Crossing the English Channel we head over to FRANCE which will be our 5th country studied after England, Scotland, Ireland and Iceland. When I think of France I think of vineyards, wine, cheese, baguettes, croissants, the Eiffel Tower, old castles, elegant churches, farm cottages and the French Riviera – oh, and my husband’s annual favorite… Le Tour de France. Can’t wait to explore!

PASSPORTS:

We start off our country by stamping our passports, pasting in the flag, and noting the name of the country, continent and the main language(s) of the people in that country. We’ll also color in the country on our world map in the centerfold.

MAPPING:

• Color the Dover “Around the World”  Map/Facts sheet
• Learn about flag symbolism, colors.
• Explore all of France through GOOGLE maps! So fun!
• National Geographic MapMaker printed map of France to label and color (this time we used some colorful photos to find locations and paste in)

ABOUT the COUNTRY:

• Visit the official French Tourism site www.rendezvousenfrance.com
• National Geographic overview video Destination France
• National Geographic slideshow around France and more
• National Geographic KIDS Go – France
• WorldAtlas – France

LANGUAGE:

• learning some French with Mango Languages online
• remembering a tiny bit of mom’s French learned in Canada in school!
• Listened to English speaking French dialects at IDEA – International Dialects of English Archive – France.  What is interesting is at first they read the same script choice of a couple – but then afterwards they just talk freely about their life or whatever is interesting to them… and that is when you can really hear the different dialect differences shining through.

LANDMARKS/WONDERS:

• Eiffel Tower
• 360 pano of the Eiffel Tower
• vineyards
• Cluny Abbey
• Channel Tunnel, France
• Pont-d-Arc Cave
• The Way of Saint James
• Lavender fields in Provence
• compare the different coastlines – Atlantic, Channel, Mediterranean, Corsican
• French Chateau

READING:

• Madeline series

MOVIES:

• Ratatouille
• The Aristocats
• An American in Paris (not filmed in Paris though)

PEOPLE:

Read about a French child in the ‘Children Just Like Me’ by Kindersley book.

Some other famous French citizens:

• Napoleon Bonaparte
• Marie Antoinette
• Cocoa Chanel
• Brigitte Bardot
• Jeanne d’Arc
• Cyrano de Bergerac
• Jacques Cousteau
• Marie & Pierre Curie
• Paul Cezanne
• Gerard Depardieu
• Christian Dior
• Yves St. Laurent
• Louis XIV
• Louis-Philippe I
• Henri Matisse
• Louis Pasteur
• Nostradamus

WILDLIFE/FLORA & FAUNA:

• French Dog Breeds
• Guide to Wildlife in France – Alpine Ibex, Beech Marten, Chamois, Common  Genet, Loirs, Polecats etc.
• France for Birdwatchers

ART/CRAFT:

• color in stained glass windows – Dover book
• embroider lavender sachet
• Versailles photo frames (picked up an ornate frame from our co-op blessing table for free! Pebbles painted it with gold paint.)

CUISINE:

• Beef Bourguignon with Roasted Potatoes
• Tarte Tatin (Upside-down caramelized apple tart – this was VERY rich and delicious, best with ice cream and tart still warm)
• Chocolate Croissants or Eclairs (we bought these from the bakery)
• Quiche Lorraine (made from scratch! Huge hit with the whole family!!)
• Baguette with different cheese selections
• Pain Perdu (like French Toast but we like to make with Hawaiian Bread sliced thick)
• Crepes (OK so really we cheated and made more like Swedish pancakes… very thin pancakes)
• Chicken Cordon Blue (Happened to already have these in the freezer from Costco!)
• Croque Monsieur (Crunchy Mister)
• Madeleines (A hybrid type cake and cookie in a pretty scalloped seashell shape – happened to find in the bakery ready made as well. Easy!)

REFLECTIONS ON FRANCE

Super fun country to explore!! Not sure if the Beef Bourguignon would have been better had we not had a 3 hour power outage from the storm right in the middle of making it…. either way, too much wine taste for the kids. Won’t make again. 😉

We could have spent months on this alone… but many calories later… it is time to travel south west to SPAIN!