A very big week!

My very exciting week started last night about 11:15.  Marie-Jeanne arrived at RDU from Cavaillon, France, via Marseille, Francfort, and Washington, DC.  She is in the middle.  She is mom to my Frenchie friend Olivier.  We met three years ago on the New York in French social networking website.  He introduced me to Mme P

who is now my very good friend.  Our students are pen pals and now we have an exchange program (her school board just approved our 2013 plans!).  Olivier came to Durham with the group in 2011.

His son participated in the exchange this year.

And now his mom is here!  Marie-Jeanne is an amazing woman.  She loves to travel and often does so solo.  She has seen more of the US than I have.  A retired English teacher, she has exchanged homes with Americans many times.  (Anyone out there in New York or Alaska... those states are on her list next...) My friends, Lyn and Dave, are at her house in Cavaillon for the next six weeks, while M-J is here.  Dave's sister, who recently moved to the area, rounds out the trio in the first photo.  Bonnie speaks French fluently, having spent a year in Belgium and several summers in Avignon at the summer festival.  I will see Lyn and Dave in one week because Olivier and his wife are having dinner for a whole group of us at their home.  
My sister-in-law arrives tomorrow from Brevard.  She is spending the night chez nous so that the Ex-Ex can take us to the airport on Tuesday.  Then the adventure begins!  Paris, here we come.  I will feel like doing this--

Not the kissing, but the leaping for joy, even if I have to do it with an umbrella, in the rain.  (My travel mantra:  We have no control over the weather or the exchange rate.)  But I do expect les bises from the Best Guide in Paris when we meet him for lunch and a walking tour of Montmartre.  Charcuterie, fromage, vin rouge... music to my ears.
I did manage, at the urging of JC, one of the BFF-ers traveling with me, to get tickets to the second floor of Mme Eiffel for 9am Thursday morning.  The last ones available, I think, because I checked the website again immediately after I got ours and no more were to be bought.  Bravo!  Go moi!
After three glorious days in Paris, we will head down south on the TGV.  M-J delivered the train tickets to me this morning.  I gave Olivier euros in March and he bought them for us on the first available day for un prix intéressant (a good price) on the first day he could, 90 days in advance of travel.  It's hard to believe that in one week I will be back in Provence.   But it's true!  Pinch me.  And pour me an apéritif, please.  The aforementioned sister-in-law is anxious to try the preferred drink of Provence--

Pas de problème! I bet Olivier will be only too happy to pour one for her.

I made these for Marie-Jeanne's first breakfast--

Bienvenue Chez Moi Blueberry Muffins

makes 12

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1 c. fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 400˚ F.
Prepare 12 muffin cups either with paper liners or by greasing them.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt with a whisk.  Make a well in the center of flour mixture.  Set aside.
In another bowl, combine egg, milk, and oil.  Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture and stir just until moistened.  Stir in lemon peel.  Gently fold in berries.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each two-thirds full.  Bake for about 18 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean.  Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes.  Remove from muffin cups.

Bon appétit, mes amis!!  Time to start packing!