Keepin' It Real - Part 4

I realized it has been awhile since I posted on the blog. Yikes!  I hate to keep you all in suspense...

We continue to be doing really well.  As you saw from the kids' posts they both had some fun travel the past couple of weeks.  Edy went with the American Church in Paris youth to a conference in Luxembourg.  It sounds like it was great fun, especially with all the free time they had meeting kids from other counties.  

Will and Jeff had their own adventure in Luxembourg, Brussels, Germany, and of course France!  There was lot history being discussed and probably some poor eating choices, which in effect made it the perfect trip for both father and son.  

With all three of them gone, I was able to call upon my dear friend Amanda to come and keep me company in Paris.  Luckily, I didn't have to twist her arm too much.  I am not going to take the time here to delve into all we did - I am going to save that for myself.  Instead I will just say, it was exactly what I needed, and I think what she needed to.  Having her here was the perfect combination of home and familiar, with the excitement and adventures Paris has to offer.  It might just end up being one of my favorite weeks of the whole year.  Shhhhh.  Don't tell Jeff, Edy, or Will.

We weren't ashamed to take many selfies!

Waiting in the rain at the Louvre.

Of Mona...

I love that Amanda spruced up my flowers!

All the restaurant offers is steak and fries.  What a fabulous meal!

Even Edy got to enjoy some quality time with Amanda.
I caught them outside the boulangerie enjoying this treat together.  

Edy took this lovely photo of Amanda.

Thanks Amanda for coming to visit us!

After those trips, plus an additional one Jeff took to the United States, we are all finally back under one apartment roof again.  It is good to be together in this new Parisian season.  We are entering Christmas here and boy do the Parians go all out!  Every big department store has a special date where they unveil their Christmas windows.  From what I have read, planning for the window displays begins January 1.  They spend all year preparing and perfecting the experience.  I say "experience" because that is what it is.  There are lights, music, and puppets that dance.  Oh, and you can't forget the merchandise they are advertising in the windows.  I will include a few photos below from just two of the stores that have unveiled their windows.  The others are set to unveil this week.

Just on a random street corner.

Dancing birds!

Life size owls modeling clothes and jewelry.

Here you have rabbits dancing around a beautiful table display.

A three story Christmas tree inside Printemps. 

Christmas trees are also starting to appear at the florists.  Yes, you heard me right.  Every florist is still  open with all of their flowers out on display, even in November.  If you still want fresh flowers, they are there for the choosing.  In addition to flowers, you can also buy Christmas trees.  Some of the trees are sprayed with while power to make it look like snow.  All of the trees are staked into a log.  You don't seem to cut the bottom of the tree off and put it in a tree stand.  Instead you buy the tree, imbedded in the log, and bring it home to the apartment.  We will definitely be doing this, since we will be here for Christmas.  

Photo credit - Will

Along with the Christmas trees, flowers!  Photo credit - Will.

Photo credit - Will.

In addition to Christmas windows and Christmas trees, there are Christmas markets all around town.  Pop-up stores are also popular with small businesses selling their wares.  It is really fun to think about shopping for gifts at these places.  The only not-so-fun part is thinking about shipping it home!  Just sending a small box of Legos to Will's friend Luke for his birthday cost 25 Euros!  That is three times the amount of the Legos and we didn't even send it priority!  

We were very sad to see our dear friends head back to Alabama last week.  It was very hard to think about not "doing" Paris with them.  There were many tears, mostly shed by me.  I was worried we would be lonely without them.  But the following day, we signed up at the American Church in Paris to make sandwiches for the homeless and immediately met some new individuals.  While nobody can replace Kelli, Carson, and Geer, it is fun to know that there are other individuals out there seeking friendship with other Americans.  

One of our last days together, we had a slumber party at our apartment, complete with a paper airplane war...

...face masks...

...and one final trek to church together.

This was before the tears!

We will miss you Kelli, Geer, and Carson!

Making food for the homeless inspired Will and I to actually go out with an organization called Serve the City to deliver the sandwiches we made.  We met about 25 other volunteers on Saturday and headed to a nearby park, where many homeless people spend their days.  While it was very uncomfortable at first for Will, it was good for him to see the need for the food we made.  Everyone was so gracious in accepting the food.  Since then, we have taken to making sandwiches here at home in bulk and carrying around a few with us when we are out and about sightseeing.  When we someone asking for money, we hand them a ham and cheese sandwich instead.  It feels so much better than giving them money or even ignoring them.  Both kids have gotten much more comfortable in offering food, and even trying their French when doing so.

Here is Will gathering with the individuals from Serve the City.

Will and his new Serve the City friend, Elias!

Making ham and cheese sandwiches at home.

Ready to go!

Will is busy in rehearsals for Wizard of Oz.  He is playing the Scarecrow and will be quick to tell you he has 60 lines.  He even has a solo - "If I Only Had a Brain."  He also achieved "King of Math" status on an online math learning tool.  We crowned him and sent a photo off to the 5th grade teacher at Greenvale Park.  

Yes, "The Redneck Avenger" is the name he chose to play under.

Edy continues to be independent, going to her art class on her own and her many activities at the church and library.  She is already aware that the many freedoms she has here in France, will be greatly constrained in the US until she learns to drive.  She and Will completed a challenge this past week laid down by their grandfather.  He challenged them to try and ride all 14 Metro lines under three hours.  Will was ready to just go after it, but luckily he had Edy, who painstakingly mapped out the order of trains, the direction to take, and which stops to get on and off of.  (I love that she takes after me with this.)  They then went out on their own and did it.  It only took them an hour and thirty-six minutes to complete.  Pappy paid up, as promised.

Ready to go!

The plan!

Proof that they rode the 8!

When Jeff came back from the US last week, he brought us Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips.  We decided to try making typical American chocolate chip cookies.  It was quite the experience going to the Monoprix to try and find ingredients that match with ours in the US.  For example, they don't have brown sugar here.  The closest thing to it is Cassonade, which is much drier than brown sugar.  Luckily, my dear friend Katherine brought me measuring cups and measuring spoons so we didn't have to do too much conversion.  The measurement of butter, on the other hand, was quite fun to figure out.  Finally, we made the dough, and baked them.  The turned out nice and crunchy on top and very soft and doughy (raw) in the middle. (Or in Edy, Will, and Jeff's case, just perfect!)  I am not sure if that had to do with the convection oven, the unusual baking sheet, or the fact I was working with Celsius.  Needless to say, they didn't last a day in our apartment. 

All the ingredients plus our handy conversion chart on the iPad.

Mixing!

Yum?

We are heading to Berlin this weekend.  We thought this would be a great city to see before we end our 2019 travels with Normandy and London  We think all three will give our kids an even greater understanding of our global history.  Jeff and I are excited because this is the first city neither of us has been to.  We look forward to not only revisiting some of the history surrounding World War 1 and World War II but to also see what impacts the wall had on a divided Germany.  

Then next week, we are home and taking some time to enjoy ourselves as tourists.  Jeff has a few days off and plans to visit as many museums as he can on his own.  The kids and I will also take some time to sightsee as well, but will most likely use the time to get ahead on some school work.  In looking ahead at December, we are blessed with three different groups of visitors and two different trips planned, one to Normandy and one to London.  While I don't mind being a few days off of the Northfield schools, I don't want to be doing schoolwork over Christmas break!

I will close with one final thought before I sign off.  I have been reflecting lately upon the many emotions I have been feeling while here the past 4.5 months.  While most fall into the category of joy or contentment, I have also found myself crying more than I ever have before.  The tears all seem to come when our guests leave.  There is always a let-down when company leaves, because thus far, all the company we have had has been so fun!  We just love showing our visitors around, introducing them to new foods and new experiences.  When they leave, it feels like the fun is over.  The irony of this is of course, we aren't leaving.  Nor is our fun ending. The point of all of this is, that I think because the highs are so high here, any low, guests leaving, the end of a weekend get-away, feels really low.  And for me that means tears.  I can honestly say, I have cried more here then I have in years.  Maybe even since Will was sick.  

Part of the tears also have to do with each time we say good-bye to someone, or come home from a trip, we are also one week, one day, one moment closer to when we are going to say good-bye to Paris.  And while that is MANY months away, I know, in some ways, that will be the hardest thing I have to do.  It will be hard because it is PARIS.  But it will mostly be hard because it means the end of this amazing year together as a family.  After just a few short months, we have learned so much about each other.  We have grown in our relationships with each other.  We have laughed harder than we ever have before and we have made each other madder than we ever have before.  But at the end of the day, we are always together, in our 72 square meter apartment, going to bed way too late, surrounded by the days memories and shared experiences.  

So the tears remain plentiful.  The memories too.

Betsy