Fall

It's that time of year when le matin, ça caille, in the morning, it's freezing, and l'aprè'm, in the afternoon, the jeans, socks, boots, sweater, scaft and coat you piled on in the morning make you swelter! That's how it's been this week; getting colder each morning, and it's still dark by the time my bus comes at 7.30, when last week it was light by the time I was half way to the bus stop. It's fall!

Like last year, and probably every year, one week out from the fall Toussaint vacation, the kids are starting to be a bit crazy. And the classroom teachers are definitely ready for a break. They've been going straight out since the beginning of September, and the upcoming week-and-a-half off will be much appreciated. For the assistants, it's a bit of a different story. This week is the first complete week teaching, meaning that for most of us, it feels like the impending break is cutting us a bit short. It's hard to get your stride and start the year when after 4 sessions, the kids go away for vacation. But at the same time, I think it's a good thing to get to "test the waters," as it were, then have a bit of time to step back, regroup, and then be even more ready to charge ahead until Christmas vacation. That, too, come up surprisingly quickly.

After a full day - the 3rd meeting with my Monday/Thursday students this year - it was great to take advantage of the sunny, brisk weather and jump on my bike and go for a ride. There is a beautiful canal that runs south from Metz all the way (I think) to Nancy, not quite 50km away. While I certainly haven't ridden that far, the path along the canal is perfect for any length ride. And I think my timing couldn't have been better, since la météo is predicting an onset of even colder temperatures and rain coming this weekend. Alas, even perfectly beautiful fall must cede to rainy November.