Un Début et Une Fin (a Beginning and an End)

After four beautiful weeks of family, friends, heat, and English, I went back to France for one more year.

My journey through the airport was tranquil (mostly because I’m a traveling PRO now!). When I found my departing gate, I realized it was the same gate that I left from last year. The reference in my diary proves that I was sitting and waiting in the same place at the same time only 1 year and 3 days before! Here, I took some time to reflect on the past and future before we boarded. This time, I was much less anxious because I knew I’d enjoy the upcoming year. I wasn’t headed to live with strangers and I could understand the language. Whew! That makes things A LOT easier.

We boarded and, magically, I fell asleep almost right away and stayed asleep for the whole flight despite the rough turbulence we felt while flying over Hurricane Irene. This sleep helped me adjust immediately to the time zone. No jetlag what-so-ever!

Max (my boyfrench) was waiting patiently to pick me up at my arrival gate at CDG and then he brought me to Chaumes where my family greeted me happily. The kids showed me their new clothes and we talked about their summer vacation. After dinner, I unpacked and hit the hay. Of course, I was still tired after 15 hours of travelling.

We started business as usual Monday morning. I’ll be keeping the kids all day for a week (God grant me strength!!) until school starts. This year Eliott’s starting middle school and will have to take the bus for an hour to and from school (which means getting up an hour earlier to come back an hour later)! He’ll have a half day on Wednesday instead of a day off like Zoe. What changes! Zoe will be in what we would call the 4^th grade. No big changes for her yet. Per usual, Alain and Caroline keep on trucking with work. Me, too; I’ll be taxi-ing, cooking, washing, and entertaining as usual. I'll continue with french school in October at a new, higher level! Also, this year I’ll be undertaking my PA school applications and potentially a job or volunteer position on the side. Due to the normalcy and boringness of everyday life and the extra work I’ll be doing, I’ve decided not to write the blog anymore. I wanted to do a blog with regular posts that could amuse you all but with this new schedule I just don’t think I’ll have anything amusing to say nor time to say it. However, if you are curious about me or my life, you can still email me (Christy.Cork@gmail.com) or stalk me on facebook! To all my loyal readers, thank you for making me feel special!

Take Care everyone! Keep in touch!

Le 4eme et le 14eme Juillet (The 4th and the 14th of July)

This post will be mostly pictures!
My 4th of July dinner went well.


Hamburgers with the adornment of American flags made by Eliott and I.






Classically, an apple pie. Pretty, huh? It's my first one ever!!







And it looks even better like this!!














Then 10 days later, France held it's "Fête Nationale" or Bastille Day. One big French party all day long. Since we had the day off, my girls and I went to the Champs de Mars to watch the fireworks. It was BEAUTIFUL. We arrived early in order to get a spot. So here are a series of pictures of the Eiffel Tour as the sunsets:

And the fireworks show was simply fantastic. The pictures do no justice to what I saw. Here is the closest I could get.

Fireworks are beautiful in the first place but then when they light up the silhouette of the Eiffel Tour... it's magical.



Here's a video of the finale of the show. Enjoy!

Things I LOVE about America

Well, a little know fact about the fourth of July is that it is only celebrated in the US (shocker). Thus this coming Monday is no holiday for me. I don’t even have any American friends over here to celebrate with on the weekend! However, I plan to have an American dinner with my family: burgers, fries, and apple pie! Mmmmm.

One other thing I want to do for my small celebration of this event, is tell you all my favorite things about our dearest U.S. of A. So here goes:

1) First and foremost, America is my home. Some by chance and some by toil, we came to be born in this privileged place. It is engrained in us and cannot be erased out of our hearts and minds no matter how far we go or how long we stay away.

2) Our history- Yes, we are young in comparison to most, but our history is still very rich. We were born out of the dissenters of popular opinion who were willing to take a risk and today we strive to keep this spirit alive. We rose up to from modest beginnings to do great things like walk on the moon and invention of the internet.

3) Our military- We can debate about it how big or small or where they should go or who can be admitted but the principle is that these people have chosen to serve to protect us. They are the wall that separates us from enduring fear and allows us to live in tranquility.

4) Music and entertainment- American music and movies and TV are EVERYWHERE because it’s the best.

5) Spaciousness and Diversity- We are one big nation. To give you an idea, France is about the size of Texas. As a result of this size, we live spaciously. We have large, airy houses with immense, open yards with huge, roomy cars. To go from one side of the country to another takes 5 hours… by airplane… traveling at 500 miles per hour! As due to this separation, we become more and more diverse in each region. When people ask me what it’s like in the States, I tell them what I know about the South because I’m not entirely sure how it is other places. We’re all different but the same.

I’m very curious to hear what it is you love about America, so write a comment!

Finally, my dearest friends and my darling family, I wish you a Happy Fourth of July. Drink a glass for me and stay safe. I’ll be home soon!

(Literal Translation)

French
Avoir le Coeur Au Bord Les Lèvres (Ah vwar luh kur oh boar lay lev ruh)
Literal translation: To have the heart at the side of the lips
Meaning: To be hungover

A toute a l’heure (Ah toot ah luhr)
Literal Translation: To all at the hour
Meaning: See ya later!

Prendre la Tête (Pron drah lah tet)
Literal Translation : To take the head
Meaning: Annoying/ Playing mind games (usually romantically)

Ca veut dire (Sah vuh deer)
Literal Translation: It wants to say
Meaning: It means

Tout le monde (Too luh mond)
Literal Translation: All the world
Meaning: Everybody
Variation: Beaucoup de monde ->Lots of the World -> Crowded

Coup de file (Coo duh feel)
Literal Translation: Cut of line
Meaning: Phone call
Variations: Coup de Main -> Cut of hand -> helping hand
Coup de vent -> …wind -> gust of wind
Coup d’Etat -> …state -> overthrowing the government

English—sometimes when I explain my own language I get confused myself with words like these

Parking Spot
First of all where did we get the word parking from? Like a park? What does that have to do with cars? And then together, spot? Like the dog? Like a small mark on something? What? I propose we call them “temporary car homes” from now on.

Somebody
It’s the “body” part that gets me with this one. For example: “We are looking for somebody.” A body, not a person. I propose to change it to “somehuman”.

O’Clock
“It’s 9 o’clock”. O’ Clock? O’? Of? It’s 9 of clock? What? It’s just nonsense, what we say there. Proposition 3:

Pay Attention
How much do I owe him? Let’s say “focus” instead?

Getting into the habit
Does this mean we are all nuns? I have no proposition for this one.

Ma Famille d'Acceuil (My Host Family)

It’s getting harder to write things. What can I say? Life is normal and we do just about the same thing every day. I thought you might be curious about what my family is like and how everyday life works. So here it is:

Eliott is 10 and Zoé is 8 with parents Alain and Caroline. Eliott is very smart; he loves school and he does well. He also has an aesthetic eye. His room is always clean and arranged just so with his legos posed in various scenes. It cracks me up when he stands in front of the mirror, checking out how he looks before he goes off to school. One time we had guest over, including a young girl about his age. On his way to meet her to play outside, he stopped in front of the mirror and asked “Does this vest look better zipped or unzipped?” Then he decided for himself it would be the unzipped option and ran off with confidence. He is known as the comedian in his group of friends and as much as he says he hates it (only because he doesn’t want to practice) he loves to play guitar and he is pretty good at it, too. Zoe is not like Eliott. Her room is a disaster and luckily for her, her parents do not require that it be kept clean. She is a star. If she I not the center of attention, she is not happy. She will talk to you about anything and everything. Bless her, she is terrible at joke telling but when she really laughs, it is the sound of pure innocence and you can’t help but laugh yourself. I believe that she is as smart as her brother but she just has no interest in those things and so school is a bit of a struggle. I spend much more time with her doing homework and re-explaining English than I do with Eliott. At times she has this air of maturity far beyond her 8 years. And usually this is pretty funny. Yesterday evening, she contemplated out loud her choice of dessert with this particular air: “I’d very much enjoy a Dannette Crusti (chocolate pudding with crispy balls)… but then again…*as she carefully changes her gaze in the direct of the refrigerator then the freezer*… perhaps I’d prefer an ice cream. Hmm, yes, it will be the ice cream I believe.”

Caroline is reserved and quiet. She works the solid 9-6 and doesn’t always get home in time for dinner. Often we talk over tea after dinner. She loves to exercise and does a lot of sports. She is a good teacher for both me and the kids. Alain is very intelligent and runs his own company among other jobs. This allows him to have a flexible schedule and is home much more than Caroline. He loves being outside in his garden and will be out there in the dead of winter. He is a good teacher like Caroline and has taught me how to cook the French way (or at least his way).

Our week is like this: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday I wake up to get the kids up and ready for school. Breakfast is an options for the kids as the philosophy in the house is to only eat when you are hungry. But teeth are brushed by 8:15 and we go to school. I take the train to Paris for my school (to learn French) 3 days a week and I have a free day on Friday. I use my free day to do laundry!! I get back from school a couple of hours before I get the kids, so I use my time to organize dinner or emails or whatever. Each day after school there are different activities: dance, tennis, guitar, piano, music theory, etc… I make dinner and after homework, activities, and showers we eat together. Wednesday is the day the kids don’t have school. They have no idea how good they have it. Every two days you get a break from school. SHEESH! For me, Wednesdays can be awesome or awful. Normally, they sleep in till 10 or so and then watch some TV and invite friends over or go to a friend’s house. Playing with friends takes the pressure off of me and I can do whatever. But if they both have friends or both have nothing to do—that’s when I have to get to work! By Friday we are all happy that it’s the weekend. Usually, I spend most of the weekend in Paris with my girls or Chalifert, a little city not far from my little city, with my boyfrench. Then I come back by Sunday in time for dinner to catch up on the weekend happenings and prepare for the coming week.

All-in-all life is good and I feel lucky to be in such a great situation. Have a good day!

Rome Part 2

The Good
Our first official sight was the coliseum. It’s impressive now-a-days because it’s big and incredibly old. Our handy audio guides told us that in its heyday, it was completed with polished marble. After the empire collapsed, it became a quarry and much of the marble from there ended up in the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Cathedral. So in the pictures, it looks lopsided and destroyed thus you have to imagine the benches upon which thousands of Romans sat. In the center you can see the “basement”. This is the place underneath the arena where weapons, gladiators and animals were kept and prepared.

Just next door is the ruins of the Roman Forum. We didn’t have any sort of guide so I am at a loss of fun historical facts for you. You can see columns that still stand as well as their fallen counterparts who are scattered all over. There is a temple for the Roman God or Gods that is also the tomb of Nero. Or at least that’s what I was led to believe. I don’t know because there was no helpful information was written in anything but Italian. (Oops getting too negative! Sorry!) In the same area as the Forum was the Palatine which (again I’m making an educated guess here) is the area of the gardens and homes of the Caesar’s. Like normal, all that is left is bits of wall surrounded by rubble. However! The archeologists had uncovered the house of Caesar Augustus (the Caesar who ruled during the life and death of Jesus). It, too, is mostly rubble but as it was underground, the walls are more complete and you can make out rooms and tile floors. One special annex has some of the original frescoes!

Our next big sight was the Vatican! On our way there, we were stopped by people selling tours. Our experience at the Roman Forum taught us that tours are worth their price, plus we would get a student discount! Little did we know that this was the beginning of a fiasco. The woman was selling tours in English and her particular company couldn’t offer tours in Spanish or French but another just around the corner could. This company had a tour in Spanish and in order to catch my tour at the other company I left Sara there to handle that. The tours would begin at the same time, so we figured they would end at the same time, too. Here’s where the fiasco begins. The end of the tours would be in the Sistine Chapel. Ok, we’d meet there. Super. I run off to catch my tour in time and enjoy an informative tour on the Vatican Museums and the Sistine chapel. They explain Michelangelo’s most famous painting well outside of the Sistine Chapel because, what I didn’t realize and part of the demise of our genius plan to meet in the Chapel, is that it is PACKED with people. PACKED!! My tour group arrived there and I saw the crowds and started to panic. ‘How will I find Sara in all this mess? Will they kick me out after a certain amount of time?’ On top of that, the doors to the basilica had opened allowing only tours in. My tour went in but without me because I stayed to wait for Sara. I waited for over an hour to no avail. Meanwhile, Sara had had an issue with her credit card and missed her tour entirely. After she ran halfway around the city trying to find a working ATM, she thought ‘it’s not such a big deal, I’ll head over to the chapel, and meet Christy there without doing a tour.’ Not so, young lady. To get to the chapel you must go through all of the museums. To go through the museums without a tour, you must wait in a 2 hour line and pay 18 euros THEN find your own way to the chapel from inside. She started to panic, too. Trying to find a better way to do that, she talked to some policemen outside. Because she’s beautiful, one police officer gave her a free ticket and brought her in the special way so that she didn’t have to wait in line (this comes up to help us the next day, too). When she finally got in, I was not there. We figure that about the same time she was entering the chapel, I was leaving it. You see, all of this could have been avoided if I had brought my cell phone that day. Thinking we wouldn’t be apart, I thought I wouldn’t need it and it would only waste space. So after an hour of waiting, I left to go back to the hostel to get it to send Sara a message to tell her where I was. She received the message but didn’t see it for an hour. But finally, she knew and headed back. Fiasco ended. All in all it’s not so bad to be waiting for hours in the Sistine Chapel. I mean, I can think of worse places. However, you’re not allowed to take photos as it’s copyrighted by the company who restored it in the ‘80’s. Yet, there are still the idiot tourists who ignore the signs written in every language (the only one in all of Rome) that say NO PHOTO and blatantly raise the camera to their faces and, clickety-click, take a picture with a flash no less. So while in the chapel, you hear loud, angry guards yelling “NO PHOTO!!!!!!!!!!!” about a thousand times. Of course, I couldn’t leave without a photo, so I took one but I did it secretly and stealthily. It’s not very good but, never-the-less, it’s proof that I was there. We met up later that afternoon and laughed about the whole thing.

That evening we met up with a friend of mine from Scotland, Massimo. As much as I was frustrated by the stranger-Italians on the streets, all of my Italian friends are very polite and hospitable. Massimo is no exception. We met in the most fun, lively square and he took us on a night tour to the lesser known parts of the city and took us to the best pizza place and a great bar, too. He helped us plan the remainder of our trip and advised me on Pompeii. He was a fabulous guide and showed us a lovely evening. The next evening we went to a restaurant that he suggested and it was DELICIOUS and really cool. Thanks Massimo!!

I had thought about going to Pompeii the next day but then, after Massimo’s advice, decided there were more things to do in Rome. Plus I wanted to sleep in and not catch an early train (it was my vacation, after all)! We headed back to the Vatican, this time determined to stick together, WITH cell phones to take a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica. The man who had helped Sara the day before bumped into us there. We asked about the Easter Mass and how that works so he let us in and gave us invitations to the mass then led us past security and straight up to the Basilica! YEAY!!! We missed 2 hours of waiting in line AND got a golden ticket (literally) into Easter Mass with the POPE! The Basilica is rather impressive. Just after the entrance is Michelangelo’s Pieta, a marvelous work done when he was only 20-something. The Basilica was built on the graves of Christian martyrs as well as the supposed grave of St. Peter. In the center of the basilica is his tomb or at least monument. All around are statues that mark the tombs of many Popes. If you do one thing in Rome, I suggest that you take a tour of the museums, Sistine Chapel, and the Basilica!

We were to leave Sunday afternoon and by Saturday we had just a few “must-dos” left on our list. In the morning, Sara went to re-do taking a tour at the Vatican. I spent the morning relaxing, packing some, journaling about the trip, and making a picnic lunch. We met in a piazza that afternoon and dined in the gardens of the Medici’s. We went to see Piazza D’Espagne which is like Montmartre because of hordes of tourists lounging on the stairs. The piazza guides you to THE street in Rome for the rich and famous. All of the fabulous brands are there. The brands that young au pairs only dream of! We went to the Pantheon which is also a very impressive structure. For being over 3000 years old, it is very well preserved and rather impressive in its size and design. The dome covering the building is still the original stone! It also houses the resting place of Raphael, not the ninja turtle but the renaissance artist. There’s a 360 video in the pictures, if you want a little tour.
By far the coolest day of the trip was Sunday. I am not catholic but Sara is so she was the one who suggest going to Easter mass Sunday morning. I thought it would be cool, too so we both went. In order to get good seats, we arrived at the Vatican at 7 AM. We waited in line till 8:30 when they opened the gates. 8:30 was almost 2 hours early for the mass. We got some pretty sweet seats. We knew that the Pope would drive through a certain path so we picked out seats close to there. The process started at 10:15 and eventually the Pope rode by and was not more than 2.5 meters from us! He’s very old... The mass was read mostly in Italian but certain readings were done in all different languages. The pope wished the world “Happy Easter” in 60 different languages and I caught his English and French versions on video (although you can’t actually understand what he says). So we left after, grabbed our bags and headed to the airport to catch our plane to Paris.

We had such a lovely trip, but we were ready to head back to a country where we understand the language and customs. Luckily enough, my boyfrench came to the airport to pick me up and take me home (the French one)! So here I am, back in my little city with my family and all goes well. Till next time!!

Pictures here:

Rome

Rome Part 1

I like to judge cities on how much I want to live there. Paris, for example, I liked so much I came back to stay for a couple years. Yet, for Rome, I probably won’t be returning any time soon. Or ever. Don’t get me wrong, though! Sara and I saw and experienced things that are once in a lifetime if you are lucky! We took away happy memories overall from our trip. But as much as I avoid being negative in my blog, I am going to be honest and tell the good AND the bad of Rome.

We’ll start with the bad and then end on the good.

The Bad
In general, the city and its people seem to detest the tourists who are in fact the large majority of financial benefactors to the city. The organization of the city is for the Romans and not for the tourists. Basically this means that if you don’t already know what to do and you can’t read Italian, then you’re screwed. You are left with no other choice but to ask someone to help you. This person will most likely a) not speak English, b) want to sell you something, c) want to hit on you, or d) be annoyed that you don’t already know and project that they think you are a waste of time and space. For example, when we first arrived in Rome we wanted to go straight to the tourist information office as it was sure to be in the train station and we needed maps and suggestions and other things like that. We began, logically, by following the signs posted throughout the train station. This led us literally in circles and nowhere near the office. A man approached us asking if we were looking for information. As this is a city dominated by tourists, I believed it was possible that the office sent out satellite helpers to reduce the line in the office and catch the tourists lost in the train station. During our conversation, it quickly became apparent that he wanted to sell us tours. We didn’t need a tour. We didn’t want a tour. We just wanted to go to the flippin’ tourist office but when we asked for directions he said it was far and refused to tell us how to get there and kept selling his tour until we simply walked away. Ugh. Ok, take two with the signs. Nowhere to be found. Mind you, we are carrying all of our things and it was our past dinner time. After a good 20 minutes, we stopped in a store to ask where in GOD’S NAME is the Tourists Information Office. In a tone of voice that suggested he believed us to be simpleton’s, he told us it was on platform 25. First of all, why is it on a platform? Secondly, why couldn’t the signs have pointed us in that direction???? THEN! On platform 25, it was still difficult to find, and there is no clear sign to say “ INFORMATION HERE!!!” but by the grace of God we find the tiny little office tucked away in a place that a tourist would otherwise never find. We waited in line and talked to the girl at the counter who really had better things to do than to talk to us. UGH!!!!

But this is where I stop with negativity. I won’t tell you about the other experiences similar to the one above that occurred in restaurants and tour offices. We won’t go into how everyone on the street approaches you to sell you something, steal something, or give you the up and down with a ever so creepy “ciao bella” (or variation of that). We won’t tell you the crazy stories about our ill-managed hostel. Instead, I’m going to take a deep, calming breath and recount the fabulous things we saw and did.

(I made a second post because the Good half is rather lengthy!)
Pictures Here:

Rome

Florence

Saturday morning we caught the train to Florence. Ahh Florence! What a city! My favorite city of those I’ve visited in Italy!

We arrived Saturday afternoon and after finding the hostel, checking in and getting settled it was after 3 that we began an exploratory walk around the city. Many of the sights had lines out the doors and were closing at 5 so we rain-checked for another day. We were very tired from a day of traveling and a sleepless night (thanks to a Spanish Middle School’s trip to Venice) so we headed back. Also, somehow I had hurt my foot in Venice and the pain was increasing. Fortunately the hotel gave us free internet access and I was able to diagnose my foot on webMD. Ice, elevation, rest, and a brace, it suggested. All of that would be a problem (Europe doesn’t care for ice, we would be walking around each and every city for the next 8 days, in a hostel there isn’t a comfortable convenient place to elevate your foot) except for the brace. As I am too cheap to buy a brace at a pharmacy, I used my tights. Thanks ingenuity! It worked like a charm and I had few if any problem with my foot after that.

After an uneventful but relaxing Saturday night, we woke up wide eyed and bushy tailed for a day in Florence! Since we hadn’t done anything the day before, and we would be leaving the next afternoon, we really needed to get some stuff in. Two friends who I had met in Scotland, were good enough to come down from Verona to see me for the day. We thought we could sneak in a visit to the Academy Gallery, the home of Michelangelo’s David, before they arrived but it turns out the line took over an hour and we would have entered at the same time that they arrived. We were able to go with reservations later that evening. It was marvelous when we went. They have some of the unfinished works by Michelangelo and David of course, as well as more renaissance paintings. You’re not actually allowed to take pictures, so I had the sneak the three that I took. (Pictures on the link below!)

Catching up with Stefania and Sabrina was lovely. We left Glasgow 2 years ago and hadn’t really kept in contact since. They are both happily leading lives in the real world with jobs and what-not. They toured the city along with us and helped us translate at times. In the afternoon we were due for our reservation at the Gallery and they needed to catch their train, but we had ha such a great time, it was sad to say goodbye again.

Our last day in Venice was the day we the most touring. We started the day with the free tour that the hostel offered. It was a really great tour. She told us the history of the beautiful Duomo cathedral and it’s Dome. We went to the museum and house of Dante Alighieri (author of the Divine Comedy—the first ever work in Italian) and she pointed out the plaques above the street signs that were excerpts from his works that mentioned the building, shop, or family who were on that street. We passed by the “little pig” which is a bronze statue of a boar that supposedly inspired Has Christian Andersen to write a story and also will ensure your return to Florence if you touch its nose. We took a break in the most fantastic gelato shop, that she told us really makes its own gelato unlike the other stores that buy it frozen and resell it. We ended at the church where Michelangelo is buried.

After the tour we headed over to the Duomo Cathedral to see the inside and then climb the Dome. The Cathedral is rather impressive. The outside is white, green, and pink marble. And, of course, it is very large. Our tour guide called our attentions to what we believed we paintings above the doors of the entrances. Obviously paintings would not be able to withstand the weather so they made them very detailed mosaics. You can just barely tell it’s tile and not paint. The inside was quite large too. The largest part was the Dome. My pictures don’t do justice to the height of it all. The man who built the dome, Filippo Brunelleschi, did a most incredible job. The more incredible thing about what he did is that even today they don’t know how he accomplished such a feat. He built the dome around 1400 and it’s still standing today. No problems what so ever. He did it without scaffolding and of course no cranes (as they didn’t exist back then) AND at such a height and over such a great area that it is simply miraculous. We don’t know how he did it because he left no plans, blueprints, or writings describing how he did it. To get to the top, the spiral staircase, cross the ledge of the dome, wind through tight corridors between the two layers of the domes, mount the steep stairway, and you’ve made it! At the top of the climb you are rewarded with a beautiful view of Florentine roofs backed by the green Tuscan hills and a clear, blue sky. Worth every single one of the 468 stairs.

As I am mildly afraid of heights, some of this journey was a bit difficult for me. On top of the Dome, was perfectly fine. No problems there what so ever. It was crossing the ledge of the dome on the inside of the cathedral. The ledge is about 2.5 feet from the wall to the stone barrier and then there is plexiglass from your feet to as far as you can stretch your arms. It’s perfectly safe, of course. However, it’s just that you can really see and feel the height. On the way up the line moved smoothly and we were on and off the ledge quickly. However, on the way down, you are on a ledge that is one feel higher than the last. At this level you can touch the paintings of demons and angels on the ceiling of the dome. I was nervous and bothered and of course the line slowed to a stop because people were taking pictures of the artwork. One man was taking his camera and putting it just over the plexiglass to get a better photo. It gives me chills just thinking about it. FINALLY, the line began to move again, much to my relief. However the family just ahead of us was still leaning against the railing, taking their time to enjoy the splendors of the art work. Hmm… how can I do this diplomatically? I tapped the woman on the shoulder and asked her if I could simply go around them. But this message didn’t go through. She fussed at me angrily in spanish and then walked. Sara, who is Mexican (i.e. speaks Spanish ;) ), was right behind me just laughed a bit and said “she is NOT happy.” I didn’t want the translation so I didn’t ask. Well, not the way I wanted it to go but none-the-less mission accomplished. We left the beautiful cathedral just in time to catch our train to Rome.

Click on the image below for pictures of Florence

Florence

Venice

Hello all! I hope you had a Happy Easter or a nice weekend, at least. I was on vacation in Italy for the past two weeks! There is SO much to tell you and SO many photos to show you that I had to split it up into each city we visited.

First was Venice! Like a lot of the style of Europe, it’s sort of modge-podged together and, for Venice in particular, all of the buildings are touched by algae and from far away they look as if they are simply sitting on top of the water.

We took our first day to just walk around and discover what there was to do. As it turns out… not that much. The historical center of the city was just across from our hostel. There is St. Mark’s Basilica, St. Mark’s squares, St. Mark’s Tower and the Duke’s Palace. The Basilica is fairly impressive because the interior is decorated with golden mosaic’s. The Duke’s Palace was nice. I realize that I’ve become a bit jaded, but when you live in Europe once you see one palace… you’ve kind of seen them all. However, I did take pictures which you can see on the link below.

After the Basilica, Palace, and an art museum, we explored some more. We ran across Rialto, the richest and most quintessential Venetian area… for tourists at least. Evidently, Venice makes very lovely glass and along the streets of Rialto were many glass shops with beautiful blown glass.

We would have taken a ride on the gondola if it hadn’t cost 80 Euros. No big deal because the next day we took a tour down the Grand Canal on a vaporetto, the Venetian transportation system that uses boats instead of buses. The Grand Canal is lined with old building and gardens. It’s almost surprising that the face of the building arrives just at the edge of the canal. Sometimes there are sidewalks between the two and sometimes there are stairs that go into the water to receive passengers from boats and gondolas. There are bridges that connect the banks of the canals, too. All of this comes together to be rather charming.

For our last day in Venice, we traveled to the islands nearby, Burano and Lido. Burano is a charming little place with colorful buildings and shops that sell lace. Lido is an actual island. I say actual because in Venice there are no cars or bikes or anything like a normal metropolis bu Lido has cars and condominiums and a beach and all the stuff that one would actually need to live in a city.

We had planned on going out that night but we ended up meeting some people in our hostel. I talked to two Australian and New Zealand guys and Sara hung out ith two girls from Argentina. In fact, the other girls had similar itineraries and we bumped into them in both Florence and Rome!

But that’s that for Venise. If you ever plan to go, know that they are infamous throughout Italy for horrible service (TRUE) and it’s expensive because they know everyone is a tourist. Yet, it’s something to be seen and experienced!

Click on the picture to see the photos from Venice

Venice

Getting Married

Yet again, I'm throwing big changes at you. So many people my age are getting engaged and (of course) getting married. Now I will be one of them! I met someone here and we've decided to get married!! Here's a picture of us: And the RING!

We met through mutual friends. I've know him since Christmas. It's sudden, I know, but he makes me happy and it just feels right. Last night, when we went out to dinner he gave me a bouquet of flowers with the ring inside!! The wedding will be here by the castle ruins just down the street. It'll be small because it'll be in two weeks because I wanted a wedding in April and thus we won't have a lot of time to plan. The super fantastic upside to all of this is that I can quit working as an au pair! I won't need a visa so I can work wherever I can find a job. In a year of so we'll do the ceremony in the States but we're not exactly sure how that'll work yet. However, we will stay living here because he works here and I can find work as an English professor. I absolutely can't WAIT!!!! If you believed this story.... April FOOLS!

Grande Nouvelle (Big News)

Ok everybody, get ready. I have big news. I’ll be staying in France for another year. You know already that I’d been looking for jobs to stay but my family offered me to stay. After crunching the numbers and weighing my options, I found that staying where I am is the best thing for me. Not to worry! You’ll see me before 2012! I plan on being home for August (although just thinking about the heat shock makes me ill) and I refuse to be away for another Christmas. By the end of two years here I hope to be super fluent. Luckily my good friend Sara is staying too. So I’ll have a girlfriend to hang out with. Also I have an interview on Friday for a job as an English tutor. God-willing, the company will see my potential and give me a job to keep me occupied in the limited hours that the kids are at school. We’ll see.

As for everyday life, things are going well. Ever since I arrived I’ve wanted to do the “game” where the family and I speak French MWF and French TTh. In the beginning it wasn’t possible due to my French and the kids English. But all of that has changed now. Both the kids can understand what I say (because I speak to them in English) and Eliott will do a couple of phrases in English but Zoe sticks by her French. So I thought this little game would be good to force some English and hear adult conversation as well. So, I pitched the idea of the “game” Sunday night at dinner. I thought I was going to fall flat on my face:
“So Zoe do you want to play the game?”
“Umm no. Ha. Absolutely not.”
So I asked Eliott. Bless him. I know he makes his parents proud. He loves a good challenge and he excitedly/timidly nodded yes!
“You do want to!?!”
“Mmhmmm”
“Great!”
Mom: “Bravo Eliott”
Yesterday was French day, so for the first time I spoke only in French to the kids. I was nice to speak just one language in a day. Zoe LOVES to correct me. Which is fine because I need the correcting but do you know what it’s like to have an 8 year old think you’re dumb? Over dinner I made a mistake by saying a masculine adjective with a feminine word (THE HORROR!!!!). Zoe corrects me and explains: “We don’t say le sauce est bon (the sauce is good), we say la sauce est bonne (the sauces is good) because sauce is feminine. Ask yourself, would I say la sauce or le sauce and you’ll find which word to use.” So I explained that the reason I get it wrong a lot, and the reason why I can’t simply ask myself “is it this way or that way?” is because it doesn’t exists in English and I have to start from 0 in learning it all. This fact blew their minds and launched us into a game of “le or la” (the masculine and feminine determinants). It goes like this:
Eliott: “Bouteille”
Me: “La”
Zoe: “Four”
Me: “Le”
Eliott: “Television”
Me: “Le?”
Both : “NOOOO!! LA Television. HAHAH Anglophones are ridiculous! Je gagne (I win)”
So today is English day. Zoe reluctantly decided to play. I’m excited but we’ll see if it crashes and burns. I hope not.

Also today is my 23rd Birthday. 23. My heavens. I went out with my girls last weekend and this morning Zoe gave me a bracelet that she made, an old necklace, and a little craft that was a heart. Tonight Caroline is bringing home a cake. When I got back from school today I had a lovely box of flowers from Kimmy and Melissa! Calls and gifts from my parents, too! Not to mention it is absolutely fabulous weather today. What a birthday! There are many other March 15thers so I’d like to wish all the ones I know a Happy Birthday: Melissa Pitcher, Ashby Foltz, Nathan Welch, Ansley Bourn, Tara Gouverdhan, and Dr. Carter (from Wheeler)!

Disney, Les Accents, et Les Rognons (Disney, Accents, and Kidney’s OH MY!)

Thanks to my friend Maxime and his brother-in-law, I enjoyed a free day at Disney Paris. Other than being excited to experience a day of Disney magic, I was excited to compare it to (our) Disney World. First off, Disney Paris has only two parks; Magic Kingdom and MGM Studios.

Maxime: “How many parks are there in America?”
Me: “Psh! We got FOUR!”

We went on a sunny Saturday and of course, it was packed with people. Check. Just like FL. Upon entering the park, the thing that struck me as the most different was that everybody was wearing a big winter coat and scarf. NEVER in FL!

Max: “It’s not cold there? What’s the temperature there now?”
Me: “Like at least the mid 60’s?”
Max: *OMG!*

The Magic Kingdom Paris is almost exactly like Magic Kingldom FL. The front of the park IS the same. It’s all in English, too. There are the same stores on the same Main Street that leads to Cinderella’s castle, Frontierland, Adventureland, etc… There’s even the same Ice Cream shop on the corner. BUT! At the same time, it’s all different. The castle is smaller and (maybe it’s just me but…) less magical. There are still the same rides and attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, and the Haunted Mansion but they all are just a bit different than ours. Everything is mainly in French with English secondarily. However, there are people coming from all over Europe so there isn’t one language everyone will understand. Therefore, the small stories before and during the ride are omitted because half the guests wouldn’t understand. Other things are different, too. For example, at the Haunted Mansion, in FL, the main ghost is an old man. Here’s it’s a jilted, dead bride. Also in Paris, the ride is focused more on begin actually scary and less humorous. All-in-all, the day was quite fun.

Afterwards, I went to dinner with my French family. Caroline’s cousins were in town from Bezier, a town in the South of France. Thus, I discovered the French Southern accent. Quite different indeed! It made me think about all of the different Anglophonic accents. I run into a lot of issues with the differences between British and American accents. One day I asked Caroline “what is the word for ‘mop’ in French?” She said “carte (map)” A few seconds to translate--- think of how the British would say “map”. Haha! And already the English teachers at school say that my kids have American accents. Love. That.

Yesterday was Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday! What do the French do for Mardi Gras? Eat crêpes! Don’t they eat crêpes all the time, Christy? No. In fact, two nights ago we ate pork kidneys. See, Alain does the grocery shopping and apparently he was feeling a little adventurous when he went last weekend. He brought home de rognon porc (pork kidneys), blanquette de veau (blanquette ? of veal), and boeuf (beef) for boeuf bourginon. However, it is not he who will cook these things, but I. In fact, I take this as a compliment that he has confidence that I can cook these things and make a good meal. Usually, if it’s something new, we look at the recipe together to ensure that I know what I’m doing. Then I’m on my own unless he’s home (these days –rarely). For kidney’s, you have to cut out the nerves and tubes in the middle and an outer skin, too. In case you ever try this, I’m telling you now, it’s NOT easy. And the kidney’s smell like pee… mmm… now I have an appetite. Yet, after all that it was a delicious success.

So I leave you here. Till next week!

Hollande (Holland)

What a life I live! I’m 3/4ths of the way through with my 3rd two week vacation and just got back from a six day trip to Holland! I went with my friend Sarah, who is from Mexico but like me, works as an au pair in Paris. We set off on our voyage last Wednesday. The train takes only three hours to go to Amsterdam but we had to take a train after that to go to Groningen, a college-town in the north. Why Groningen, you ask? We thought it would be a good idea to go to other cities besides Amsterdam to see another aspect of Holland. Groningen was easy because we could stay there for free with Arlet, Sarah’s Dutch friend who had studied abroad for a year in Mexico. On our way there, there was an issue with the train. It happened like any tourist situation in a country where they don’t speak your language: you’re sitting comfortably in your seat when a voice comes over the intercom and says something that you understand to be absolute nonsense but it propels all of the people around you into action. You’re left clueless and helpless unless you can find someone to translate. Fortunately, practically everyone in Holland speaks English, so we were able to find a translator. The train had some problem and another one had to come in it’s place. Ugh… hiccups like that while you’re traveling can be rough. With no other choice but to wait for a train that “may or may not come”, we hung out in a very cold train station and people-watched. Finally, a woman who worked for the train company told us that we could catch the train on platform 5—it would leave in five minutes. We ran to platform 5. 5a or 5 b??? Ahh! We jumped on a train just before the doors closed. “Is this the train to Groningen?” Yes. Whew!!

After arriving in the station, taking the bus, and meeting Arlet; we dropped our stuff off and went out for drinks. While walking to the bar we saw just how cute this little Dutch town was. Sarah and I both remarked how it reminded us of Holland at Epcot! Spot on Disney! Well done! The next day was explored more of this picturesque place but found that there wasn’t a lot for tourists to do. We climbed (up a very narrow and long spiral staircase) to the top of Martini Tower, the sin-dial tower of the city. It was a lovely view of all of Groningen but it was windy and very cold so we didn’t stay for long. The rest of the day we wandered around and eventually ended up in a coffee shop. Now, in case you don’t know, marijuana is legal in Holland. As is prostitution (i.e. the Red Light District**—which can be found in every city, even Groningen). So coffee shops are actually where you buy the marijuana. You can smoke it there, too. It’s not that we’re opposed to smoking, but this particular day we chose not to as we would be meeting Arlet for dinner and we figured it would be rude to show up super high. But it still turned out to be an interesting experience because we realized that we did feel a little different after a few minutes surrounded by the smoke. No, I didn’t see pink elephants or whatever you think happens when you’re high—we both felt an energy that wasn’t there before— and, typically of course, we were more giggly. So anyway, that was the end of that. We went out with Arlet and had a really great time. The one really astounding thing was that when we left the bar at 3:30 in the morning, everybody and their mom was out and about on their bicycles—going home, going to the next club, wherever. But always on bike. No matter what time of day. I loved it.

The next day we were off to Amsterdam. We stayed with a friend of Arlet’s in Amsterdam, but he was busy with life so we didn’t hang out much. In the end he had to go away for the weekend so we stayed in a little hotel for a couple nights. But Amsterdam is very cute with all it’s canal’s and people on bikes. We did our touristy things during the day—Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank’s House, Sex Museum, and the Hash Museum (Actually we didn’t go in the last one, but we did pass it on the street). One night we strolled through the Red light District. I was surprised by how pretty the girls were. In fact the whole area was very pretty. The road was split by a canal and in this canal were swans! Periodically a bridge linked the two sides of the road and to top it off, the buildings that housed the “ladies” where typical Dutch architecture that is the epitome of charming. Wouldn’t be so bad to work there, right? Mom, Dad; I’m JOKING! Haha.

The weather was lovely except that it was C O L D!!! At night it was below freezing and not too much warmer during the day. The killer was the wind. Ugh, it makes me cringe just thinking about it. In fact, the cold is the only thing keeping me from wanting to live there.

One of the most interesting things that happened while we were there was that I realized my eagerness to speak French. Neither of us knew Dutch and it was almost tiring to hear it because I simply cannot make sense of it. Sarah and I always speak French together, so it was more conflicting to have conversations with people in English. What was the most fun was when we could speak French and no one understood us. This came in handy when we were out on the town and we could discuss the gentlemen who were courting us without worrying about being over heard. Muahaha.

But by the end, we were ready to go home. We’d run out of clean clothes and money and we we’re ready to understand the voices on the trams and trains again. Paris waited for us with warmer weather, our own beds, and normal, non-traveling food (I will not eat another sandwich for a MONTH!). Mmmm… So life is good. Till the next time!

** Red Light District—Arlet told us a little know fact about the RLD that I think I should share with the world. Yes, some girls choose to live this life, but many do not. There are still girls there who are forced to work and are part of human trade. I don’t know what can but done but I think knowledge is power. Now you know.

J'aime le soleil! (I love the sun!)

Paris has been a cold and cloudy place since the beginning of winter but today… its sunny and warm and absolutely fantastic. I walked outside to run some errands and felt the sun on my skin for the first time in a long time. It was the kind of moment where the lingering cool air of winter surrounds your skin but the sun pierces through and warms it. Ahh. I took a deep breath. What I hadn’t realized was there, weight of winter on my shoulders, the coldness stuck in my hands, the tension that keeps my body tucked into my clothes to keep me warm, was melting, cracking, and crumbling away. I didn’t want to move because I knew the shadows around me held the prickly feeling of winter. I just kept filling my lungs with the fresh air. The warmth reminded me of the possibilities ahead of me. I allowed myself to dream of the upcoming few months. What I only hope will be weekends spent with my friends drinking bottles of wine and eating delicious baguettes on the Champs de Mars, along the banks of the seine, in the Jardin du Luxembourg, and at the top of the Arc de Triomphe. I dreamt of the summer, when the sun would no longer be my friend. When I can wear shorts and t-shirts and try to be tan. Mmmm. I was completely rejuvenated, like I had the energy to do anything. I decided that later I would go for a run (in SHORTS! My pasty legs need to see the sun) which gave me the opportunity to watch airplanes cross the expansive cloudless sky. It inspired me to be poetic (or at least try)! However, after a few minutes, a light breeze blew and stole the warmth that was resting on my skin, reminding me that it’s only the beginning of February, winter isn’t finished. But the quiet excitement remained: Spring is coming!!

On top of it all! Another 2 week vacation starts tonight!! I’ll be traveling to Holland for a week with my friend Sara. After that, I’ll enjoy my time in Paris or here at the house but without responsibility of dealing with the children! I’ll be sure to keep you all updated!
Have a good weekend!

Le Week-end avec les Jeannettes (The Weekend with the Jeannettes)

Apologies to my followers! I haven’t written in a while. I have a confess to make. Th reason I’ve been too busy to write, is because I’m searching for jobs here, in order to stay for a bit longer. Not forever! But another year would be nice. So I’ve been writing and rewriting my CV and cover letter in English and French which has taken up all of my blogging time. No jobs yet, but its early yet and I remain hopeful.

In other news, I spent last weekend with the jeannettes. Background: Sometime around September Alain was telling me that, as scout master of his troop, he was short one leader for the youngest group of girls. If he couldn’t find anyone the group would not be able to participate this year. They met only one Sunday each month. No big deal. My age and gender fit the criteria and at the time I had few to no friends to hang out with on the weekends so I volunteered. Not to mention the could-have-been terribly uncomfortable situation if I had said “No, sorry. I’d rather sit at the house every Sunday and surf the web. Zoe- no scouts for you and Alain- failure for your troop.” THAT is highly frowned upon in this family--- understandably so. Long story short, I am a chieftain name Ameriquette (because I’m from America, cute huh?) for the Jeannettes, girls ages 8-12.

Back to the story. As I had been told that it was simply one Sunday a month, I was a little perturbed to be spending my entire weekend there (I stayed in Friday out of fear that I would be too tired too communicate!). On top of that, it was the last weekend my friend Gillian would be in town before he moved to Bordeaux and I would have liked to go to that party Saturday night. Alas, there have been and will be others. None-the-less that morning I woke up in a annoyed mood because of what I would be doing for th next 30 hours. What broke my brooding humor was what you see in the picture. Alain was showing Zoe his old duffel bag and said that it was large enough to fit here. And sure enough, he was right.

All went well Saturday despite the fact that it was the only weekend in January that the temperatures dipped and lingered below freezing. Really, it wasn’t such a problem because we were inside but I was still ever so reluctant to take off my coat and, at times, gloves. (Can you guess who the foreigner is? Yep, the only one wearing all of her winter-wear INSIDE.) The girls were happy to be there and I was energetic enough to speak and understand French. Like normal, we went to mass. Side note: this is a catholic organization and I am not catholic. No big deal, I guess, because even if I was, I certainly wouldn’t know the words in French. But I am still totally lost in the rituals but I can stand, sit, and do the sign of the cross with everybody else. I’m pretty sure all the girls think I’m a little crazy when I do things like that. If you went to mass last week you’d know that topic was happiness and what makes us happy (answer: the love of Christ). Our girls were sitting front and center and so the pries chose to talk to them. He asked them “Why are you happy?” The answers were innocent and childish and therefore cute. My favorite response, however, came from Elisa, the youngest and smallest of the group. She said “parce que j’ai mangé” (because I ate). We had just eaten a deliciously sugar snack and apparently that’s all it takes to make her happy. Haha. Amen, sister.

The rest of the evening passed easily and the girls were in their sleeping bags by 9:30 and “asleep” by 10. Christy was in her sleeping bag by 11:30 but had a difficult time going to sleep. My sleeping bag was laid on a very thin pallet which was on a cold, hard floor. Not to mention Elisa work up crying 3 times that night. Ugh…

Sunday proved to be more difficult. About 3 girls woke up at 7am which distrubed everyone and was one and a half hours before we planned to wake up. So running on what I estimate to be 4.5 hours of sleep, I started the day. My French and patience were at critically low levels but Marine, the other leader with me, did all the talking until I regained some energy around lunch time. After that I was in charge of two activities conducted by just me. It was pretty difficult because I hadn’t prepared well enough in advance and simply didn’t know the words I needed like “let go”, “untangle”, “wrap”, and “tie a knot”. In the end, I managed but with frustration from both ends.

Finally, the end of the weekend had arrived!! But we did one more assembly to show the parents and to do “the promise” for two girls. The Promise is a higher level without the group and is fairly important. I watched all the girls faces and it reminded me of what it was like when I was little. What a HUGE deal it was and how it really impacted my life. It made me happy to be a part of that despite my frustrations.

Definitely rewarding but I’m glad to be free this weekend. My friends and I are doing a girls night Saturday and, to be perfectly honest, we’ve decided to dedicate this weekend to our mischievous friend, tequila. I will surely have some good stories for you next week. Until then, take care!!

Point Langue, Point Culturel (Language Point and Culture Point)

In the books that I use in my French class, it says “Point Langue” and “Point Culturel” when it give information for grammar or culture. So today I am going to give you some tips on the French language (not grammar because that’s BORING) and culture.

Point Langue
I’ve reached a level, in learning French, where I can communicate basically with the word around me. Now, if you talk to me, don’t talk too fast and don’t use big words. But generally I can hold a conversation with one or two people. It is possible for me to speak “quickly” in French, but of course that leads to more errors, which is where my story begins. I’ve noticed recently, I’m a little like Rainman (yes, the autistic guy who had a really good-looking brother). Why? Because when I make an error in speaking, most of the time people understand what I mean and move on with the conversation but I quietly correct myself with the proper grammar and pronunciation. Sometimes this takes two or three tries. Sometimes, I hear a new word and just decide to repeat it until I get it right. I’m pretty sure my French family is ok with this odd habit, but what does the rest of the world think?
“Hello, miss. Can I help you with something today?”
“Hello. Can you helps me with manys things?”
“… Yes.”
“Ok, I’d wants her dress there and… pardon I wants your dress no! No! I would like your.. hmm pardon your (formal) dress there. (nervous giggle)”
“… Ok. What else?”
“Pardon?”
“What else would you…”
“OH YES! Ok, gives me… pardon, I would like shoe windows, please… ah! Please (formal).”
“You want the shoes by the window?”
“Uh… no. The shoes.. oh yes… the shoes by the window… by the window… by the… window..window…shoes by the window.”
“………..What size?”
So on and so forth.
Please, do be patient with foreigners!!!

Point Culturel
For Christmas, I asked my mom to bring me some grits, which she did of course. As American food has never really gone over well in this household (besides American candy), I wasn’t worried about sharing it but I wanted to offer anyway. So one Sunday morning I was on my way to make some grits and I offered to the family and a friend of the family who was staying over. “Well what is it exactly?” they asked. I was at a loss to explain, so I said I would just show them and if they wanted some I could make more. When I spooned a bit onto my plate, everyone at the table made a little sound of disgust. “It looks like the stuff that comes out of your nose” commented the friend. “Well just try a spoonful; it’s really not bad, I promise!” I say. And even though French are all about the trying of different foods, every single person declined.
So, when/if you come to France (1) know that grits aren’t available and (2) if you have them with you, the French won’t want to share.

Un Noël Français (A French Christmas)

Happy New Year everyone!! My horoscope prediction for this year tells me that my hard work will pay off and my love life will only be so-so (figures, with French boys all around). All in all it’s supposed to be a good year but I wonder if they ever tell you you’re going to have an awful year? Anyway…

I’m going to jump back a bit and regale my Christmas stories. Christmas with my French family was nice. We went to a big Christmas Eve dinner at Alain’s parent’s house where I enjoyed foie gras, smoked salmon, some other delicious meat, vanilla crème, chocolate mousse, and some other type of cake. There was lots of wine, of course. And a salad, too, so that we all wouldn’t keel over from a heart attack just after finishing the meal. It had snowed TONS and we almost didn’t make it home because they grandparents live at the bottom of a hill which happened to be completely iced over. We made it back safely. The family went to Caroline’s sister’s house Christmas day but I opted to hang out with my friend Gillian and his family. We ate gallettes (which are like crêpes but different) and they were delicious. After that we hung out with some friends and I went to bed early so I could pick up my mom at the airport in the morning.

Our time at the airport turned out to be quite an adventure. The plane was a little over an hour late because it had to be de-iced before take off in Atlanta. Fine, no worries. Then the baggage was slow to come because of some “local problem” at CDG (the workers were hungover from Christmas parties). But finally we learn that Delta did not put my mom’s bag on the plane at all. They would not be here until the next day! In fact we finally received her bags four days after she arrived. Ahh, the joys of traveling.

However we embarked on our trip south happily. First was Avignon. We rented a car and took trips outside of the city, too. We visited Pont de Garde, the roman aqueduct and the Roman arenas in Nimes. Avignon was quite quaint by itself and we had a fun time exploring the little streets.

Then was Aix-en-Provence, which I hear is a lovely little city. I don’t really know because, about 30 minutes after arriving at the hotel, I realized I had contracted a stomach virus and spent the next 35 hours in our hotel room. Fortunately, my mom had given us a little Christmas treat and had booked us into a 4 star hotel just in this city. I took full advantage.

Finally we left for Marseille. After a week of traveling, we were pretty tired and out of curiosity. Also, I was still fighting to keep food down, which can be quite tiring. Our plan was to visit Chateau D’If one day but it happened to be closed the two days we were there. So we milled around and Mom shopped for a pair of boots. We had a fantastic NYE dinner (veal and morels with a fantastic point noir—O M G) then, like the old souls that we are, went back to the hotel and went to sleep. For our last day, we day tripped out to St. Tropez, a tiny little town used by the rich to park their yachts. It happened to FABULOUS weather. 10C compared to the normal 1C!!!!! I unzipped my coat!!! Glorious. The next day we headed back to Paris. We lounged around the house getting packed and ready to go. My mom was a huge hit with Zoe because she taught her how to play the piano better.

Monday rolled around and it was back to the daily grind here in France and back home for my mommy. In fact, my family has a rough week coming up. While we were away, my uncle told us my grandfather’s condition took a turn for the worst. We don’t expect he’ll be with us much longer. I would appreciate it if you kept my family in your thoughts this week. Thanks.

So, Happy New Year Everybody!! More stories to come soon!!
In process for uploading pictures, will be available soon.