rolling down the cliff.  She died the next day in the hospital.  Everyone was very sad as it was tragic.

Here is the Cliff

This Is The Monument Where She Went Off The Cliff

Monaco and it's biggest city Monte Carlo is one of my favorite places to visit here.  In fact, I was there last night because Mrs. Brink's son Justin came there on a huge private yacht and he came to our house for dinner.  So I got to stay up late and take him back to his boat.  It was really cool.

Justin and Me in Monaco
(See the Casino In The Backround)

I hope you liked the story of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace Kelly.  If you want to hear more history of France, just let me know in your comments because I still have 4 more blogs to go.

The Prince's Castle

The Magnificant Casino In Monte Carlo

So for now, Maddy out.
Talk to you next week.
-Maddy


Comment Corner:

WOW!!  You all went nuclear.  18 Comments!! Awesome.
Plus it was great talking to all of you this week at school  I really miss you all so much.

Katie:  Can't wait to see you too Kat. You wouldn't believe the stuff they served today.  It smelled HORRIBLE!  All I ate today for lunch was 4 pieces of bread.

Mrs. Ross: Yes luckily my parents are good cooks as that is the only thing keeping me alive.  Ha Ha.
I am so happy we get to work together again after school when I get home.  My mom said maybe even 2 nights a week.  Can't wait Mrs. Ross.

Mrs. Tomlin:  Not a great way to go on a diet but you would probably love the food in France.  Just not at my school.  By the way I am loving doing the graph of the temperatures you suggested. It is really neat!

Mrs.Santello :0)  You have a great memory.  When I was younger they did let me go home for lunch every day.  That was paradise.  But not anymore.  I could bring my lunch I guess, but no one does so I would look sort of odd and they would make fun of me.  And there are a lot of landmarks from that period around our house but we don't really study history much here.  It is weird with a capital "W".

Christopher:  Thanks so much for the comment.  I would love it if you commented every week. I am making friends here for sure but I am still having trouble understanding everything they say. Have a good time too.

Maggie:  I miss you too.  Thanks for writing. The weather here is good but not as hot as in Florida and definitely not as humid. And yes we get boat loads of homework. My favorite thing about being here in France is that it is really a lot different than the U.S.  I'll write a blog later next month about some of the funniest differences so when you and your mom come visit us you will be prepared.  Miss you too.

Kylee:  Yes I have been to Paris a couple of time; the first time when I was 6 months old.  And yes the Eiffel Tour is really cool.  I actually climbed to the top once. I will bring some pictures and show you. I do drink some of the wine here but I like dad's Cognac better.  But don't tell him.  :-)  And yes the schools are really different here and they teach in a totally different way.  Much more strict too.

Maddie A.K.A.W.  Ha Ha too funny Maddie.  Yes there was a wedding here last year but it was between Lilliane my Guinnea Pig and Sugar the Rabbit that just died.  And yes luckily they have the best water in the world here or I would die of thirst.

Kyle:  Hi Kyle.  Really I am as lucky as you because I am doing all the work you are doing and my work here too.  Mrs. Brink sends me all the assignments and yes I also took that aweful test.  There are street performers in Nice but not many here but there are some homeless hobos in the street.

Mrs. Brink:  It was so great speaking with you and our class.  Plus Justin is the BEST!!  And yes my mom gave him several big hugs from you.  About mushrooms.  You might like the ones in Florida but trust me, the ones here are disgusting.  I wil be happy to give French lessons to the class when we get back.  For fun here I have been loving You Tube.  Miss you so much Mrs. Brink.

Laura:  Hi Laura:  What do you mean crazy?  You must be talking about here in France.  LOL.  Believe me it is very hard speaking French all the time.  I really don't know which place I like better because they are really different.  All I know is that I miss you and our classmates. Thanks for writing and keep me posted on those science experiments.

Xavier:  Hey Xavier!  Of course I remember you.  I am having a great time but I miss EVERYONE in Florida.  I have been inside and climbed the Eiffel Tower.  The view is amazing from the top.  I really don't like my school much but I do have some friends.  And that is the craziest question ever: no my teachers don't have mustaches.

Sydney:  Hi Sydney.  Actually I think it would be a great idea to write a book on France.  Maybe you could come over here and help me? (If your family agrees of course)  See you too Sydney.

Erick:  Hi Erick:  Yes you are right, I do hate the food.  Haha!!  The Eiffel Tower is really big and looks just like it does in pictures.  It is really fun to climb and I think that is what you would like best.

Tori:  Tori!  Now answer this.....why on earth would I forget you?You know what, I feel the same thing about you; it is just not the same without you.  Miss you bunches and thanks so much for writing.  Can't wait to see you too back at school.

Thanks again all of you for the great comments.
More to come next week!!!!!
-Maddy

I Thought The Food In France Was Supposed To Be Good!

Blog #3


Dear Mrs. Brink, Mrs. Tomlin, and Class:

I think most of you know that the French are famous for cooking.  Well, let me tell you the real story.
The food at my school is terrible!
Yes I mean TERRIBLE!!!!  But I'll let you be the judge.
(Here is the monthly menu for September.  Luckily most of you can't read French to really understand how bad it is)

I think even the cooks know it is horrible.  Funny thing though is that some of the kids at school actually like it.  How could they like an appetizer of beets and nuts or liver pate` with pickles?  Or how about taboule`.  I don't even know if I spelled it right.  Even when they had pasta they filled it with all sorts of stinky mushrooms.  That's fungus I think.  Unbelievably some of the kids at my table like it.  So I give them some of my food so it looks like I ate it.  And believe it or not I'm saving the worst for last.

Here is the menu for September.
Can any of you figure out any of the foods?

Let me give you a few examples.  Every Friday they have fish.  Last Friday they had some really smelly stuff and then some slimy dessert called flan.  On Thursday we were actually pretty excited because it was a surprise menu.  They called it Bio which means organic in English.  I thought it might be chicken with some tasty fruit for dessert.  No way.  For an appetizer we had carrots and chopped mushrooms in some mystery sauce.  And that was the good part.  For the main course we had a spinach soup with onions and more mushrooms.  (Maybe they were on sale?)  And the worst part was that the Director of the school came into the cantine (lunch room) and made us eat it.  I almost puked.  Luckily the next day we had ground beef or I would have starved.  I wish they would let us take our lunch to school like in Florida.

I would love you all to come visit me in France.  I know you would love it.  But trust me I don't think you'll like the food.  I promise though, that I will not force you to eat it like they do to me.

Yucky French Mushrooms

Look at These Stinky Fish

A Mystery Meat with a Bone!

See you all next week.
Maddy from France

Comment Corner:

Mrs. Tomlin:  Thank-you again for the awesome comment.  You won the prize for 1st to comment two  weeks in a row!  And yes we do eat the grapes from the vine.  They are so sweet and juicy.  (But my Dad gets  mad if I eat too many)
Plus I am making a chart of the temperatures as you suggested.  Pretty cool, really!

Katie:  You would really hate the food here at school.  They never have steak.  Your brothers would hate it too.  Luv ya and miss you so much.

Vendange 2010

Blog #2

Dear Mrs. Brink, Mrs. Tomlin and Class:

Well it's that time of year again.  For those of you that don't know, our family makes wine every year.  Yes that's true; right from our back yard.  We planted the grapes in 2001 and every year we invite our friends to help pick them.  It is called the Vendange (harvest) and it is something we do every year.  I really don't like wine very much but our friends in France say "le vin est sensationnel."  And even though I don't like wine much, I love to cut the grapes off the vines.  This year we had the biggest harvest ever, nearly 1.3 tons of grapes!  I guess you will just have to come here and try it as we can't bring much home due to the French tax laws.  But we make about 800 bottles a year so there is plenty for all of you.

Here are some pictures for you.  I especially like the one of me when I was 2 years old helping mom and dad plant the vines.  And, thanks for all the comments.  Remember if you like to see your name in print all you have to do is comment and I will for sure write you back the next week.  And it is super easy to make a comment.   All you have to do is click on the word comment at the end of this week's blog and it will take you to the comment screen.  You don't even have to be a Google member to leave one.

Peeking Through The Vines

I always cut the best bunch

Our Rosenberg 2009 Rose`

Me planting the grapes in 2001

The Vineyard Now in 2010

Comment Corner:

Mrs. Tomlin:  Hi Mrs. Tomlin!  Well to answer your question about my animals, my dogs do travel back and forth with us from Florida but Kookie the rabbit and Lillian the guinea pig stay here in France.  Thanks so much for my VERY first comment!

Chris and Don Esposito: Thanks so much for writing. I can't wait for you both to come and see us next week and maybe we can do my next blog together?

Katie:  I miss you so much.  I really can't wait to come home :-(  I was thinking about what it would be like for you to come here with me.  That's how I manage to get through some of my bad days so I don't scream like an idiot.  I miss you bunches.

Cousin Krissy and Family: Wow, I didn't know you could use the North Star to help find latitudes.  Amazing.  Thanks for reading my blog Cuz.

Peyton:  Hi Peyton.  Thanks for reading my blog as it reminds me of all of you at home.To answer your question, our weather here is really quite perfect right now.  It is usually in the high 70's during the day and 60's at night but that could change really quickly in October.

Mrs. Santello:0)  As always, thanks so much for writing.  And two times!  I know you remember but if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have started my blog.  Thanks again so much for writing.  And I'll bet that all the fifth grade classes at Willis will be learning about latitide and longitude this week.  Pretty cool.

Mrs. Brink:  Thank-you for all the emails.  I love it when my mom reads me your letters.  To answer your question the latitude and longitude of Paris is 48.48 North and 2.20 East.  And, I am so excited to meet your son next week here in France!

Arial:  Hey Sissy.  I miss you sooooo much!  I really hope you like Kookie as I know how much you loved Sugar. I hope school is going well for you too.  I wish you were here but I know that next year you will be here helping with the Vendange.


OK, that's all for this week.  Stay tune next week when I write about how HORRIBLE the food is at my French school.  It is disgusting!!  You won't believe what they make us eat.

Maddy....signing off for now.

44 Degrees North Latitude

World Latitudes

See The Palm Trees

Blog #1 September 3, 2010

Dear Mrs. Brink, Mrs. Tomlin and Class:

Maddy here back in France for more blogs about this year's trip.
Just to remind all of you who haven't been part of my 5 years here, I LOVE COMMENTS!!
I promise to all of you that if you send me a comment I will ALWAYS write you an answer back in next week's blog.  It's a deal!

Well, I know you are studying latitudes and longitudes in science class and there is something very strange about the latitude here in Villefranche.  Our latitude, where I am sitting right now is 44 degrees North.  And that is way north of where you all are sitting now in Bradenton Florida which is about 27 degrees North.  But even though we are about the same as Minneapolis Minnesota or Ottawa Canada it is very weird because we have citrus and palm trees and it doesn't snow or get cold like Canada or Wisconsin! 
So I wondered if we are so far north why it stays so warm?  Do any of you know the answer?

OK ready?  The answer is because of two very special things.  One is that the water from the Gulf of Mexico by Florida actually moves here during the winter and is called the Gulf Stream.  The second reason is that the warm winds from the Sahara Desert in Africa blow here in the winter across the Mediterranean Sea.
Amazing!!

Extra! Extra!
News about me.  (If you don't want to hear you can skip this part)
Well I think many of you didn't know but my rabbit Sugar died 2 weeks ago.  So, I got a new bunny.  Her name is Kookie.  She is tan with a white belly and some black dots around one of her eyes.  But...she doesn't get along with my guinea pig Lillian like Sugar did.  I still think a lot about Sugar and it makes me sad.  :-(
But this is about Kookie not Sugar.  She is still very afraid of me since I had to give her a bath yesterday.
(She smelled bad)  If you want to see what she looks like there is a picture in our math book at the top of page 207.  But if you really want to see her, look above.

OK that's all for now.  Remember to send comments and I will be back next week with another French story.

-Maddy

This is Definitely NOT Canada

Bugs, Bugs, EVERYWHERE!!!!!!

Dear Mrs. Ross and Class:
Blog #7

Hello Everyone. Maddy here again from France on my last blog of 2009. I know especially the boys will like this one. It is about the biggest display of bugs I have ever seen.

OK. Let's start at the beginning.

Yesterday we went to a village perche` (hilltop village) called Tourette-Levens.  This village is over 2000 years old.  It had a huge chateau (castle) and inside was the biggest collection of dead bugs I have ever seen.  Over 6000 of them.  There were butterflies, ants, beetles, spiders, and all sorts of the ugliest bugs I have ever seen.  And now, I am going to give you a few fun facts that I learned:

Did you know:

1]  That there are millions of animals in the world but insects make up over 75% of them

2]  The average moustique (mosquito) has 47 teeth but it is their nose that gets your blood.

3]  An ant can lift 50 times its own weight.  But a honey bee can lift 300 times its weight.  If we humans could lift 300 times our weight, we could lift over 15 tons!

4]  There are 300,000 types of beetles which is the most of any insect in the world.

5]  The eggs of a walking stick insect are the largest insect eggs in the world and are almost 1/2 inch long.

I wish you all could have seen all these bugs.  Especially the creepy spiders.  I never knew there were so many of these creatures all over the world.

I miss you all so much and I'll see you in a few DAYS!!

-Maddy

P.S.  Remember I told you about the special ways dogs are treated here?  Take a look at the following pictures.  Can you tell which dog looks like his owner?

B-Borie

Dear Mrs. Ross and Class:
Blog #6

Hello Everyone.  Maddy here again from France.

Most of you know I have a second home in France.  It is in a petite (little) historic village called Gordes in Provence France.  In this village there are very interesting little stone homes called Bories. 

What are they?
Where are they?
Who lived in them?
Why are they made from rocks?
How old are they?

Great questions but some of the answers are hard to find.  However, I will respond to most of those questions in the following paragraphs.  So, here we go!!!

What are Bories?  Bories are little stone homes that look like Igloos.  But, they are made of flat roches (rocks) instead of ice blocks. 

Where are they?  The Bories are mostly located about two miles from our house in a very old part of France where cavemen lived.  We even have one (with a well) in our back yard.  In fact, there is an entire group of them called The Village Des Bories.

Who lived in them?  This is a more difficult question.  Archeologist's think they might have been temporary shelters for shepards.

Why are they made from rocks?  Rocks are very protective and they kept them safe.  Much better than wood so they were very strong and still here today.

How old are they?  The Bories are very old.  They date back to the Neolithic Age which was over 4000 years ago.

I hope my answers inspired all of you.
Talk to you all next week for my last Blog.
-Maddy
P.S.  I miss you so much.  I am on the countdown: 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1

P.S.S.Thanks so much Mrs. Santello for the great comment on my last Blog.
I also brought you a stone from the Borie village so you can add that one to your collection too.

P.S.S.S.
A super thank-you to my sister Arial for the great comments last week and the encouragement.  I love you so much.

-M

Nazi Occupation Reminders Everywhere

Dear Mrs. Ross and Class:
Blog #5

Hello again.  Maddy here from France.  This week we all took a promenade (walk) on a brand new trail along the sea that the French government just opened up this summer.  It was really cool.  It was a reminder of the Nazi occupation of our town during WWII.

Who were the Nazis?  Nazi's were the German soldiers who invaded northern France in 1940.  That was only 69 years ago.  Then in November 1942 they actually came to our ville (city) of Villefranche and occupied our port and our homes.  Lots of people died in the battles.  There are memories everywhere in our village.

The Nazi occupation set up bunkers called "pill boxes" along the opening of the port to guard our harbor from the Allies.  Today we went to those bunkers on the new trail.  I don't know how the Nazi's got here but probably from U-Boats on the water as there are rocks scattered everywhere.

As an American, it is really hard to imagine your country bombed, invaded, and trapped like mice.  But reminders like these make me remember how brave the soldiers and people of our village must have been.

I hope you like the pictures.
More to come next week.

-Maddy

P.S.
Thank-you Mrs. Santello, Mrs. Herrera and Mrs. Ross for your comments.  I think of you all when I write my blog.
P.S.S.  Mrs. Santello, I even picked up a rock from the bunker for your collection.

Answers to Class Questions:
Thank-you Mrs. Ross and Class for your comments.
P.S.  Anyone who comments I will try to write answers in my next Blog!!

1]  Yes it is crazy that there are no dogs allowed in cemeteries especially when they are treated like people here in France.  Just wait for 2 weeks and in my last BLOG will be all the strange things dogs do around here.  Complete with pictures!!

2]  Yes, I did see bones in one part of the cemetery.  It was really scarey.  It was a dirt part and I ran like crazy because I was sure someone or something was watching me.

3]  The newlywed couple is doing great.  Sugar the Rabbit just got his driving liscense.  I had to make a special car just for him with a steering wheel, brakes, and a comfortable seat.  It was really neat.

4]  It really did not freak me out visiting the cemeteries until I saw those bones.  Now I REALLY believe there are ghosts there.

I can't wait to see all of you and that is great news about the laptops! Thank-you so much for reading my Blog.  It makes me feel so much a part of our class.

-A Bientot Maddy