Parentals and Strasbourg

For the last 5 days or so I have two rather fantastic house guest. They go by the names of Ma and Pa and are one half of my sets of parents. Yes - lucky girl here - two sets of parents. Wooohoo (and I say that completely genuinely)!! What a great time it was to show them around "my" city.  I never realized how much I wanted and actually need people to see my life here until they arrived. It made things seem so much more real and it also made me realize how much I have grown and accomplished since I have been here. Six months ago I could barely find my way back to the Metro station, and for the last week I have played Parisian Tour Guide. We fit about as much as three people can fit into 3 days (we spent two of their full days here in Strasbourg - details on that will come). I think my legs are still sore from all the walking and exploring.  We experienced a little bit of it all - from waiting in line at the Tour Eiffel (just to decide there was NO way we were waiting that long), to wandering the Jardins de Luxembourg, cheering to a Thanksgiving Pizza dinner and getting snowed on in Monmarte. Truly fantabulous. Yes, I am pretty sure that's a word and if it isn't it's the only thing I can think of to describe how great the last few days were, so too bad!! We finished off our time together by venturing off to Strasbourg - in the East of France for the weekend. We chugged through snow covered farmland on the TGV (thanks Alstom!) and arrived to discover a gorgeous little German influenced town. This weekend was also special because it was the first weekend of their annual Marche de Noel festival. Essentially the entire town looks like it threw up Christmas, in a very beautiful and charming way. We ate traditional food - most of it covered in cheese and bacon and saw Christmas lights and decorations like I have never seen before. Wandering through these themed markets which covered the entire city centre  you could find pretty much anything you would ever want, from smoking Santa shaped incense holders, handmade ornaments, any type of Christmas light ever known to man, hats and mittens and every other knick knacky arts and crafty type thing you can imagine. I was almost sure I would run out of memory space on my camera - but it made it through, meaning as soon as I reflect and get all the photos on my little computer the best ones will be shared for all to see - Sharing is caring, as I like to say. All in all the last week was one of the best I have had here in Paris, I can't wait for more of my family to visit so I can share this experience with them. Maybe if I get enough practice, I can start my own tour company..... now that's a thought!!!

PS. The air mattress was a serious success. Perfect size and no leaks and the guests seemed comfy and cozy!!

6 months and then some

Today marks 6 months since I have live in Paris and I have to be honest - time is flying by. It really seems like just yesterday I was trying to convince myself to go into the Monoprix at the end of the street so I would actually have some food to eat in my apartment. Now I practically own that place... ok that MAY BE a bit of an exaggeration but the fear is definitely gone. Recently I have even tried to speak back to the cashiers in French. It's not pretty but everyone keeps telling me it will be the only way that I learn, so I am running with it. Over the last few months I have experienced so many changes and adventures since I have been here I don't even know where to start in summarizing them. All I know is that I plan on enjoying the next 6 months and all of the months that follow even more than I enjoyed the first 6.

Invalide...

I received a friendly little email today with these photos attached . Please refrain from comments about how graceful I am, and how the Air Cast compliments my meticulously planned outfit. The photos were a nice reminder of my first fall down the metro stairs and my first (and hopefully last) trip to a French hospital. A day I will  never forget, or as today proved, be allowed to forget.



Hiding my face because the bright blond hair doesn't give away who is riding in that lovely wheelchair...




This is actually an advertisement for Air Cast ; )



Parlez-moi !!!!! (Talk to Me!!!!)

Alright - I am assuming you all enjoy reading what I write, because you come back, or maybe you feel like you have to rad it to stay caught up. Either way I want to read what you have to write back to me. Maybe that was too many "read" and "writes"'s in one sentence but I think you catch my drift. Leave me some feedback. Try and be relatively kind, but, really I want to know what you think. So to help guide you in this process, I found some great instructions (If you want more detail go to the Blogger Help Guide) Please take a peek then PARLEZ-MOI PEOPLE!!!

EASY TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS:
If someone has comments enabled on his or her blog, then you can usually find a "comments" link at the end of each post, like this:

CLICK THE COMMENT LINK!!!!!!!!

If you click this link, you will go to the comment posting page.  The comment posting page looks like this:

In the upper left corner, there is an option to show or hide the original blog post that the comments relate to. The rest of the left-hand column contains any comments that have already been made. The profile photos of the comment authors may also display, depending on the blog's settings.On the right hand side of the page is the space for you to enter your comment. Beneath that are the identity options. (Some of these may not be available, depending on the blog's settings.)
The options are these:
•Blogger username: Your display name will appear, along with a link to your profile and your photo (if you have one).

•Other: You can enter your name and a link to your website, without having to have a Blogger account.

•Anonymous: No identifying information is displayed. The comment is credited to "Anonymous" without a link.

Once you have spilled the beans and clicked the Post Comment button

THIS:

CHANGES TO THIS:



Career Changes.

I had a very interesting conversation with my French teacher today during my lesson. I was being introduced to speaking in the past tense, which I have to be honest, seems to be much easier than speaking in the present tense. Then again it all seems relatively easy at first until my mind draws a blank the size of a highway billboard. Anyway, back to the past tense, I was describing some major milestones in my life from my birth (which is obviously huge, because everyone I know was blessed with ME that day, hahaha) through graduating high school and moving to Vermont for college and then moving South again to Massachusetts – it was at this point things became interesting. As I made a pretty big career change leaving behind the days of Miss.Caisse and lesson plans and delightful bundles of germy joy trying to cut my hair to the offices of Alstom, where I was no longer Miss.Caisse but seemed to be surrounded by bigger bundles of germy joys, luckily these ones refrained from the hair cutting and we could enjoy the occasional beer at lunch together. Now I am on a roll at this point – Je suis arrivé Chez Alstom dans 2007 …. FULL STOP because now my teacher is looking at me like I have cinq têtes (5 heads) or something. Switching to English – which is RARE in my lessons, she starts firing off questions about whether or not I have a diploma and if I did how could I just go from being an institutrice (teacher) to working at Alstom. At first I was completely thrown off and wondering well why couldn’t I do that, until she explained that here in France that is almost impossible to make that kind of career change. She went on to describe that once you have chosen your field or career you are almost stuck in that box and unless you go back to school to obtain another degree in another field then you are what you chose to be at the time you went to school….. now I was the one looking at her like she had cinq têtes because that would just not fly in the US. Then I began to think about having to really chose exactly what I want to be when I grow up (ask me now and I still can’t answer you) and then being stuck with it!!?!?!?!?!??! How many people do you know that have changed career paths, once, twice or maybe even three or four times?? I can name a few including about half of my graduating college class. My career change has turned out to be one of the best choices I have made in my 27 years, not that I didn’t enjoy teaching, but it just wasn’t the right time or place for me to be focusing my energy. Maybe someday I will go back to it but until then I plan on sticking around and doing what I am doing for quite sometime*.







*DISCLAIMER – Unless I win BIG in the lottery and in that case, the above entry cannot be held against me. Same goes for any of my friends that win BIG in the lottery and want to share the wealth or need an awesome Personal Assistant: )

Matelas Gonflable

I made my first French purchase on-line. Now this doesn't seem like a big deal BUT when everything on the website is in French and everything in the check-out is in French it is a bigger accomplishment then one would think. I will be having some visitors next week a little couple I like to call Ma and Pa - woohoo - and after thinking about how heavy carrying an air mattress over here via luggage and a plane, I decided to take matters into my own hands. After a little direction on where to look on-line (Thanks Michael!!) and a few conversions from centimeters to inches and using my notes from my cours de francais (ok.. maybe I used Google Translate once OR twice too, but there are just some words I have not yet been introduced to!!) I made the purchase. When I arrived home today there was a lovely box waiting for me in my flat. We Have Success.... so now the test will be to make sure it inflates and really can fit two people - or I guess I am giving up my bed next week ....

Jet Lag

Made a super quick trip back to the states last week. I mean really quick about three days - so quick in fact I thought I was really going to make it without screwing up my sleep schedule too much. But as I lay here almost hungry for dinner again - I think I was wrong!!!!! It was nice to head home although I definitely did not get to fit everyone that I very much wanted to see in. Unfortunately I missed almost all of the beautiful leaves, from what I could tell all of the bright red and gold colors were piled up on the ground waiting for the mass of rakes to attack!! But the weather was lovely which was a very refreshing break from the sogginess of the city for the last week or so. Even though I missed the leaves, I was able to pull off my first successful surprise attack on one of my very favorite lovely ladies and spend some quality time with ALL of my parents and my little brother, who well isn't really very little anymore. To make it even more enjoyable, I ate every single thing I had been craving for the last three months, even when I wasn't hungry and........ to top it off a quick visit from the bestie before hoping back on a plane to Paris.  So even though I am laying here WIDE awake it really was well worth it to see some pretty and very familiar faces.

Raaaaaaaaaaaaain

Ever tried eating a sandwich with gloves on and carrying an umbrella all at the same time while walking on cobblestone streets?? Well if you are looking for an adventure I dare you!!

From the moment I arrived here I have loved being able to walk anywhere and everywhere I want to. It's funny how much my walking speed has increased over the last three days of straight rain and wind. Yesterday I actually broke down and pulled out the hats and mittens. I know it maybe a bit early but when your only source of warmth is once you get into the Metro - and yes for once since I have been here am I happy to get on to a warm metro car - you need to be seriously bundled up out there. Maybe that sounds whiny for a New England girl but I swear your blood adjusts easily!!!!

It's the Real Feel Temp that will get you every time.....

Today

This is exactly how I feel:

“Sometimes we need to stop analyzing the past, stop planning the future, stop figuring out precisely how we feel, stop deciding exactly what we want, and just see what happens.” Sex and the City 


And I think that is just what I will do. 


It's crazy how sometimes you think you have it all figured out and have this perfect precise plan and then one bump can make you take a long hard look at it all. It could be a bad bump, good bump, big bump or a teeny tiny one but sometimes that is all you need to stop trying to figure it out and enjoy everything you have.

Falafel for Everyone

I had never had falafel prior to my stay in Paris and I can honestly say now that it just maybe one of my most favorite foods ever now.  I know that is a bold statement but maybe I have been spoiled by the most delish falafel place ever... L'as de Falafel. This little place is located in the Marais ( a great place to find Jewish bakeries, lots of little shops and very cool and confusing side streets) and people actually line up outside the street to eat there. While you wait in line you can check out the pictures of Lenny Kravitz - apparently a regular whenever he is in the city. Today I ventured there for a pre-movie lunch and despite the POURING rain and chilly temperatures there was a sea of umbrellas waiting to be seated in the packed to the brim restaurant. Even thought my toes were soggy (I solved this problem by purchasing wool socks after lunch) the wait was beyond worth it. I left with one happy belly!!!

Yeah ... you know you want some. SO GOOD.