Surviving the Heat Wave!

We survived the heat wave!  Although by the last night we were all really missing air-conditioning!

The worst of the heat was last Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  On Tuesday, we headed out to Neuilly to a pool I had read about.  Once there, we found out it was only open to Neully residents.  I think the security guard felt bad for me, because they let us come in and buy a one day pass.  Hallelujah!

In France, they are very specific about what boys can wear when swimming in a pool.  NO baggy shorts or swim trunks.  In fact, they actually sell swim suits for boys in vending machines at the pools.  Luckily I had read this and purchased Will these cute shorts from the Monoprix near our home. Isn't he adorable?  There are no restrictions on females though!

Always confident!

This is just one of the four pools we swam in!

On Wednesday, we went to FLY 360 Paris and did a virtual flyover Paris experience!  The best part?  It was air-conditioned!  It was actually pretty amazing, especially since all the footage from above of Notre Dame was taken before the fire.  It was incredible to see it from that view.  We finished our outing with gelato from our favorite place called Amorino, while continually spraying ourselves with the best French product we have come across - Evian Facial Spray!  Everyone carries this around, along with little plastic fans, to keep themselves cool.

Fly Paris 360!

Ready for take-off!

Trying to stay cool in our shades!

Evian Facial Spray!

On Thursday, we decided a movie would be our best bet.  When searching for a movie in English or with English subtitles you need to look for the letters VOSTFR (original version with French subtitles).  Toy Story 4 was it!  We were excited to spend a few mindless hours not worrying about the heat.  The only problem, the movie theater was not air-conditioned!  So we decided afterwards the best way to combat that was to shop and get a tasty treat from the mall (Les Halles) that was attached.  As you can see, there is a Lego Store, also not air-conditioned, but Will could have cared less!

I decided we needed to do one cultural thing before the movie.  Here we are walking through the very cool Saint Eustache. 

Waffles from The Waffle Factory!

Starting her young - shopping at Zara!

Creating a mural at the Lego Store!

Have you ever lost a tooth on the Metro?

Finally, on Thursday evening a few drops of rain fell.  It was enough to get us outside and do a little dance.

We were all ecstatic for a cooler weekend.  We spend Saturday doing our two new favorite things, going to the neighborhood market, and visiting The American Library.  We also took in one cultural thing - the Eiffel Tower!  You might be wondering why it has taken us so long to visit.  Well, it is no longer the beautiful structure you can just meander under with your loved ones.  It is now surrounded completely by a 12 foot glass wall.  You need to wait in a long line of security to have your bags searched and yourself scanned.  Every time we tried to go, the line was just too long.  So today was the day!  After all of that, we had to get the obligatory photos:

Taking the Metro home by themselves for the first time!

Yesterday, we decided to visit the church we have been interested in attending this year.  It is The American Church in Paris.  Not only is it a church, but also a huge resource for many expats living in Paris.  What an amazing morning!  Not only did we enjoy the service, but both kids got to see what kind of programing is available for them to attend on Sundays.  They both left really excited to go back.

Jeff and I decided to take advantage of their new found freedom of taking the Metro home on their own, and went out and had an afternoon date.

Our first date of the year in Paris!

Cafe au lait for me and something chocolate for Jeff!

We ended the weekend by dashing down the road to see the Tour de France come into town for the final stage of the race.  It was so festive and fun! What surprised us the most were all the cars and motorcycles that came with the group.  There was almost one car and one motorcycle per rider.

Waiting for the riders!

They rode by so fast!

Tour de France 2019!

And that is a wrap of the week!  While it all sounds amazing, and most of the time it sure is, I promise to write a "Keeping it Real" post later this week, of some of the adjustments and missteps we have made along the way.  It sure does add to the overall experience...

Bonne journée!
Betsy

Edy and Will's First Broadcast - The Apartment Edition

Here are the videos Edy and Will made of our apartment last week.  Enjoy!

My French Apartment - Part 1

and

My French Apartment - Part 2

Au revoir!
Betsy

Our First Trip

We thought it would be fun to try a short trip down to Orleans this weekend.  We would take the train, stay in a hotel, and explore.  I am glad we did, for we learned a lot, and faced some good obstacles.

First of all, when booking any trip in France, it is important to check when things are open BEFORE you buy the non-refundable, non-exchangeable train tickets. We bought tickets for Sunday through Monday, only to realize too late that some of the museums that most interested us were closed both days.

We then learned that it is MUCH cheaper to get a two separate hotel rooms instead of one that sleeps four.  Most rooms are very small here so trying to fit in two beds isn't really an option, or if it is, it is very expensive.  So we got two hotel rooms, and divided ourselves up.

We also learned that traveling around to see historical sights, even really interesting ones like about Joan of Arc, can get boring after awhile for the kids.  So you need to allow periods of time at a park, or in this case, down by the Loire River for exploring and rock throwing  Because of this, as parents you need to pack a book with more than 100 pages left to read, because you will finish it on the first day.

We also were reminded that traveling when it is hot, zaps everyones energy, including this mom!  So when your husband takes the kids for over an hour to explore, you are grateful that you can recharge and engage again.

Another interesting fact is that the things you HOPE they will remember and learn from the trip are not actually what they will remember and learn.  Instead they will say it was the BEST trip because of the amazing hamburgers they ate Sunday night, the cool water fountain we allowed them to play in, and they rocks they collected from the river bank...

Finally, when you are anxious to get home on the 5:25 train, make sure it is the right train heading back to Paris - the direct, nonstop 5:25 train - and not the 5:28 one that takes twice as long and makes 10 stops.  Because again, you didn't bring enough to read and you are all hot and tired.

In all seriousness, it was a really great learning opportunity.  I will attach pictures below.  Orleans is a beautiful town with great history about Joan of Arc.  But most importantly, we learned how to continue to be flexible when things don't go exactly our way.

We are heading into a week of hot weather.  Today it will be 100 degrees.  Tomorrow it will be 102 degrees and Thursday it will be 108 degrees.  We are going to check out a pool today and then come back and lay very still in our apartment.  Very few places in France have air conditioning.  Luckily, our apartment is very cool, especially when we have all the curtains drawn.

Be on the lookout for a video later today from Edy and Will, giving you a tour of our apartment.  They warned me it was 13 minutes long.  I encouraged them to share it anyway.

Bonsoir!
Betsy

Our first train ride was a success!

A view of Cathedrale Sainte-Croix d'Orleans. 

Exploring the Loire River.

Relaxing along the boardwalk.

Just plain cute!

The flowers along street corners were just beautiful.

Joan of Arc!

Look Granmama and Pappy! We stayed at The Grand Hotel (unfortunately not the one on Mackinac Island.)

Fountain fun!

Getting Settled

We have been here over a week and are feeling more and more settled.  We no longer have to look at the Metro map to figure out which trains lead us home.  (In case you visit, Metro 9 towards Pont de Sevres and 10 towards Boulogne drop you off at Michel-Ange-Auteuil, right by our apartment.) And the streets around our apartment are looking more and more familiar.  

I took a leap yesterday and visited our local boucherie.  I had been intimidated to buy meat from them for fear my French would not hold up.  Luckily, they knew enough English to help me get by and I walked home with some sausage to make for dinner.  On the other hand, our local boulangerie now recognize us because we are there EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. buying fresh baguettes.  And Edy has taken to making crepes at home, so we no longer buy them on the street corners!

We had a great visit with Aunt Judy!  We saw an amazing Van Goth exhibit.  Some of his work was projected in lights all around a huge room and set to movement with music.  It was unforgettable!  We also went to hear Vivaldi's Four Seasons at Sainte Chapelle, my favorite church in the world.  It was incredible.  Never have I seen music come alive like it did through one of the violinists.

Sainte Chapelle with Aunt Judy.

We have also been fortunate enough to make some friends these past few days.  A friend from Northfield, connected us with a family from Oregon who have been living here for two years.  They have a boy and a girl roughly Will and Edy's ages.  We enjoyed them so much the first afternoon that we met them again later that day and again the next day at a park.  We look forward to connecting with them some more.

Alex, Will, Edy, and Kai

We also have found a home at the American Library in Paris.  While we are adoring the French culture and trying to speak it, there is something relaxing about going into the library and being greeted with a "Hello!"  We returned our first stack of books and took out many more this week.

We are slowly developing a "schedule."  Our bodies are still having a hard time with the time change, partly due to the fact that it doesn't get all the way dark here until 11:00 p.m.  We are going to bed around 10:00/11:00 and not waking up until close to 9:00.  We usually hang around the apartment/neighborhood until after lunch and then head out for an adventure, once Jeff starts work at 12:00 p.m.  We then head home around 6:00, have a snack of a warm baguette and olive oil, before having dinner with Jeff around 8:00 p.m.  My hope is that once we get closer to "school" starting in the apartment, we can adjust our wake-up time a bit.  But for now, it is nice to be so relaxed.  Here are some pictures from a few of our recent outings:

Sailing boats at the Jardin du Luxembourg.

Arc de Triomphe

Admiring Patricia Cunha's balloons in Bercy Village, Paris. 

I am really surprised how much I am enjoying all the newness of things.  I am usually a creature of habit and don't like surprises, but this experience has been enjoyable so far.  We have not really run into too many things we can't find a solution for via online or through our landlord.  (Update:  two trundle beds are arriving this week, complements of our amazing landlord - whew!) I even completed my first solo run today, making it all the way to Trocadero and back, where I had this view of the La Tour Eiffel.

View on my morning run!

Some people have asked if we feel safe.  Absolutely!  We live in a non-touristy part of Paris.  I feel very comfortable with Edy heading out by herself to go to the local shops.  Next week, when we get a phone set up for her, I expect she and Will will also try riding the Metro on their own as well.  The only times I feel "on guard" is when we are at places with lots of tourists.

We did have one interesting thing happen to us on the evening of Bastille Day.  We had been looking forward to the 11:00 p.m. fireworks over the La Tour Eiffel for some time.  We headed down to watch from along the Seine.  We were with hundreds of people and the mood was very festive.  We enjoyed the fireworks for about 20 minutes until all of the sudden something happened about 50 meters ahead of us.  We don't know what it was but it had a ripple effect.  Within seconds, hundreds of people turned and started running away from the fireworks display.  Jeff was able to shove Edy over a fence to me and Will.  I then grabbed both kids by the hands and ran towards home.  Jeff eventually caught up to us along the way.  We still to this day have no idea what it was.  We were proud of the kids for responding appropriately and following our lead to get to safety.  It has inspired some great conversations about vigilance in a big city and foreign country.  It has also highlighted the importance of blending in and not standing out.

Waiting for the fireworks to begin.

Finally, the family time has been incredible.  With living in smaller quarters, we are learning what it is like to be together and respect each others' spaces.  We are also learning to vocalize when we need time to ourselves to just recharge.  Finally, we are appreciating the times we can be together in this amazing place.  One fun thing is that we have started a little competition between the four of us on learning French.  We are all competing on Duolingo to see who can score the most points.  It has been a fun nightly ritual.  I love hearing each of the kids practice saying "un garçon et un chat" or "a boy and a cat."  

Edy setting us all up with Duolingo.

I will close by including a few photos below from the military parade and exposition on Bastille Day.  I will only post a few.  As you can imagine, Will had me take hundreds.  Thank you for accompanying us on this adventure!  We miss you all.

Bonsoir!
Betsy

Inside a helicopter that he saw land.

Showing French patriotism.  

One of the many soldiers.

This vehicle is dropped into battle by parachute.

Only in France could you sit on TOP of a military vehicle.  

The soldier looks more menacing than he was.  

A selfie on Bastille Day, which was also our 18th Wedding Anniversary!

We Have Arrived!

We have arrived and are settling in nicely!  Currently, Will is playing Legos, while listening to "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," and Edy is reading.  It feels like home already.

We had an uneventful flight and first day here.  Jeff was kind enough to meet us at the airport and transport us by taxi to our apartment.  I thought it would take us a few days to unpack, and then remembered who I was and had most of it in drawers and hung-up before we left the apartment that afternoon to explore.

The first day we walked to the Tour Eiffel and had our first crepes.  Rookie mistakes in that Edy asked for too much Nutella on hers and I didn't ask for enough.  We then fell in to a deep sleep by 6 p.m. after some of us declared they weren't effected by the time change.

Tuesday was our first full day in Paris all together.  We did what all tourists do and went to Ikea and the Lego store.  We knew that in order for Will to be entertained in the apartment, we needed a scroll of paper for his drawings and a bin of Legos for endless hours of fun.  Edy was more than game to tag along knowing it would ensure hours of quiet reading time.  We then walked by Notre Dame and got as close as we could for our first Parisian family photo.  Finally, we ended the day at the American Library, where after we paid to join for the year, we walked out with a bag of books.

Yesterday was Jeff's first day of working in Paris.  He will be working from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Paris time, so the kids and I were on our own.  We went to check out the twice weekly open air market that is less than 100 yards from our apartment.  We were at first nervous about trying to buy anything but quickly overcame that when we saw the amazing fruit.  And boy, the guys who sell olives really know how to up-sell!  We came home with the most delicious olives and a lot less euros in our pockets.  We then went out to explore a nearby park and buy the kids some scooters.  Jeff asked me if I thought they would really use their scooters.  Let's just say we didn't take a train the rest of the day and we covered a lot of ground!

We feel like we are settling in nicely!  There are a lot less surprises here compared to all I felt we encountered the month prior to us leaving Minnesota.  The only big one so far is that "trundle" in France means an empty storage bin under a bed, not a second bed with a mattress, like I had assumed.  But don't worry if you plan to visit.  We will have it figured out before you come.  As I mentioned above, there is an Ikea...  

Finally, both Edy and Will are really embracing this experience.  Edy has already been out on her own to the grocery and Boulangerie to buy our daily baguette.  She is also enjoying the idea of a weekly trip to the flower market and arranging what we purchase.  And Will is quite the enthusiastic explorer! EVERYTHING is new and exciting to him.    

Tomorrow we have our first visitor!  Aunt Judy is already in France and taking the train up to see us in Paris.  We are excited to show her the apartment and walk around exploring even more with her.  Those that know Judy can appreciate that she already has tickets bought for multiple events and she is only staying 24 hours!  

We are looking forward to the year ahead and what adventures await.  In the meantime, we are most excited to get on some sort of sleep schedule that is more normal.  But if being awake until 1:00 a.m. and literally dragging ourselves out of bed at 9:30 a.m. is our only complaint, we will take it!

Until next time...
Betsy