Parc Oriental de Maulévrier

Je suis partie avec ma classe de 5-6 ans jeudi et vendredi 23-24 avril au Parc Oriental de Maulévrier. Voici quelques photos de ce superbe parc.

PEEK-A-BOO

KATIE'S CREW

We helped Ted with his next move - getting his China stuff from Los Angeles to San Francisco where it will stay until he makes the overland trip to his new home and job in New York. He rented a U-Haul to drive it all from Los Angeles to San Francisco and we were waiting there when he arrived.
A group of Katie's former deaf-ed students were parked outside of Evan's building. They came to move their car just as Ted arrived in the U-Haul. They offered to help us unload the truck - a big help since Evan was unable to help much after his latest health scare. We got the truck unloaded pretty quickly.
Then we had to return the U-Haul before 7pm. No problem - we had more than twenty minutes to get from Haight Street to Bayshore. Unfortunately there was a lot of traffic (as there always is) on 101. Ted stopped at a gas station to fill the truck. I made it through the gate with five minutes to spare but the guy closing the gate told me that he wasn't going to let anyone else in after 7. Ted arrived with the truck but true to his word the guy at the gate wouldn't let him in. Ted had to turn on the water works and play the my-dad-just-had-a-stroke card (and give him $20) before he agreed to let Ted through the gate to drop off the truck.

BIRDLAND

We have had this birdhouse for the last five years but this is the first year that a bird has taken up residence. She is sitting on some eggs but it is hard to tell what is going on because every time I approach she makes this hissing sound that means "Back off Buster!".

A FACE IN THE CROWD

After BookClub (next book: Revolutionary Road) AMG and I went walking to the Ferry Plaza Market. We do this after almost every book club meeting but in the past few months AMG has been really busy preparing her portfolio for Teacher Board Certification. She's all done with that part of the process (the big content test still to go) so she had time for a leisurely stroll. We often hash out the book and what we felt about it on these walks.
While we were at the market (trying to decide whether we really needed the vacuum sealer that was being marketed outside Sur La Table) I heard my name called. Ellen and her husband Tom are having a romantic weekend in San Francisco. Ellen is an Angel (Cóir Áinglí) from Santa Cruz so it was a surprise to see her hanging out in San Fran. A really nice surprise.

THEATER

We took Vladimir to see "The Quiet Man Tales" at the Chicago Theater. The play was a dramatization of Maurice Walsh'e 1935 book of short stories "Green Rushes". One of those stories was made into the Hollywood movie "The Quiet Man" with John Wayne. The first half of the play was pretty awful - bad acting and bad Oirish accents. The second half was better with more action and better acting. Throughout the piece there was live traditional music. Vladimir was impressed. He told us that he was glad that we had taken him.
After the theatre we went looking for dinner but it was almost 10:30 and the first place we walked into was closing up. We walked across the street to The Elephant and Castle a pub-like restaurant that is part of a bigger chain (San Francisco has one).

THE VIEW FROM OUR HOTEL

WELCOME TO CHICAGO

Finally arrived in Chicago late Saturday afternoon. After a short walk to the
Orange Line we bought our 7-day passes (a bargain at $23 c/u) and were on our way into the city.
It took about 40 minutes to ride from Midway to State Street. Then a short walk up the block to our "hotel". We are right in the heart of things - the Downtown Loop, the Theater District, the Chicago River - all at our doorstep.

We had to figure out how to use the "swipe-key" to get into the building. The concierge saw us on the security cameras and gave us directions over a loadspeaker - very Big Brother.

We are located on the 21 floor. We are staying in PMcG's one bedroom condo in the west tower overlooking the Chicago River. Pat is back home in San Francisco for the Spring break. We are very lucky to have this opportunity to see Chicago from the inside.

GETTING READY FOR CHICAGO

Here's the subway route we take from Midway to Marina City.
It's starting to feel like a vacation.

Of course, the subway is not called "the subway" in Chicago - it's the El. We will be taking the Orange Line from Midway Airport to Marina City where we are staying.