Days 27-32

Wooow...I'm slipping on this daily blogging thing, but as I'm settling in, there's not as much to notice that's new & different.

Another list of things that have happened since my last post:

• I've met with fellow knitters at a tiny little tea house (quite a wonderful morning)
• I went to Pizza Night Bible Study at the American Church in Paris
• I went to see my first movie in a French cinema (Despicable Me), even if it was in English
• I had raclette for the first time, and it was delicious
• I was invited to a wonderful dinner at the home of someone I met at the American Church in Paris
• I survived another week of French classes
• I met the 3 university students staying in the apartment across the hallway from the one I'm in
• I had a bagel sandwich for lunch with a friend (it totally hit the spot!)
• I found a recipe I want to try, especially since the weather's getting cooler...
• I finally made it to the Eiffel Tower
• I finally had my first crepe in Paris
• Eldest told me that he loved me, which just about melted my heart...he's adorable when he's in a good mood :] (it did catch me a little off guard, but I think that's a good sign, don't you?)
  

Things I'm excited about:

• My dad arrives for a visit this coming Friday!
• The kids go on break, which means I get time off
• The host parents are going on vacation, which means a calm, quiet apartment :]
  
• After my dad leaves, it's only another 2 weeks until my mom comes to visit!
• Thanksgiving!
• Christmas break
  

Things I'm not excited about:

• The cold
• The wind
• The rain
• The lack of sunshine that apparently comes with wintertime in Paris
• Missing Halloween
• Missing fall football
  

Day 26

What a wonderful day! Everything came together beautifully, and I had an unforgettable adventure, courtesy of gift tickets from the Canadian to Disneyland Paris!

It's so beautiful...pictures don't to this justice!

So, the Canadian won tickets to Disneyland at her work (she works for a very well-known yogurt company), but she couldn't use the tickets, so she was kind enough to give them to me! I didn't want to go by myself, so I got in touch with Nadine, and we spent a perfect day in a perfect place.

We didn't miss each other at the train station like last time, so it was absolutely wonderful to be able to catch up with someone I haven't seen in two years! The reunion was kind of funny & kind of fitting, since the last time we saw each other was here in Paris two years ago. But, we met, got her RER ticket, and boarded the train to Disneyland!

We started our day of Disney adventure in Disneyland Park. I didn't know this before, but Nadine wasn't a huge roller coaster fan, which threw a wrench into my plan a little bit (French vocab moment: roller coaster --> montagnes russes). However, she was a very good sport & rode her very first roller coaster, Space Mountain: Mission 2! I don't know why she didn't like coasters before, but after that one, she was so excited that she called her mom back home to tell her! After Space Mountain, she wanted to recover a bit, so we moved on from Discoveryland to Fantasyland. In Fantasyland, we rode It's a Small World & the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups. After the Tea Cups, we moved on to Adventureland, where we rode Pirates of the Caribbean, and then we decided to take a lunch break.

It's so...steampunk!

Welcome to Fantasyland :]

There's so much going on in this picture, I don't know where to start...

Yargh! Ahoy! Avast! ... That's all I've got.

We ate at the Hakuna Matata Cafe, both ordering a formula menu of a kebab sandwich (think gyro), Hakuna fries, a drink, and ice cream. After lunch, Nadine decided that she wanted to try the Indiana Jones & the Temple of Peril ride, so we got fast passes and wandered through the house from "The Swiss Family Robinson," letting our lunch settle. By the time we finished with the tree house, we used our fast passes & rode the Indiana Jones coaster, which was a really short ride, actually. Nadine asked me when it finished if that was all for that ride (which was funny, given that she didn't like roller coasters earlier that day!).

Oooh...the Temple of Peril!

After Indiana Jones, we switched parks, going to Walt Disney Studios Park, which is much smaller than the main park, but also less crowded, which was nice. The only two coasters that we wanted to ride in Walt Disney Studios were the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster & Crush's Coaster, which I think is a new ride based on the character (of the same name) from Finding Nemo. Hindsight being what it is, we should've gotten fast passes for the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, and gone to do Crush's Coaster, but hindsight is always 20-20.

Welcome to Walt Disney Studios!

It's the same statue as the one in Florida!

Easily one of the best coasters in the park.

So, without hindsight to aid us, we went with Rock 'n' Roller Coaster first, and it was really a great coaster. After we finished that one, we went to find Crush's Coaster, but the wait was 65 minutes! We didn't have enough time to wait for that ride, sadly, but we did find Mickey Mouse nearby and got our pictures with him, so it worked out well in the end, and it was an absolutely perfect day with a wonderful friend.

Who doesn't love Mickey Mouse?

Day 25

In one Saturday I saw some amazingly beautiful cars, & also celebrated my first Canadian Thanksgiving!

I woke up at a normal time (for me) of about 9:30, had breakfast & tea, then went back to my room to check my Faceboook/Twitter/Gmail & get ready to go to the Mondiale Auto, aka the Paris Motor Show!

I don't know what to expect, going on a weekend, to a car convention, in a HUGE European city, but it surely wasn't what looked, smelled, and felt like 5 million people. Somehow, though, I managed to wedge myself through the crowds, and got some decent shots, so without further ado, the autos! :]

Rolls Royce, anyone?

Smexy new Peugeot SR1

Jaguar's new electric concept...Want.

Yup...still want.

Still want. Love the green stripe on the tires!

Ferrari California, anyone?

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano

Maserati Gran Cabrio

Maserati Gran Turismo S

I can hear Joe Walsh now...

Maserati Gran Turismo MC Stradale. Translated: Want it. Now.

And again, from the other side. Still want it.

Too many people!

Everyone's favorite Honda robot, Asimo!

Bentley's "New Continental GT"

Audi R8 GT

One more shot for the road (I know it's cringe-worthy, but I had to say it sometime!)

After a long day of battling smelly, sweaty guys with cameras, I decided to head back towards the apartment. The Canadian needed some shortening she left here because she was making a pumpkin pie for Canadian Thanksgiving, which is evidently a month before American Thanksgiving. I grabbed the shortening & headed to her apartment. She had a friend from Canada who was visiting, so we chatted for a bit, and then I was invited to stay for dinner, which was a wonderful meal.

Canadian Thanksgiving isn't much different from American Thanksgiving as far as food is concerned. The big difference was that there wasn't a turkey, but that's because there were only 4 kids & 3 adults eating, and a turkey would've been overkill. Instead, we had two delicious roasted chickens, stuffing, gravy, a casserole of layered potatoes & sweet potatoes, roasted carrots, green beans in browned butter, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. The cooking was divided between the three adults (the Canadian, her friend, & me); the Canadian handled the chicken & stuffing, and the potatoes, her friend handled the pumpkin pie & the carrots, and I was in charge of the green beans and the apple pie. And surprise of all surprises, nothing went drastically wrong! Not one thing was burned or undercooked, the pies came out picture-perfect, and the company that evening was fantastic. And we also saw the Eiffel Tower all lit up & twinkly, which just topped the evening off wonderfully.

This was all that was left over...

I told you they were picture-perfect!

Twinkle, twinkle :]

Days 21-24

So, there's a lot I need to catch you up on!

Since my last post, I:
- got up early enough to see the sunrise
- survived my long day of language classes (9-11, 11:15-1:15, no breaks!)
- finished my first week at the language school
- finally bought some school supplies (I still need to find a few small things)
- met a fellow Maconite studying in Paris
- made pizza for Pizza Friday night with the kids
- was invited to (& attended!) an excellent dinner at the apartment of a friend's friend
- have been enjoying the 72° & sunny weather (I've soaked up quite a bit of sunshine
as of late)
- think I'm allergic to something in the park
- have been given tickets to Disneyland Paris (can't wait to finally catch up with Nadine!)
- got my Navigo card (no more single tickets! The host father said I'm becoming a local)
- discovered a website where I can watch the latest episodes of American tv shows (Hello, Glee & Big Bang Theory!)
- found out that there's going to be a public transportation strike on Tuesday the 12th
- discovered that the kids here in France have just discovered Silly Bands
- plan on going to the Paris Auto Show tomorrow (watch for pictures of pretty, schmancy cars!)

A brief message

Hi there! I'm still alive, but I think I've gotten a case of the lazy & haven't felt like writing this week. It's not for a lack of events, just a lack of motivation. I've been keeping track of events, but actually writing them is a different story. Normal blogging should resume soon!
:]

Day 20

Oh what a day! I started my language courses today, so I woke up a bit early, allowing myself plenty of time for (a) waking up, (b) getting ready, and (c) transportation.

Now, the first two parts were fully in my control, and I was doing fine, sticking to my schedule. Enter the French public transportation system. Usually very efficient, a metro train will come to a platform every 2-4 minutes, transporting a vast number of people on a daily basis. Today was not one of its more efficient days. I had hopped off of one line, and was waiting for another train to come, but after about 7 minutes of waiting on a crowded platform, I changed my route a bit, and was lucky enough to find another train that got me to the station I needed. All this changing of metro plans was cutting into my time budget, so I walked rather quickly to the class, and finally found where I needed to be, though I was late (only by 2-3 minutes, but enough to be noticeable), and I really don't like being late. It's not respectful to the teachers/professors or my classmates.

Thankfully, the teacher was very courteous, and recognized me as a new student, and I think saw that I was a bit flustered. Now, almost everything is closed on Sundays in Paris, so I didn't have the opportunity yesterday to go out & browse for a notebook, pens, pencils, etc., which I regretted today. Somehow, I had the forethought to put a small notepad in my purse, so I adapted for today, taking notes on a notepad, & looking on to my neighbor's worksheets so that I too could participate in the class. I think that these classes started last week, so I'm already playing catch-up, which is another thing I don't like. From the sound of it, a two-hour-long class sounds like a drag, but it really didn't feel very long at all, which surprised me. Thursday should be interesting...I've got a "civilization class" for two hours, a 15 minute break, and then a normal language class for another two hours. That's looking like another reason to add to my list of reasons I don't like Thursdays.

After class was dismissed, I found a grocery store, got something to drink & a mediocre chicken sandwich with gummy bread, then came back to the apartment to decompress from my strange morning. After some much-needed quiet time, I went to pick up Youngest from school, and then we went to the park because Eldest has chess on Mondays, and finishes much later. After picking up Eldest, we returned to the apartment, and before I had time to finish putting up the park toys, he had already pulled out a Monopoly board. I knew at this point that resistance would be futile, so I played for a bit, but said that at a certain time, he had to take a shower, which put a cap on our playing time (thank goodness!). We hadn't even been playing for 10 minutes when he almost had a monopoly already, though I held the other property that he needed, and I wasn't about to let that one go. It definitely made things interesting, though I don't know if he realizes that I've played this game before...

While the kids were getting cleaned up, I made dinner, which tonight was leftover soup followed by barley & steamed veggies, made in a rice cooker! I didn't think it would be that simple/easy to do. It was pretty simple, but the kids seemed to like it, and I figured they probably wanted a break from pasta, haha. :]

Days 18 & 19

So, I'm doing a combo-post, but it's been a long weekend, & I wanted a break!

Saturday I attended a program at the American Church called "Bloom Where You're Planted." This program, hosted by the Women of the American Church, celebrated it's 40th year with this
workshop, and I'm really glad I went. I think I was the youngest one attending (apart from the children), but I still got a lot out of the program. In the morning, there were several guest speakers that the entire group attended, and then there were several breakout groups after lunch. One of the morning guest speakers talked about the difference of communication styles between the French & Americans, and I was actually intrigued, because she was talking about theories & information that I've studied in the classroom. I actually got a little excited about it, which took me by surprise.

Lunch for the group was a quiche with broccoli, tomatoes, & cheese, served with a side salad of quinoa, tomatoes & spinach. During lunch, I wound up sitting across from a couple from New York (city). The wife was taking a sabbatical while she was here, and her husband (from the Netherlands) works for Unilever, and is in charge of the Lipton tea branch of the company. Now, normally this would be boring, but my family uses Lipton whenever we make sweet tea, so I was actually intrigued when he was talking about his job, because how often do you meet someone in charge of something you drink on a daily basis?

The breakout groups were great, and I learned about: how to survive in Paris on a budget, how the French interact socially, and how to survive a Parisian grocery store/open market. That doesn't sound like much, but I really took a lot of notes, and am glad I chose the ones I did!

The last event of the program was a guided wine tasting, which I found quite interesting, & I feel like I actually know a tiny, minuscule amount about how to figure out if a wine is good or not. The guy leading the workshop owns a wine shop just outside of the Paris city limits had a good saying about wine tasting: he said that it's a real sport; you get better with practice. How very French, but also, how very true. Sadly, I had to leave before his demonstration was over, but I still have all the paperwork, so I'm definitely going to look over it.

I had to come back to the apartment to babysit with the Canadian because the mother & her sister were going to a party, and the sister's kids were here as well. After the kids had eaten, they watched a movie on a laptop while the Canadian & I finally ate dinner. The father came back from working on a wedding, ate a quick dinner, and then left to go & meet up with his wife & sister-in-law. It was a pretty calm evening once the kids were asleep, and I went to bed b/c I knew I was going to go to church today.

I had breakfast with the family this morning, which included (for me) cereal, an English muffin w/ strawberry jam, & hot tea. I made it to church on time, and enjoyed the World Communion Sunday service. I did get a little teary-eyed, this being the first time I've really done communion on my own (normally, I'm with friends or family), but I knew that my family would be celebrating in the same way, so my sad moment was short-lived.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning in Paris, and the weather was wonderful...it felt like springtime! The sun was out, the sky was blue, and I think it got up to 75 today, which felt wonderful, given the cold/rainy/cloudy weather recently. After church was over, I wandered around a bit, and played tourist, taking photos while the sunlight was favorable.

After I did enough damage to my camera's memory card, I returned to the apartment, had a quick lunch (pasta w/pesto & olives, bread & goat cheese w/ honey), grabbed my Sherlock Holmes, and went to go read in Luxembourg Gardens for a few hours, before the weather could make its inevitable turn.

I returned, did some laundry, read for a bit, then hung my laundry up to dry in my bathroom (I already know I'm going to miss my clothes dryer, but maybe it won't be too bad). Dinner with the family tonight was soup & a savory clafoutis (Google it) with what I've determined to be the French equivalent of lima beans. It was very good, although the mother had doubts about how it would turn out, as it was her first time making it. Dessert was a fruit yogurt, and then I headed to my room to write, read, knit, & relax.

I start my French language courses tomorrow!

Day 17

An easy riddle: What starts out sunny, but ends in rain? My day in Paris, that's what.

I woke up this morning to sunshine streaming in my window, which is something I haven't experienced much since I've been here. I had my now normal breakfast (bread, jam, hot tea), checked my e-mail, and then headed out to pay for my first term of language courses! I went ahead and paid in full, which allowed me to receive a letter saying that I am meeting the number of hours required for my green card! Basically, this means that my "vacation" time in Paris is ending, and I'll officially be a "legal alien" in this country. What a wonderful start to the day. After receiving my letter, I wandered around the outside of the Palais Garnier (a beautiful venue for operas/plays/ballets) in search of the Galleries Lafayette. The Galleries Lafayette is a huge, sprawling mass of buildings (it takes up 3 Paris blocks!), full of every imaginable thing. One building is specifically for homewares, one building is specifically for men's fashion, and one building is completely devoted to women's fashion. The building devoted to women's fashion has an absolutely stunning stained-glass dome that makes an atrium spanning 5 floors. Talk about grandeur.

After drooling over the Tiffany & Co. counter, I wandered amongst the handbags, looking longingly at all of the very nice, extremely expensive brands. After a while, I was a bit overwhelmed with the sheer excess of the store, so I left, but with all intentions of returning, since I had yet to see the entire floor devoted to shoes & boots. I hopped off the Metro a few stops before I normally do, and wandered around the very touristy, but bustling, Latin quarter, where I grabbed lunch to go. Today, it was a Greek "extra" pita (the extra means that they put fries on it), for a whopping 4.50 Euro. Out of habit, I ordered it from the same place that I did on my study abroad two years ago, and I only realized that after I had paid & wandered off towards the apartment.

Evidently, I took the long way back to the apartment, so by the time I finally returned, I put my feet up & read a little bit before picking up the kids. Somewhere between my arrival at the apartment & my departure an hour later, it began raining, & I wasn't about to sit in the cool, rainy weather at the park, so the kids played a Pokemon battle while I watched from the kitchen, enjoying a cup of hot tea.

Dinner for the kids tonight was pizza! I used a dough mix, rolled it out, topped it with tomato sauce, oregano, tomato slices, fresh mozzarella, & black olives. The kids really seemed to enjoy it, but I didn't eat b/c I was told by the Canadian (you remember, the former au pair for this family?) that staying in on a Friday night wasn't an option, so we went & had dinner. She had a blue steak (blue falls between raw & rare on the doneness scale) & mashed potatoes for dinner, & followed it with a chocolate mousse. I had duck breast w/ fingerling potatoes & a salad, & had a crème brûlée for dessert. And for all that deliciousness, I'm only out by 17 euro, which I think was a pretty good deal, given what I ordered.