The end of a cycle

Seven years ago, here is Lily on her first day of school, her five year old self very excited about a new adventure. And here we are, seven years later, this young soon to be woman heading off for her closing party. These have been seven great years. Paul Bruchési has been a super school. I am constantly impressed by the bright mix of children and the very committed and inspiring teachers. A mama could not ask for more. So it is not without some nostalgia that we say good by. We will see what the next adventure will bring!

First morning 2009

 Paul Bruchési has a tradition which is called "la haie d'honneur" where all the kids in the school make a tunnel with their arms on the first day for the kindergarten classes to pass through as they enter the school and on the last day for the grade sixes on their way out. 

Lily and her fast friend Annaëlle found each other on their first day. 

Not so sure about heading through all that long chain of arms.

Intimidating for the little ones to make their way all the way through the tunnel of 'big kids'.

And seven years later...

Lily with her dear teacher M. Pascal and the principle having just received her diploma.

La haie d'honneur 2016.

Lily is still following Annaëlle though this time they both have quite a lot of bending to do to make their way through the archway.

And then later that evening...Lily, en route te her 'Bal' - a BBQ and dance at Parc Lafontaine.

A new hair style for Mama.

 

Heading down the same street. Is this my little daughter?

The two fast friends.

All the sixth graders.

The Danish Chair

Time and time again I am struck by the beauty and simplicity, not to mention the comfort of the chairs that I encounter, be it in a train station, a little café or a fancy hotel. Here are a few of the beauties.

A day exploring Aarhus

 First things first, the theatre. A great space in an old school building. Some poaters around town that seem to imply that there is a show coming.

 

Peter has a real art for routing out the interesting and off the beaten track places in a new town. This one is another free roaming space that must have been railway land. People have now made homes and workshops out of railway cars there is a communal space in the old customs building as well as showers and toilets and little gardens and playgrounds tucked in and around. It is all a very intriguing mix of anarchy and order.

This building houses a big flea market and some artist's studios. The sloping roof s much like the deck of a ship.

This is a truly amazing space, a glorified 'free store', a place where one can bring things that are no longer wanted and collect things that one might need - all free of charge. Again, housed in containers, each container contains one sort of item - books, sports equipment, furniture, kitchen stuff, children's toys, etc. Each container is impeccably organised and an inviting space to be as you see by this sitting space in the book container. Some of the containers even have green roofs! Ils sont fou ces Danois!

This is a recycling education centre - all made of recycled windows.

The danish do seem to be a rule abiding nation. Here are some of the rules!

There is lots of art about town. Here this is a moving mobile structure, each of the three arms turns independently.

The opera house and it's very fine door.

Arriving in Aarhus

Just off the train.

My home for the next five days.

Out the window. Aarhus is the second biggest town in Denmark (after Copenhagen). It certainly has the feel of a bigger city.

Odense

Here we are again on the train between towns. We have done this stretch of track three times on this trip. We are getting to know it! Odense was a beautiful town.  The name Odense comes from the nordic god Odin - it means Odin's town. We had bright sunny days, the spring flowers are all in bloom, there is a lovely river through town - great for running along. It was a short stay, two and a half days with two shows and so our time to look around was limited but here is some of what I saw...

These narcissi are all around town. Joy full greetings!

Hands Christen Anderson comes from Odense and he seems to be it's principle claim to fame. Here we are in front of the house where Anderson grew up - I think it belonged to his grandmother.

This is our hotel - Motel Ansgarhus

My room is the balcony on the right. I didn't spend much time there but what a treat, to have a place to sit in the sun in my own room.

My lovely little room.

 Momentum theatre

We don't often see this. Two nights completely sold out. The presenter here said that they could easily have filled a third show too. I was very impressed with the audiences here. They are very educated and cultured and are obviously used to seeing all sorts of performances. The theatre does a great job at making a welcome space for people to come and see and share.

This is the smallest theatre that we have done so far with PRISMES. It was a bit of a squeeze but we ended up fitting it all in.

Some colours

 I had two great runs along the river. The first morning that I was out I came across this... a tiger! It turns out that there is a zoo on either side of the river so as I was running along I saw tigers and camels and giraffes, monkeys, and ostriches... not our usual companions on our morning runs!

One of the runs along the river the others went by bicycle and I ran along. We discovered this installation, part art object, part teeter totter.

There are all sorts of childrens's parks - for children young and old!