Let me introduce you to Goûter. Goûter is our friend. We can’t get enough of Goûter. Goûter comes to visit every day around 4pm ish. We usually take Goûter to the park and share a nice cup of hot chocolate from a flask. But often we just stay at home with Goûter. Goûter is always different. Somtimes sweet and sometimes salty but always yummy 🙂

No Goûter isn’t a new pet. Goûter is actually the word used for ‘an afternoon snack’. When kids get out of school they typically go straight to a nearby park or head home. Around 4pm every French child will be eating goûter in the hopes that it will curb their appetite until dinner. Here in France it’s almost like a strict mealtime. If you walk in to a French park around this time, you may see a whole group of kids sitting on a blanket, surrounded by a whole bunch of Mummy’s. They are sharing goûter together. Goûter normally consists of a gâteaux of some kind, that’s akin to Little Debbies for my American friends 😉 Or perhaps a mini pain au chocolat or a kind cracker called a tartine with Nutella on top.

Yesterday, when I went to pick Poppy up from school I could see that the teacher was handing something to the children as they walked out to meet their parents. Poppy was given one and came skipping up to me. She held up a little tinfoil parcel and a jar of what looked like applesauce. She explained that they had made goûter that morning. I could tell she was itching to rip open that little tinfoil parcel but I told her I wanted to take a photo first 😉 (Why do I feel like I just admitted something embarrassing?)

We hurried home (unsuccessfully being able to hold herself back). She sat on the coffee table and obligingly let me take a few photos. Inside the parcel was a little vanilla, chocolate chip gâteaux and in the jar was compote (applesauce in French). As soon as I had finished with the photos Poppy devoured the gâteaux–thankfully not before sharing a morceau with Henry. Then I asked her if she needed a spoon for her applesauce, she barked at me, “ma compote!”. Sassy French speaking little mischief!

Poppy is blowing my mind with her French these days. My favorite time is when she shouts at me at the top of her voice in French. Even though I have to correct her for shouting at me, deep down I’m chuckling at how cute she sounds. Obviously, as we all know, children learning another language have much better accents than adults learning the same language. Poppy’s is perfect. I have to admit something else. There are times when I ask her to repeat words in the hopes that I can repeat after her and copy her accent. I’m so aware of how dumb I must sound saying to a 3 year old “Poppy can you repeat that word again…..papillon? ok thanks”.

This first photo is of Poppy having a drink of hot chocolate from a flask, on a brisk afternoon at the park.

The following photos are of Poppy having just come home from school and posing for the camera. Can you tell she is itching to tuck in…again 🙂